BYFIELD — This was exactly what the Newburyport girls basketball team needed.
After three humbling losses to Bishop Fenwick, Billerica and Reading over the holiday break, the Clippers had to get back to the basics. Which for them starts with the “effort plays” of basketball: Playing good, sound defense, and rebounding.
Two things they did exceptionally well Wednesday night.
Traveling to play a Triton team that was winners of two straight, Newburyport made sure that its rivals’ current streak wouldn’t reach three in a row. The Clippers dominated on the glass, and held the Vikings to just 11 second-half points to pick up a much-needed, 57-31, victory.
“We get so much when we play good defense,” said Newburyport coach Karen Grutchfield. “There are so many good things that can happen, and we didn’t do that over the past few games. I think we were more back-pedalling, we weren’t pressuring and creating transition points in those games. So hopefully we turned a little corner today.”
For Newburyport (3-3), Olivia Foley led the way with 15 points.
The 6-foot-2 junior is coming off a volleyball season this fall where she was named a CAL All-Star, and so far her talents have transitioned nicely to the other “court sport.” It was a one-possession game for most of the first half, but buckets from Foley, Brela Pavao (7 pts), Laney Schwab (6 pts) and freshman Morgan Rouba (9 pts) pushed it to a 29-20 game at the break.
And the second half was all Clippers.
Senior point guard Olivia McDonald drained a 3 early on, and baskets from Lizzie Metsker and another freshman in Clara Thompson helped Newburyport outscore Triton in the third quarter, 14-3, to break open the game. The Clippers were constantly getting second-chance opportunities after offensive rebounds, and their press generated a handful of turnovers. Credit also needs to go to senior captain Anna Seidel, who didn’t score but played excellent defense on top Triton scorer Kendall Liebert — who came in averaging 25.0 ppg but was held to 10.
“A lot of kids contributed and I saw a lot of good things from different people,” said Grutchfield. “Laney I thought was the MVP of the defense, she’s such a good athlete. I thought Anna played good defense on No. 22, their best player, and I thought Brela did a good job as well. And Olivia Foley, when she uses the backboard, she’s unstoppable.”
For Triton (2-2), Liebert’s 10 points led the way.
Despite the final score, guards Bella Basile (6 pts) and Reese Renda showed poise handling the pressure, especially in the first half. Sophomore Lily D’Andrea gave the Vikings a nice spark off the bench with 5 points, as did classmate Ashley Jones who chipped in a pair of buckets.
Newburyport will host North Reading on Friday, while Triton will welcome in Pentucket.
Newburyport 57, Triton 31
Newburyport (57): Lawton 0-0-0, Downey 0-2-2, McDonald 1-2-5, Hopwood 0-0-0, Rouba 4-0-9, Metsker 2-1-5, Seidel 0-0-0, Pavao 3-1-7, Schwab 3-0-6, Thompson 2-1-5, Bailey 1-1-3, Foley 7-1-15. Totals 23-9-57
Triton (31): Renda 0-0-0, D’Andrea 2-1-5, Lesinski 1-0-2, Jones 1-2-4, McDonald 0-1-1, Basile 2-2-6, Liebert 3-4-10, Welch 0-0-0, Hatheway 1-0-3, Johnson 0-0-0. Totals 10-10-31
3-pointers: N — McDonald, Rouba; T — Hatheway
Newburyport (3-3): 11 18 14 14 — 57
Triton (2-2): 13 7 3 8 — 31