DANVERS — Although she did a little bit of everything else, Danvers’ standout Angie Djoko was limited to just one basket in Tuesday’s Northeastern Conference clash with Gloucester.
But on this particular night, Djoko’s teammates were more than ready to fill the void, with a number of other girls chipping in offensively to help the Falcons secure an impressive 46-40 victory on their home court.
Sophomore Annabel Boyd dropped 18, classmate Kyla Moroney had 12, and four other Falcons found the scoresheet to aid in the winning effort.
“Even when Angie, who’s our player, she has two points and we still win; that’s team sports right there,” said Danvers’ coach Dave Chisholm, his team improving to 8-4. “That’s every girl just stepping up.”
Despite not having her way offensively against some stingy Gloucester defense, particularly that of Olivia Madruga and Jordan Perdue-Deltorchio, Djoko chipped in with 12 big rebounds, three assists, two blocks and five steals that stood out most.
With Djoko leading the charge in thefts, the Falcons forced nearly 20 turnovers in the first half alone, including 15 swipes, to take a 19-13 lead. They held Gloucester to single digits in each of the first two frames, with Lila Flynn (5 steals), Kayda Brown (3 steals), Sienna Lynch (2 steals), Moroney (2 steals), and Kendall Murphy (2 steals) all getting their hands in the passing lane.
Gloucester couldn’t seem to shake the Falcons’ aggressive press early on, digging themselves in a hole it ultimately couldn’t climb out of. The Fishermen battled back, using an explosive third quarter to climb within four (31-27) heading for home.
Olivia Madruga did a nice job getting to the basket and converting, scoring eight of her 12 points after the break. Perdue-Deltorchio was her usual dominant self, driving to the rack and either finishing strong or getting to the foul line and knocking down her freebies at an efficient rate. She finished with another monster double-double (25 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block) in the losing effort.
Four points was as close as Gloucester got, as Danvers came out firing in the fourth. Boyd knocked down two huge 3-pointers that were complete backbreakers for the Fishermen.
Between those clutch outside shots and Danvers’ ability to get downhill and attack the paint with regularity throughout the evening, it was simply a recipe to success.
“Annabel was huge tonight with 18, and those two huge threes in the fourth quarter,” said Chisholm. “We just had the girls change their mentality of ‘drive to the basket, play more aggressive’, and it showed tonight. We looked to score instead of looking for that perfect shot or perfect pass. It was attack the gaps and move the ball.”
Brown added seven points and six boards in the win for Danvers, while Flynn was tremendous defensively off the bench all night.
Danvers 46, Gloucester 40
at Danvers High School
Gloucester (5-6) 7 6 14 13 40 Danvers (8-4) 11 8 12 15 46 Individual statistics Gloucester — Jordan Perdue-Deltorchio 8-9-25, Olivia Madruga 4-4-12, Taiya Mano 0-3-3; Natasha Depaula 0-0-0, Gabby Martell 0-0-0, Adeline Amero 0-0-0, Jocelyn Maddalena 0-0-0. Totals: 12-16-40.
Danvers — Sienna Lynch 0-2-2, Kayda Brown 3-0-7, Kyla Moroney 5-2-12, Madeline Shairs 1-0-3, Annabel Boyd 7-2-18, Kendall Murphy 1-0-2, Angie Djoko 1-0-2, Lila Flynn 0-0-0. Totals: 18-6-46.
Halftime: 20-13, Danvers
3-Pointers: D — Boyd 2, Shairs, Brown; G — None.
Contact Nick Giannino at NGiannino@Salemnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGiannino_SN.