By Kevin McCaskill Jr.
The Longmeadow HS Girl’s were on a mission tonight: grab every rebound possible.
While they may not have grabbed “every” rebound, they took down more than enough and completely dominated Baystate tonight, 48-24.
The game got off to a weird start; there was a shot clock malfunction. The technical issue didn’t take long to fix and the game started its regular course.
The first quarter was tightly contested. Both teams were cold early but a shot by Jaysha Oquendo and a 3 by Keyara Narcisse got Baystate an early 5-2 lead.
(Keyara Narcisse at the FT line)
4 straight FTs by Longmeadow - 2 each by Gabby Kingston and Sophia Wright - got the Lancers ahead of Baystate and they never looked back
Breeann Lee Morin came in the game off the bench for Longmeadow and hit a jumpshot to put Longmeadow up 8-5. A layup off an offensive rebound for Baystate narrowed the lead to 8-7.
Baystate could never muster up enough offense to come back in the game. Longmeadow was active on both the defensive and offensive boards. The activity on the offensive glass, in addition to Longmeadow continuously getting to the rim, earned Longmeadow 19 FTA; Baystate had 9 FTA.
Longmeadow also moved the ball well. Every chance they got to fast-break, they did and converted their open layups.
The standouts for Baystate were the previously mentioned Keyara Narcisse and Jaysha Oquendo. Narcisse has great dribbling skills and she is a good shooter. She also drives to he basket effectively. Narcisse had 9 points; Oqunedo had 8 points
(Keyara Narcisse drives in the lane)
Other scorers for Baystate:
A. Perez - 5 points
Y. Arroyo - 2 points
Scorers for Longmeadow:
Gabby Kingston - 12 points
Meghan Kelly & Breann Lee Morin - 6 points each
London Cannon-Eckerle & Gillians Joseph - 5 points each
Grace Levin, Ally Matz & Sierra Geiger - 4 points each
Sophia Wright - 2 points
(Gabby Kingston going up for a layup)
After the game, I spoke briefly with Baystate Head Coach Tiara Johnson. Johnson is in her 1st season as Head Coach and her 2nd season in the program. She said that for the team's next game they have to improve on "boxing-out", movement on offense and "team-work".
Johnson, similar to other coaches, is "super excited" to have basketball back in Western MA. She was worried that the five Seniors on her team wouldn't have a Senior season.
While this season is anything but normal, it is refreshing to see the players playing and their families getting to watch. FP SPORTS will give as much Western MA HS 🏀 coverage as possible.
🙏🏽
Note: The Baystate Academy Girls team has players from Paulo Freire on the roster