Page 12 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, February 14, 2020 Lady Sachems edge Revere, fall to Winthrop over by 28 points a couple of weeks earlier at home. In fact, Saugus trailed by seven points at the half before regrouping and outscoring Revere by 13 over the final 16 minutes. Key factors included a momentum-changing three-pointer from Jessica Nazzaro, a huge game on the boards from Granara, and Kiley Ronan’s solid defense on Revere’s top guard, Erika Cheever. Schruender was pleased with the play from his backups. “April Aldred came in and hit a big three in the first quarter that ended up being a big basket for us down the stretch,” said Schruender. Saugus stood at 13-4 overall after Monday’s loss and hosted Medford on Wednesday and Peabody on Thursday (both after press deadline). The Lady Sachems then entertain Everett on Tuesday. Saugus forward Molly Granara looks to go up strong in Monday’s home loss to Winthrop. (Advocate Photos by Greg Phipps) By Greg Phipps H aving been on a roll – winning 11 of its last 12 games – the Saugus High School girls basketball team suffered a rare defeat on its home court Monday night. The Lady Sachems struggled from the field and fell behind by double digits in the first half in an eventual 4940 loss to Winthrop. It took double overtime for Saugus to come away with a win at Winthrop earlier in the season, and Monday’s battle was very similar. Despite their struggles scoring points, the Lady Sachems clawed back from a 17-7 deficit in the first half to close to within single digits when Shaylin Groark (game-high 12 points) connected on consecutive threepointers to make it a 17-13 contest. From there, the affair remained close, as Saugus was within one with a minute remaining in the game. But it was Winthrop that made the plays down the stretch. “We’re pretty evenly matched, as we played them earlier this year in a game we won in double overtime,” said Saugus head coach Mark Schruender. “It was a fun game to be a part of even though we came up short on the scoreboard. Games like that teach powerful lessons because if we had just made one or two more plays the outcome would have been different.” Taylor Bogdanski was the other Saugus player to reach double figures with 11 points. She was followed by Molly Granara, who netted nine. The Saugus defense was its usual aggressive self, forcing 25 Winthrop turnovers. “[The turnovers] helped us stay in it, but in the end their team hit shots when they needed to – especially from the free throw line,” Schruender observed. Last Thursday at Revere, the Lady Sachems ended up in a surprise tussle against a Lady Patriots team they had rolled Saugus guard Shaylin Groark scored a team-high 12 points in Monday’s loss to Winthrop. Lady Sachems guard Kiley Ronan goes hard to the basket against Winthrop.
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