By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The tremendous start to the girls varsity basketball season continued with a 49-44 win over the Millis Mowhawks on Tuesday night. They improved to 6-1 with the win.
The Warriors held the lead for most of the night but were caught up in a close battle with the Mohawks the whole way through. It was something Medfield had not experienced to date with it being their first victory within twenty points.
“I think a lot of it has to do with the poise of the players,” said head coach Mark Nickerson. “They expect to win. Even when things aren’t going well, they have confidence in themselves that they can pull out the game and I think that showed today. They never really panicked.”
“I definitely think it was different for us, and we had to lock in,” added senior captain Jailen Annigeri. “I think we needed this challenge, and we needed to be tested in this way… I’m glad we were able to stay poised and come out with a win.”
In the end, key contributions from several Warriors pushed them past Millis. Junior captain Izzy Kittredge added seven points and eight rebounds and freshman Abigail Broderick did her part with 13 points and five rebounds. Broderick was also responsible for all ten points Medfield scored in the third quarter.
“The level of poise she plays with is pretty impressive,” said Nickerson. “She’s definitely a leader on the floor. She wants the ball in her hands. She’s taking good shots. She’s going to the hoop at the right time [and] making the right reads and passes.”
Sophomore Naya Annigeri also left her mark on both ends of the court, finishing with 16 points, six rebounds and six steals. The elder Annigeri complimented her sister’s performance.
“I think we work so well together," said Annigeri. She’s such an important part of our team… She can find us on the floor and obviously she can score for herself.”
Although Medfield prevailed, Nickerson had nothing but great things to say about its opponent.
“They played great,” he praised. “Obviously, a well coached team. They gave us a lot of problems. They took away lanes [and] challenged us to shoot the three. We didn’t do a great job from three today, and they knocked down shots when they had them, went well to the hoop [and] confused us defensively. They did a lot of great things.”
With the game in the rearview mirror, the Warriors next test may be their biggest of the season as they are set to take on Westwood who stand at 5-1.
