THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023 Page 13 Sachem girls earn 8th win at Beverly By Greg Phipps A s the season progresses, the Saugus High School girls’ basketball team appears to be getting more formidable with every game. The Sachems rolled to double-digit Saugus guard Peyton DiBiasio continued her scoring surge by netting 25 points in Tuesday’s road win over Beverly. road wins over Swampscott last Friday and Beverly on Tuesday to increase their victory total to eight for the season. As has become a regular occurrence of late, freshman guard Peyton DiBiasio keyed the off ensive attack with a combined 41 points in the two wins. She poured in 16 in a 53-26 pasting of the Big Blue last Friday. Ashleen Escobar contributed seven points, and Saugus as a team nailed 11 shots from beyond the arc. Helping out in that category were Taylor Deleidi, Juliana Powers, Ana Silva and Ashleigh Moore. The Sachems built an imposing 41-21 lead after three periods and were never threatened from there. Head Coach Mark Schruender told the press after the game that the Sachems used their athleticism and quickness to pressure Swampscott and perhaps tire out the home team. In Tuesday’s 48-32 triumph at Beverly, DiBiasio finished with 25 points, as the Sachems pulled out to a fast start and led 25-11 at the half. “Beverly closed the gap and went on a little run at one point, but we countered with a run of our own and put things out of reach in the fourth quarter,” Schruender observed after it was over. DiBiasio drilled five shots from three-point land while Escobar and Devany Millerick combined for 13 points. Ana Silva sank an important three-pointer in the third quarter to help stave off Beverly’s comeback bid, and Jessica Bremberg was a force on the boards with eight rebounds, as well as getting extra possessions on jump balls and defl ections. Schruender also cited Madi Femino for her defensive play and effective trapping, and Moore for her excellent passing and getting others involved in the offense. “Overall, it was a great team win and all 11 players that played made some type of positive contribution,” said Schruender. Tuesday’s victory gave Saugus an 8-4 overall record entering Friday’s Win streak ends for Saugus boys against Panthers By Greg Phipps T he Saugus High School boys’ basketball team was riding a sturdy winning streak heading into Tuesday night’s home contest against the Top-25 stateranked Beverly Panthers. As it turned out, Sachems battled hard but couldn’t keep up with the visitors in an eventual 6841 setback. As of this week, Beverly was ranked 24th in the state with four losses on its record. It’s not as dominating as the Panthers were last season when they went undefeated until their 20th regular season game. They fi nished 21-3 overall last winter after being eliminated in the second round of the playoff s. On the other side, Saugus is a much-improved squad from the team that missed the postseason in 2021-22. The Sachems got a double-digit scoring eff ort from Ben Tapia-Gately with 14 points. Chris Flynn also had a solid outing with nine points. Prior to Tuesday’s loss, the Sachems had won four straight, including a comefrom-behind 59-50 victory over the Swampscott Big Blue last Friday at home. Much like the season opener the two teams played at Swampscott, which Saugus won by a 59-54 score, the game was a backand-forth aff air. But it was the Sachems who executed and finished better in the fi nal quarter. Saugus trailed by fi ve late in the third when back-to-back three-pointers by Tapia-Gately and Flynn helped make it a 37-36 Swampscott edge entering the fi nal eight minutes. Saugus went on to outscore the Big Blue 23-13 in the fi nal quarter to secure its ninth victory of the season. Three Sachems — Tapia-Gately, Isaiah Rodriguez, and Josh Osawe — ended up with 15-point nights. Contributing seven points each to the cause were Max Anajjar and Flynn. The Sachems sit at 9-4 overall on the season with a home contest against Lynn Tech on tap for Monday (scheduled 7 p.m. start). Saugus lost a close one-point overtime game to the Tigers when the two teams met back in December. Saugus’s Jessica Bremberg came up big with eight rebounds against Beverly on Tuesday. home game against Winthrop (scheduled 7 p.m. tap). The Sachems are then on the road again when they travel to play Triton next Tuesday. Saugus’s Ben Tapia-Gately led the off ense with 14 points in a loss against highly-ranked Beverly on Tuesday at home. (Advocate photo by Greg Phipps)
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