TAUNTON, Mass. - After two discouraging losses, Taunton got back on track as they defeated Oliver Ames in a battle of the Tigers, 63-59, on Friday night.
Taunton dropped a close game to North Attleboro a week ago, 56-54 and the Tigers also fell to Franklin on Tuesday by a score of 62-22, a game in which they led 12-10 after the first quarter.
“I think we have to play well for four quarters, that’s really the key,” Taunton head coach Walter Harrigan said. “Even against Franklin, who’s one of the top teams in the state, maybe even a top five team, we were up the first quarter, it was a close game with a couple minutes left in the second quarter, and we just didn’t come out with our intensity in the third quarter. In this league, you have got to come out with intensity every single night, every quarter, everybody’s just so good.”
Taunton certainly came out with energy in their matchup against Oliver Ames. The teams matched each other through much of the first quarter, but Taunton grabbed seven straight points to take a 17-10 lead into the second. Oliver Ames quickly jumped back into the game, however, as senior guard Michaela Lievi took over the game. She dropped nine points in the quarter on 3 of 4 shooting, including a three-pointer, and she led all scorers with 17 points at halftime while her team carried a 32-30 edge into the break.
Taunton would take back control once again in the third quarter as all the scorers stepped up for the home team. Taunton went on a 17-1 run to finish the third, using contributions from their starters and from the bench. Sophomore Abigail Small brought her usual energy to the floor and created many opportunities for Taunton. Jamie Moscato dropped four points in a fifteen-second span, and seniors Anna McDaniel and Alisha Silva scored six points each during the stretch. Only a Kaitlyn McCarthy free-throw kept Taunton from scoring 17 straight points, but still Taunton carried a 53-41 advantage into the closing quarter.
Oliver Ames would not go down easily, though, and Taunton answered with some excellent defensive play. Oliver Ames started the fourth with a 7-0 run, and Lievi once again was the key for OA. Meg Hurley brought OA to within four points, but every OA basket was answered by a Taunton basket. Giovanna Diminico sealed the deal for Taunton with a free throw late in the quarter, and the Taunton Tigers held on to a 63-59 victory.
“I liked the defense,” Harrigan said. “Offensively we struggled on a few occasions. It was funny, it was a good game to watch but for a coach, it was frustrating at some points.”
Despite calls going against her team, Oliver Ames head coach Elaine Clement-Holbrook didn’t put the blame on the refs.
“[The officials] don’t put the ball in the basket for us,” she said. “I thought Taunton did a very good job defensively and that was really where we did not fulfill our obligation that we needed to fulfill. We did not defend in the first half and as a result of that, we got behind and then those situations where we should have got calls and we didn’t get calls, made it a close game like that. We didn’t give ourselves any wiggle room.”
Taunton dominated on the boards the entire game, outrebounding OA 37-15. In the fourth quarter, rebounds were 9-4 in favor of Taunton, and Oliver Ames made just 5 of 10 free throws. Taunton even turned the ball over 11 times in the fourth quarter, but Oliver Ames was unable to capitalize on most of their opportunities.
“They outrebounded us,” Clement-Holbrook said. “If you can’t defend and you can’t rebound and then you miss four critical free throws down the stretch and had a critical turnover down the stretch, that makes it tough. That makes it difficult. It would’ve been interesting to see, if we had made those free throws, what the game would have been like.”
Harrigan was pleased with his team’s effort, especially coming off the two demoralizing losses and against a strong opponent in Oliver Ames.
“Both teams were playing so hard and they’re so well coached, and the discipline on their team was really good offensively,” he said. “I thought our offensive discipline was good in spurts, not totally, but well enough to win.”
Taunton improved to 5-9 with the win and will begin a five game road trip within the city on Sunday as they visit Coyle & Cassidy. Oliver Ames, now 6-8, will host Attleboro on Tuesday.
Feedback for student reporters can be sent to [email protected]. Jarett Leonard can be followed on Twitter at @JarettLeonard02.