The Dedham High girls basketball team hasn’t quite solved their habit of starting slow this winter, but at least the Marauders are starting to get better at finishing their comebacks.
Dedham rallied from a halftime deficit to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter and pulled away for a 53-43 win last night to improve 4-5 overall and 3-4 in the Bay State Conference. It was the first win in Natick in the four-year tenure of coaches John Maida and Don Savi.
“It was an uphill battle all night,” said Maida. “We started sluggish but we were still in the game. We were getting good looks, we just needed to convert and we converted in the second half.”
After trailing by eight early and 26-21 at the break, Dedham knotted it at 36-all after three quarters. Andrea Vogt led the Marauders with 17 points and 10 rebounds, including three of Dedham’s six 3-pointers.
Jill Moses added 16 points while Nicole Savi had 11 points and seven assists for Dedham, which was without starting forward Allie Treanor due to an ankle injury.
The Rebels remained perfect heading into their huge clash with BSC Herget co-leading Wellesley on Friday, taking control early against the Wildcats to improve to 7-0.
Walpole, which turned the ball over just eight times all night, led by as many as 25 in the second half before cruising to the finish line. Sydni Salvatore’s 21 points led the Rebels while Michaela Cosby had 15 points and seven rebounds and Liz Malone chipped in a career-high 10 points.
“Everybody got some good minutes,” said Walpole coach Stacy Bilodeau. “I was little bit concerned about tonight. I didn’t want them looking past tonight because they are so fired up for Friday.”
The defending Division 2 state champs stayed unbeaten and kept the Mustangs without a win last night.
Norwood, which trailed 37-17 at the half, had trouble handling the Raiders excellent backcourt of Mary Louse Dixon and Blake Dietrick, who combined for 34 points.
The Mustangs put three scorers in double figures as Tahirah Gibson tossed in 13 and Emily Dixon and Stephanie Perry each added 11, while Emily Whitney played a strong defense game.
The Wolverines made it three straight wins to improve to 5-3 on the season with a home rout of the Blackhawks.
Erin Young led the way with 13 points for Westwood while Kelly Casey added 10 and Kelly Rich eight. Former Westwood star Lindsay Hallion guided the squad to the win, filling in for head coach Brianne Bognanno.
The Wolverines racked up their highest point total of the season, notching their third consecutive win after dropping six straight to begin the year.
Westwood used a 23-point second quarter to built a 36-16 lead at the break. Four Wolverines reached double figures in points, led by Robert Bambini’s 16.
Matt Powers had 13 while Ries McQuillan and Macston Maccow each added 10 for Westwood, which shot over 50 percent for the contest.
“The key tonight was getting out and running the floor in the first half,” said Westwood coach Mike Reidy. “We had a lot of transition opportunities in the first half.”
For the second time in as many contests the Marauders came up two points shy, falling to the visiting Red and Blue last night.
Nick Walch paced Dedham (4-6, 2-5) with 17 points while Doug Aitchison was the only other Marauder to crack double figures with 10.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating. The kids are competing, right in the mix,” said Dedham coach Ed Hickey of the close defeats. “It’s fun being in close games but it was frustrating tonight because we didn’t get a good look at the end of the game. We’ve got to keep improving and work at getting over the hump.”
The game was close throughout, tied at halftime with neither team able to build a lead of more than two possessions for much of the contest.
The Mustangs shot less than 40 percent from the field and the line in a road loss last night to fall to 4-5 overall and 2-5 in the BSC.
Chris Johnson and Matt Clifford were each limited to just seven points on the night. Mike Goodwin was the lone Norwood player in double figures with 19.
“We didn’t play any defense. It wasn’t turnovers or rebounding, it was guys driving right down the middle and getting a layup,” said Norwood coach Rich Cormier.
Joel Pollick led the Raiders, winners of five straight since opening the season 0-4, with 19 points.
The Hawks were stifled on the offensive end by the Eagles, dropping to 1-8 overall and 0-3 on the Catholic Conference.
BC High’s post duo of Colin Halpin and Jameel Galloway had 20 first-half points as the Hawks trailed 31-15 at the break. Ted Amendola was the only one on double figures scoring for the Xaverian with 11 while J.P. Wilkinson added eight points.
“We didn’t shoot very well but they defended very well and had an inside presence, especially early in the game,” said Xaverian coach Alex Salachi.
