Saugus girls go 5-1 after slow start

  The Saugus High School girls’ basketball team seems to have found its footing at the midway point of the season. The Sachems finished off a stretch of five wins in six games with a 42-34 victory over the Danvers Falcons on Tuesday night at the Middle-High School gym. Saugus was coming off an impressive 51-40 home triumph over the Lynn Classical Rams the night before. The Sachems appeared a bit out of sorts with their execution through portions of Tuesday’s contest against Danvers but managed to execute when needed to notch the win.

  The Sachems held the visitors to just eight points in the first half and owned a comfortable 22-8 lead at halftime. The Falcons proved to be a tougher foe during the next 16 minutes, outscoring Saugus 26-20 over the final two quarters. The Falcons beat the Sachems earlier this season at Danvers. Key fourth-quarter three-pointers from Ella Castle and April Aldred helped quiet a Danvers resurgence and preserve the Saugus win. Castle ended up as leading scorer with 10 points, followed by eighth-grader Peyton DiBiasio with eight, Fallon Millerick with seven and Aldred and Ashleen Escobar with six each.

  In the previous night’s win over Classical, Millerick poured in 14 points and Castle contributed 12 to lead Saugus, which pulled away after holding a close 25-23 lead after two periods. Ashleigh Moore added seven points, DiBiasio and Aldred, six each, and Cassandra Israelson, three. Escobar hauled down nine rebounds.

  Head Coach Mark Schruender praised the all-around play of his squad after the game. “I loved the way we moved and distributed the ball out there,” he told the press. “The girls were incredibly unselfish, and we had a ton of girls make shots for us.”

  Last Friday night, the Sachems rebounded from the previous evening’s 58-43 loss at Masconomet with a low-scoring, hard-fought 30-28 victory at Marblehead, a team that had seven wins entering the contest. Both teams played stellar defense. The Sachems came out on top with the aid of a clutch three-point shot by Jessica Bremberg with about a minute left in the game. Castle led the Sachems with eight points and DiBiasio had six.

  Millerick produced a big offensive effort with 17 points in the loss at Masco. Also contributing on the scoreboard were DiBiasio with 12 and Bremberg with four.

  The 6-4 Sachems face a huge test on Friday night when they play at 10-1 Peabody.