By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The lights blared onto Walpole’s shining basketball court floor last Tuesday evening as the stage was set up for the Walpole boys’ basketball team to tip off against the Needham Rockets. The Timberwolves headed into the evening’s match with a two-game winning streak, and the Rockets were hoping to start another winning streak after their previous Friday night win against Braintree set them off on the right foot. It was a consistent battle full of energy on the court throughout the competition, with both teams working tirelessly to get to the next point. Ultimately, Walpole would fall to Needham in an eight-point deficit of 53-61.
In the first half, Walpole came onto the court ready to defend their house. Feeding off the energy from the crowd, the boys began taking their shorts and making their baskets and layups. Blocking Needham’s attempts to take a far lead, Walpole continued to stay neck and neck throughout the match, finishing the half 29-38 with Needham slightly ahead. Under excellent coaching from head coach Jenna Galster, it was noteworthy seeing just how much the team has grown throughout the beginning of the season, and how quickly they are able to make adjustments.
“The boys continually step up and leave their all on the court and I can’t ask for anything more than that, except for having fun, I want them to have fun and enjoy themselves too. I said to the kids at halftime that it’s easy things to fix, and it’s great as a coach to give that feedback on tangibles that can be changed in a matter of ten minutes. It’s also wonderful to see when they can do that, they came back out second half and made those adjustments. They played their hearts out, but we couldn’t get over the nine to eightish-point gap, which is tough, but I’m very happy with all of the boys, they’re all in whether they are on the court or bench… Our improvement is tremendous, you could see potential at the beginning of the season as a coach. You have to be patient and wait, and keep trying to get them there, I have a great coaching staff with me, and we work hard to simulate games in practices, and the kids are soaking everything up that we say which is such a cool thing,” said Galster.
After the teams reconvened during halftime, Walpole took on Needham with full force during the second half. Working together to create a wall of defense around Needham’s offense, the Timberwolves communicated well on the court, keeping their hands up. Walpole’s Kyle Jordan and Jamal Abdal-Khallaq both racked in 10 points each for the Timberwolves’ final score. Alongside them, Will Hendricks and Ryan McDonald both snagged eight points for the team as well. It was a strong team effort for the team as the time clock ticked away and the boys challenged any of the Rocket’s offensive attempts up until the very last second of the match.
Head coach Galster shared her thoughts on the effort coming from the boys during the game, and what she is most proud of as a coach.
“Our defensive end effort, we have brought the fundamentals back into practice and you can see the result of it on the court. We are making contact on the court more often, and we are there to help each other. The kids were picking up charges left and right, and that’s what you want to see,” said Galster.
The boys are now 3-6 this season and will be traveling to Newton North High to play against the Tigers at 6 PM on Friday, January 19th.
