The Gloucester girls basketball team is already in playoff mode.
Needing to win each of their final two regular season games this week to qualify for the Division 3 state tournament, the Fishermen hosted Everett on Tuesday for Senior Night to kick things off.
Not only did Gloucester’s lone senior Taiya Mano turn in a terrific performance, but so did the rest of her team in what wound up being a dominant 59-28 decision.
Now Gloucester looks ahead to Thursday’s finale back at home against Winthrop, with a victory there officially securing them a winning record and a spot in the dance.
“It was great for the girls to win on Senior Night and I was really happy for Taiya to have such a good performance,” said Gloucester head coach Tommy McDonald, his young team now sitting at 9-9. “It has to be tough being the only senior, but she’s been a great sport about it and has really bonded with the underclassmen and I commend her for that. She had a lot of family and friends there tonight so I was happy for her to have that support. It was a good night all around.”
After honoring Mano — who finished with 14 points while knocking down four triples — Gloucester admittedly got off to a bit of a sluggish start. Maybe it was nerves playing on Senior Night, or realizing the fact that it was a must-win game to keep their season alive.
Regardless, they soon figured things out, settled in and started to play true team basketball.
After neither team was able to find the scoreboard over the first four minutes of action, McDonald called a timeout and got his girls to reset. The hosts went on to build a 13-5 lead after one quarter, and a 32-11 advantage at the break in the runaway triumph.
“I had to call that timeout, make a few adjustments,” said McDonald. “I felt like we were rushing at first and obviously it was a high emotion game with us wanting to win it for Taiya. They did a good job of regrouping and the second quarter we pushed the lead to 20. It was great to do that against Everett who plays really hard and intense; they’re physical, and they were coming off a win against Revere.”
While Mano was splashing threes, junior standout Jordan Perdue-Deltorchio continued her dominant campaign by getting to the rim and finishing in traffic. She dropped a game-high 26 points — again on all two-point baskets and free throws — and was her usual strong self on the glass.
Sophomore guard Olivia Madruga was also productive, nailing three triples of her own en route to 11 points. And starting center Gabby Martell more than did her part in the post, swatting numerous shots, leading the charge in the rebounding department and scoring all six of her points in the second half to aid in the winning effort.
Coach McDonald also singled out the play from the rest of his starters and the bench in what was a complete team effort from start to finish. Sophomore Natasha Depaula turned in some strong minutes on both sides of the ball, as did classmate Jocelyn Maddalena and freshman Adeline Amero.
“The entire team has gotten better, and even the role players did a lot of the little things tonight that gave us a spark off the bench,” said McDonald. “Everyone contributed which makes things a lot easier for us.”
It was an encouraging performance for a youthful group that rosters just eight girls on varsity and has largely exceeded expectations this year. They Fishermen will look to carry the momentum into Thursday’s rematch against Winthrop with a spot in the playoffs on the line. Gloucester topped the Vikings 38-33 in their first meeting back in late December.
“It’s definitely good to have momentum coming off this win, but Winthrop is a good team,” said McDonald. “It’s really hard to beat a team twice; they’re physical, they have some size, so we hope to have a really good practice (on Wednesday) and prepare for them.”
Gloucester 59, Everett 28
Gloucester (9-9) 13 19 16 11 59
Everett (3-16) 5 6 11 6 28
Individual statistics
Gloucester — Jordan Perdue-Deltorchio 12-2-26, Taiya Mano 5-0-16, Olivia Madruga 4-0-11, Gabby Martell 3-0-6, Addy Amero 1-0-2, Natasha Depaula 0-0-0, Jocelyn Maddalena 0-0-0. Totals: 25-2-59.
Halftime: 32-11, Gloucester
3-Pointers: G, Mano 4, Madruga 3.
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.