Saugus girls’ basketball: A mid-season surge with a defensive edge

By Dom Nicastro

Saugus High School girls’ basketball coach Joe Lowe loves seeing the tactical growth and defensive tenacity of his Sachems. It’s part of what has propelled the team to a winning record of 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the Northeastern Conference as the calendar approaches mid-January.

Celebrating a recent 47-31 victory over Marblehead, Coach Lowe highlighted the team’s deliberate move away from reliance on perimeter shooting to securing 20 crucial points in the paint, doubling their previous year’s performance against the same defense. Emphasizing adaptability, he praised the team’s improved shot selection, which has contributed to them boasting the lowest points-against average in their league at just 31.3 per game. Lowe is optimistic about Saugus’s position in the Northeastern Conference at 3-1, seeing potential for a mid-season surge.

“I’m really happy with the willingness for better shot selection than just taking the first 3-point shot off a first pass,” said Lowe, the team’s first-year coach. “Early on in our first two games, we had a tendency to do that and in our game against Marblehead, who was bigger and longer than us, while playing 2-3 zone we were able to get 20 points in the paint by attacking the zone with layups. Last year for reference we had 10 points in the paint against their zone.”

Lowe said something that plagued the Sachems in the past is if they don’t hit threes, they would keep shooting them. “The growth to be able to score another way has taken a little time to get the hang of this year,” Lowe said, “but I think the game against Marblehead has shown that. I’m also happy with the fact that in our league we are giving up the least amount of points per game giving up 31.3 ppg. This shows the commitment the girls are giving on the defensive end of the court.”

Saugus went down six points in the third quarter after controlling the game early in the first quarter with a strong run by Marblehead. “We were able to weather their run and go on one of our own in the fourth quarter to pull ahead,” Lowe said. “I was really proud of the girls’ response to the adversity and not quitting. The big difference for us in this game and in past games against Marblehead is we did not settle for threes against the zone. We were able to get the ball in the short corner and high post and ended up with 20 points in the paint which is a high for us.”

Saugus had a good deal of players sick and out for the game, including captain Ashleigh Moore and Peyton DiBiasio missing three days of practice. Coach Lowe was proud of her for “toughing it out.”

In the team’s most recent game, its defense won the game. Saugus beat Gloucester, 41-32, in a grinding, back-and-forth game. Lowe said the team was sluggish to start and gave up 15 offensive rebounds in the first half. It only had nine points at half and ended up down 10 to start the third.

However, Saugus’ press generated some turnovers, and it had a monster second half from Peyton DiBiasio with 18 points in the half, and 23 overall. “I’m super proud of her poise and confidence to steady us in the third quarter to mount the comeback,” Lowe said. “Her growth as a two-way player has really shown the last two games. She took a huge charge which helped get Gloucester’s big in foul trouble.”

Ella Castle had eight points, knocking down two huge threes in the fourth quarter. Saugus was led in scoring by Ashleen Escobar with 14 points, and DiBiasio added 12 points, while Ana Silva had eight points.

“Everyone has shown some growth from the start of season to this point, but I am very proud of Ana Silva’s growth on the court,” Lowe said. “She is one of our biggest energy givers and has one of the highest plus/minus on the team. She’s currently shooting an even 50% from the field which has picked us up in certain games especially against Marblehead hitting two big threes early. “

Another person who has shown great improvement from last year is Taylor Deleidi, according to the coach. “She has been a great shooter this season,” Lowe said, “and in the past from three but has shown a willingness to attack off the dribble more as well as playing good defense in the top of our zone press.”

Saugus is fortunate to have a “Swiss Army knife” in Madison Botta. She does everything the coach asks on defense, even if it’s outside the box. “And she excels at it,” Lowe said. “She played really well in the middle of the zone [in a recent game] against a girl with a solid five inches on her. She finished with a plus-minus of +18.”

As a group, Saugus needs to polish up its rebounding and boxing-out. “We are a smaller team and need to have five people collectively keep the bigger teams we face off the glass,” Lowe said. “It’s not due to a lack of effort but more of technically being in better spots and having all five on the court go after the ball until we secure it. We are currently giving up just under 14 offensive rebounds a game which in the long run will hurt us giving teams second opportunities.”

As for the Northeastern Conference, play has been very even in terms of who is beating who, according to Lowe. “But,” he said, “I’d say Peabody sticks out the most as a team to beat, but I think we are right there. We currently sit at 3-1 in the league and are tied atop our division. I like where we sit within the league and think we will be in every game we play with a chance to win most if not all down the stretch. There are always adjustments when there is a new head coach. However, I have been in this position before and foresee us going on a run here in the middle part of this season.”