GARDNER — At first, it seemed as if the Oakmont girls summer basketball team was going to run away with things during Wednesday’s matchup against Mahar A. Mahar A had a glimpse of hope, bringing the game to within two during the second half, but Oakmont eventually came away with the 43-32 win.
“Especially the more experienced girls, they tried to slow things down and didn’t panic, dribbled through the press and really had quick ball movement” said Mahar A coach Scott Parker. “It really paid off, the three-quick pass, to really open up shots. In summer ball, you’re really trying to get all the girls in there and you can tell the difference between the varsity girls and junior varsity girls but I’m just glad everyone is giving it a tremendous effort all the time.”
The Mahar girls basketball program is broken into two teams within the Gardner summer basketball league. Mahar A consists of varsity and junior varsity players, while the Mahar B team consists of girls currently in seventh and eighth grade.
Jazmyn Vautour led Mahar A with 13 points. Micalyn Mailloux contributed nine points, while Mary Anne Prescott and Tori Tenney added four points each and Siobhan Davis two.
Half-way through the first half, Mahar A went down 18-6, giving up four straight baskets off turnovers and two consecutive mid-range jumpers. During that span, Mahar A went eight minutes and 52 seconds without a point, which ended when Tenney netted a basket from underneath the hoop.
“These kids haven’t really played ball in almost three quarters of a year, so they’ve kind of forgotten what the press-break is about,” said Parker. “We really started jamming up the press. We were too clustered and we weren’t really making that first pass. You’ve always got to pass through a press.”
Mahar A came out of the second half on an 8-0 thanks to two three-pointers from Mailloux and a long jumper by Tenney, which put their team within two, 20-18.
Oakmont then turned that into a 10-2 to go up 31-20. Vautour began to take control of Mahar A’s offense, netting three consecutive baskets for eight total points. However, During Vautour’s run, Oakmont was able to match her production, keeping the game out of reach for Mahar A at 38-28. A three with 18 seconds left gave Oakmont the 43-23 win.