From left: Kate Drummey, Casey Magrath, and Sue Ross. Despite a strong defense by the Lady Trojans, the West Boylston Lions topped Bromfield by 10 points. (Photos by Ellen Harasimowicz)

Sue Ross looks for an open teammate.

The Bromfield Trojans girls basketball squad put up a fight with strong defense against the West Boylston Lions Friday, Jan. 20, but fell 10 points short in their toughest game of the season, with a final score of 26-36.

Junior starting center Sue Ross won the jump ball for Bromfield to start the game. Katja Lierhaus, starting forward and senior co-captain, assisted junior starter Montana Burke for a layup and the team's opening basket.

On offense, the Bromfield players effectively overcame a full-court press by West Boylston with lots of quick passes and successfully running their plays. Teammate and junior starting point guard Casey Magrath finished the first period with a hook shot, putting her team only one point behind entering the second quarter.

Ross scored Bromfield's only point in the second quarter on a free-throw shot. Burke and Lierhaus each had three rebounds and two steals in the first half. Off the bench, freshman Kirsten Sundeen made a defensive steal to keep the ball in Bromfield's possession. Bromfield was down 8-13 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Bromfield stepped up offensively, scoring 11 points. Burke hit a three-point shot and one free throw, freshman Amy Jorgenson scored off an inbound pass under the basket, Magrath scored a layup and a free-throw shot, and Lierhaus sank a jump shot.

Because she had accumulated four fouls, defensive powerhouse Lierhaus sat on the bench for most of the third quarter.

Bromfield shifted from having an offense-intensive third quarter to a more defensively strong final quarter of the game.

"We came out ready to fight for the biggest win of the season, but as the game progressed and the defense of both teams stayed strong, our shots were the ones that had a harder time falling," said senior Molly Papazian.

Ross had five rebounds in only eight minutes.

West Boylston was able to maintain their lead by scoring ten more points in the fourth quarter while Bromfield added only seven to their score.

Lierhaus led her team defensively throughout the entire game and made several rebounds. With two minutes and 59 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Lierhaus fouled out of the game.

"We definitely suffered losing [Lierhaus] at the end. She had an amazing game overall," Magrath said.

"It was definitely our best defensive game all year," Magrath said after the game. "The game was a battle of defense and even though we had lots of shots that wouldn't drop, overall we played a great game. We're moving on and we have work to do to get ready for upcoming games."

The Lady Trojans' next opponents will be the Ayer-Shirley Panthers in a crucial league game on Friday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. in Ayer.

"Although we lost, we had all around great effort. I could tell that our whole team gave one hundred percent," Lierhaus said. "We showed that we can compete with arguably the best team that we'll play this year, and knowing that is a huge success compared to last year."