DANVERS — It was not, admitted Peabody High girls basketball coach Stan McKeen, “a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination.”
It was, however, a much-needed — and gritty — road victory for his Tanners.
Scoring more points in the third quarter than they had in the entire first half, the Tanners took the ball to the basketball, drew contact and made their free throws over the final 16 minutes. That, plus some clutch shooting and tight defense, gave them a 39-34 comeback victory over host Danvers at the Danvers High Fieldhouse.
Senior captain Ally Bettencourt scored 11 of her team-best 15 points in the third and fourth quarters and drained 7-of-her-11 free throws while pulling down five rebounds. Junior guard Aliana Ryan, who was scoreless at halftime, added 11 points of her own thanks to two big three-pointers and five from the charity stripe.
Peabody had scored just a single point in the second quarter and trailed the Falcons at halftime, 16-13, before beginning their comeback. They took a 28-24 lead into the final quarter and held off a push by the hosts.
“It was a win we really needed,” said McKeen, whose team improved to 3-4. “Hitting those free throws (13-of-21 overall) was big, and coming up with some key stops when we needed them was, too. Ally and Aliana had great games; so did (junior forward) Sophia Coburn (6 points, 8 rebounds).”
With Angie Djoko on their roster, Danvers (now 7-3) is never out of any game. The physically gifted junior forward made her presence known by dropping in 20 points, grabbing seven rebounds, making seven steals — and adding a number of extremely authoritative blocked shots.
Sophomore Annabel Boyd added nine points for the Falcons and junior Kayda Brown drained a three-pointer.
“Stan gets his team to play hard and do what they’re good at,” said Danvers head coach Dave Chisholm. “That’s what we’re trying to do as a program; focus on what we’re good at and beat teams that way.
“Our girls need to believe they can play with anyone in (the Northeastern Conference),” he added. “We believe it as coaches and say it all the time in practice. They have the talent.”
An inside basket by Djoko tied the game for the final time (30-30) with 4:19 left on the clock. Ally Bettencourt then got free under the basket and scored on an inbounds play to give Peabody the lead, and following a steal Lizzie Bettencourt (team-best 9 rebounds) canned a jumper to make it 34-30.
Following another Djoko basket, Ryan gave the Tanners some breathing room with an elbow trifecta with 2:20 to go.
McKeen, whose team plays Beverly Friday night, liked the work that both Lizzie Bettencourt and Coburn did in trying to neutralize Djoko down low.
“We wanted to do a better job of protecting the basketball and not waiting for passes but anticipating the play in the second half, and that fire we lit under them at halftime seemed to work,” said the coach.
Chisholm was pleased with the defensive play of junior Lila Flynn and sophomore Sienna Goldberg, the latter of which drew an offensive charge. The Falcons will be back at home Friday night against Marblehead.
Peabody 39, Danvers 34at Danvers High Fieldhouse
Peabody — Sophia Coburn 3-0-6, Aliana Ryan 2-5-11, Maia Davis 1-0-2, Ally Bettencourt 4-7-15, Lizzie Bettencourt 2-0-4, Olivia Gaynor 0-0-0, Ayla Ryan 0-0-0, Ava Ryan 0-0-0, Avery Bettencourt 0-1-1. Totals 12-13-39. Danvers — Kayda Brown 1-0-3, Kyla Moroney 0-1-1, Lila Flynn 0-0-0, Annabel Boyd 4-0-9, Angie Djoko 8-3-20, Sienna Lynch 0-0-0, Sienna Goldberg 0-0-0, Kendall Murphy 0-0-0, Jane Koulopoulos 0-1-1. Totals 13-5-34. Halftime: Danvers, 16-13.
Three-pointers: P, Ryan 2; D, Brown, Boyd, Djoko.
Records: P, 3-4; D 7-3.
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