[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
BY DOUGLAS MCCULLOCH (@doug_mcculloch)
Despite a strong start to the season, the Walpole High girls basketball team fell to Oliver Ames last Monday in the Sue Rivard Holiday Tournament 56-40.
The game did not start off in Walpole’s favor, as Oliver Ames managed to pick up an early 19-10 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Rebels were never able to stop Oliver Ames, and the game ended with a loss.
The Rebels did manage to pick up a total of 24 turnovers during the game, and senior Kaitlin Brown led in offensive scoring with 16 points on the board, with five three-pointers.
Kathryn King picked up five points, making all of her scores in the fourth quarter. Kelly Fogarty performed strong in the first half, with seven points.
For head coach David Wall, he is already eyeing several things that went wrong for improvement.
“We didn’t handle the ball very well tonight,” Wall said. “Hopefully that’s something that’s correctable. I think it is, I think we are better than that.”
Wall noted that he is still adjusting to his new position. This is his first year as head coach of the girls basketball team.
“It’s early for them with me as a new coach, and its early for me with them as a new coach,” Wall explained. “We’re not going to hit the panic button yet but there’s a lot for us to work on this year.”
As far as this game goes, he is satisfied that his team gave it their all and kept battling to stay in the game against a tough opponent.
“[Oliver Ames] are incredibly disciplined, incredibly well coached, they don’t make mistakes,” Wall said. “You really have to play your a-game to beat a team like that and we didn’t do that tonight.”
The Rebels opened the season with a win against Natick, 40-37. The team went on to pick up two more wins, against Newton North, 54-48, and against Brookline, 45-36.
But the team’s early-season winning streak did not last, as the Rebels marked their first loss of the season against Wellesley on December 22, followed by the most recent loss against Oliver Ames.
