Manchester-Essex girls get by Triton 37-21 with strong second half

(Byfield) Manchester-Essex put together a strong second half and defeated Triton, 37-21, in Cape Ann League girls action on Monday night.

The Vikings (1-10) trailed only by three (17-14) with 3 ½ minutes left in the third quarter but were done in by a ten-point run by the Hornets (4-7) over the next 2 ½ minutes.

This good segment of offense for ME opened up a 27-14 advantage that turnover-prone Triton could not recover from the rest of the way.

The point scorers for the Hornets during the game-deciding run were Maya Heath (two free throws), Sam Taylor (converted rebound), Liza Logue (layup), and Ivy Silag Sterns (layup and jump shot).

The run of points was certainly a factor in the Hornet win but equally important was a second half in which they took better care of the ball.  In the first half ME had fourteen giveaways (by my count) while in the second half the miscues fell to six.  With fewer turnovers the Hornets were able to get more shots and enough of their attempts went in to result in a victory.

Triton went down 6-0 early but thanks to converted rebounds by Kaitlyn Muldowney and Harley Wood, as well a long shot by Kaitlyn, the Vikings tied the score early in the second quarter.

Triton was within two (13-11) just before halftime but Sydney Christopher nailed a last-second shot for ME giving the visitor a 15-11 halftime lead.

The Vikings were still in contention down only 17-14 after an Amanda Colpitts layup in the third quarter.

However, Triton put together a stretch of poor ball management (five turnovers) that coincided with ME making shots. That combination did in the home team.

The Vikings had seventeen turnovers in the second half while ME had only six.  Both teams applied full-court pressure.

Freshman Sydney Christopher (nine points) led the Hornet scorers.  Liza Logue had seven and Ivy Silag Sterns six.

Kaitlyn Muldowney was Triton’s top point getter with eight points.

The best pass in this game was a long inbounds pass from Sydney Christopher to a breaking Ivy Silag Stearns that set up Ivy for a layup in the final quarter.

Triton and Manchester-Essex met on December 28th in a tournament non-league game which the Hornets won, 35-24.

Division 4 Manchester-Essex was 5-16 last season.  They are now 2-6 in the Cape Ann League.

Division 3 Triton last won four weeks ago defeating East Boston.  The Vikings were 4-16 last season.

There is no pattern to the games I will be cover.  My first inclination is to watch top teams play – I saw the Pentucket girls defeat Billerica.  I expect to see the Central Catholic boys (9-1) face a very good Lowell team on Friday night.

However, I am also drawn to games in which the two teams have losing records.  It is my belief that the intensity will be very high as both teams go after something that has been hard for them to get.

Such was the case in the Triton/ME game.  The effort by both teams was apparent and for 2 ½ quarters this game was even.  Triton gave it their best shot and never let up.

Manchester-Essex box score

Triton box score

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)