The Bromfield girls basketball team beat Tahanto Regional High School in an aggressive game played at the Bromfield gym with a final score of 48-33 on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
At the start, sophomore starter Sue Ross won the jump ball and tapped it to teammate Casey Magrath, junior starting guard. Magrath assisted junior co-captain Montana Burke for the first two points of the game. Senior co-captain Katja Lierhaus had three rebounds and one steal in the first quarter.
Despite Tahanto's tight man-to-man defense, Bromfield's offense was able to keep the ball moving. Ross, Lierhaus, Burke, and Magrath each scored two points in the first quarter, which ended with Bromfield ahead, 8-6.
In the first half, the Bromfield players collectively achieved six steals and 17 rebounds. By successfully executing a zone defense, playing as team, and maintaining concentration, Bromfield maintained possession of the ball for the majority of the game.
Starting freshman Amy Jorgensen stood out with a clean defensive block and a two-point layup. Magrath scored five out of her total of 15 game points in the third quarter. At halftime, Bromfield was up by only three points with a score of 19-16.
"We got caught off guard by a strong start by Tahanto and did much better when we started playing our game and stopped playing to their level," said senior Molly Papazian.
Bromfield came out strong in the third quarter with back-to-back offensive plays. First, Burke assisted a two-point jump shot to Ross and then Lierhaus assisted teammate Magrath for another two points. Ross, Lierhaus, and Burke each obtained a defensive steal within a minute of play.
In spite of Bromfield's strong defense, the team maintained a lead of only five points with four minutes left in the third quarter. For the remainder of the quarter, Bromfield continued to increase their intensity and scored six more points and made five additional steals.
Although Tahanto scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, which made Bromfield nervous, it was their only one for the quarter. Bromfield outscored Tahanto with 10 points compared to their opponents' two.
Burke made a perfectly executed left-handed layup on an open breakaway down the court. Off the bench, Kirsten Sundeen scored a basket on an offensive rebound, then made a defensive steal before assisting Burke in a jump shot. On the next offensive play, Burke threw a full-court overhead pass to Magrath who scored a layup.
Lierhaus had four clean offensive blocks and again assisted Burke, who used a spin move to get around her opponent for a wide open shot at the basket. Senior Brittany Lee got fouled on a drive to the basket and made one foul shot for Bromfield's final point.
"We had a slow start in the first, but we really came out strong in the second half," Burke said. "It wasn't our best defensive game, but we held it together and got the win."
Fellow teammate Magrath agreed: "It definitely was not our best game, but we came away with a win. However, we have big games coming up at the end of our season, and the Tahanto game helped us figure out exactly what we need to work on."
Bromfield now boasts a record of 14 wins and three losses with eight league game victories, currently placing the Trojans second in the Midland-Wachusett D league. Bromfield now prepares for the last game of the season, which is on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. at home against Montachusett Regional High School.