Marauders girls basketball trying to find their way

Some nights you spy a glimpse of what the future may hold for the Dedham High girls basketball team. Most nights you see the reality of the young Marauders being overmatched by superior competition. If you were on Whiting Avenue Tuesday night, you got a look at both.

Paced by a career night from sophomore Jenna Savi, Dedham ripped off 12 straight points against rival Norwood to take a second-quarter edge against a Norwood team that came in focused on securing its first tournament bid in five years.

But the burst of promise faded as quickly as it appeared against the Mustangs as the visitors seized control of the contest back immediately and pulled away for a 47-31 victory that put Dedham at 2-12 overall and 1-12 in the Bay State Conference. After beating Ursuline and Framingham back-to-back last month, the Marauders have now dropped seven straight.

Savi kept the Marauders in the game for almost three quarters nearly single-handedly, scoring 24 of the Marauders’ first 28 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from 3-point land to match her career high, set earlier this season against Milton.

The rest of the Marauders struggled mightily, however, going 3-for-23 from the floor and missing all nine shots from the line. Single baskets by Emily Hill and Mary Kate Sullivan and a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter from Staci Hurst was all of the other offense Dedham could muster.

“Our free throw shooting, I think, carried over to our shooting,” said Dedham coach Don Savi. “We were 1-for10 in the first half before getting a couple at the end of the half. Our free throw shooting killed us tonight. It let them get a little bit of a lead and some confidence.”

Dedham trailed 9-2 when Savi caught fire, hitting back-to-back 3s from the top of the key to end the first quarter. After Hill finished a fast break basket to start the second off a steal and feed from fellow freshman Renee Gassler, Savi got the ball at same spot, absorbed contact and drained her third straight from distance while fouled, converting the four-point play and forcing a Norwood timeout with 6:42 left in the half and Dedham up 14-9.

It was the last Marauder field goal of the half, however, as Norwood (9-4) shifted to a 3-2 zone and rattled off the next 13 straight points, keyed by a pair of 3s off the bench from Katie Johnson, helping the Mustangs go into the break with a 25-16 lead.

“They are quick and they are scrappy and they are well-coached,” said Norwood coach Brian Meringer of Dedham. “We felt that we may have the play some zone against them instead of man-to-man. We played them man in the first quarter and they were up and we had to switch.”

Dedham hung around early in the third, getting back to within 30-25 near the midway point after Savi’s fourth 3 of the contest. But Norwood’s Justine Ryan swung the quarter in the Mustangs’ favor scoring 10 of her team-high 13 points in the period for a 39-26 lead entering the fourth.

“We had a lead in the second quarter and they switched up some thing to take some of our 3-point shooting away and we just missed too many shoots at the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second,” said coach Savi. “I was happy with the defense, but our offense came in spurts.”

The Marauders held Norwood’s talented inside tandem of Emily Dixon and Tahirah Gibson to just seven points through three quarter as the pair struggled through double teams and foul trouble. But the duo finally got going in the fourth as Dixon hit the first basket of the quarter and then fed Gibson from the high post for three easy hoops inside to stretch the lead out as high as 19.

Savi was the only Marauders in double figures Friday night, scoring 11 in a 54-23 loss to Newton North. The crosstown rivalry with Ursuline resumes tonight on Lowder Street as Dedham looks for the season sweep before the Marauders head back into BSC action against Brookline tomorrow night.