The girls basketball team conquered the Carlmont Scots last Friday night, winning 53-37, and extending their unbeaten run to nine games. M-A dominated almost the entire game despite strong efforts to comeback by the Scots in the third quarter.
The Bears quickly took the lead early on, with sophomore Avary Sheldon and juniors Janiya Moss and Fiona Steinmetz scoring field goals in the game’s opening quarter. Carlmont responded, bringing the score to 10-9 in favor of the Bears. Senior Lauren Van Stralen countered with the first three-pointer of the game, securing the Bears’ lead. Not long after, senior Jamie Adams sunk a second three for the Bears to make it 16-9. The score was 21-11 M-A at the end of the first quarter.
Although the Bears maintained their lead, Carlmont outscored them 10-6 in the second quarter. The Scots run cut the Bears lead to just six at the half.
The Scots’ momentum continued into the third quarter as well, which Carlmont won 11-9. Carlmont managed to briefly tie the score at 32, finally exhausting M-A’s comfortable lead. However, Steinmetz responded, scoring in the paint and regaining the Bears lead.
M-A quickly regained control of the game and dominated in the fourth quarter, outscoring Carlmont 17-5 and securing the 16 point win.
In a postgame interview, Steinmetz said the Bears needed to “limit turnovers and play smarter basketball.” This was well-observed considering the majority of Carlmont’s comeback was the result of fastbreaks, not full shot-clock plays.
Sheldon echoed Steinmetz’s turnover concerns and added that the team needed more drives to the basket, saying, “We also didn’t shoot very many free throws, so we could’ve done a better job creating contact on drives.”
Adams’ and Steinmetz’s offense was a major contributing factor in M-A’s win Friday evening. The two combined to score 29 of the Bears’ 53 points. Steinmetz commented, “Jamie had a very good game all around. She always works hard and encourages people.”
Sheldon praised both Adams’ and Steinmetz’s games, noting their contributions on defense as well. Steinmetz said that the win was a good sign for future league and playoff competition: “Carlmont is one of the best teams in our league, this win shows that we are capable of going far in the playoffs this year.”
