Page 16 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, FEbRuARy 16, 2024 Everett girls bounce back to beat Lawrence to remain alive for the postseason Non-league Marblehead comes to town Monday afternoon to wrap up regular season Everett’s Malaica Guillaume dived for the ball as a Lawrence player reached over her during Monday’s win at Everett. (Advocate photos by Emily Harney) Emilia Maria-Babcock goes up for a basket. Malaica Guillaume with the ball for Everett. Katerin Landaverde looks for an open teammate. By Joe McConnell he Everett High School girls’ basketball team (810) is in the process of winding down the regular season still needing two wins to clinch a state tournament berth after losing to Medford, 50-33 on Feb. 8, before beating Lawrence at home Monday night in a close contest, 50-48. Against the Mustangs, Malaica Guillaume paced the offensive attack with 17 points, T while pulling down six boards. Coach Riley Dunn’s squad then had to beat the Lawrence Lancers to keep its postseason dreams alive, and they did just that in a memorable thrilling game. “This was a huge bounce back win for us,” said Dunn after the game. “I’m so proud of my girls’ mental toughness, discipline and confidence (to persevere in the end). It was a very physical battle throughout the entire game, and hats off to a very well-coached and competitive Lawrence team that gave us all we could handle.” Emilia Maria Babcock turned in an impressive stat line to lead her teammates to victory against Lawrence. It included 22 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals. Breaking it down even further, she was nearly perfect from the free throw line, going 10-for12, while also hitting some big shots under pressure. Guillaume continued her exemplary play on the court after coming up with 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals during Monday night’s non-league win. Taisha Alexandre, Kat Landaverde and Kaesta Sandy played some major impactful minutes against Lawrence, according to Dunn. “They made some big offensive and defensive plays when we needed them the most,” the coach added. “Also, Sonia Constanza Flores and Casey Martinez were a consistent and reliable force on the defensive end, making crucial plays that won’t show up on any stat sheet.” After that Lawrence thriller, the Everett girls had two more regular season games left on the schedule, needing to win them both to make the states. They first took on non-league Lowell last night (Feb. 15) after press deadline, before Marblehead comes to town on Monday (Feb. 19) for a 3 p.m. game. “I believe in this team,” said Dunn prior to these two critical contests.
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