WINCHEDON — The offense took some time to get going, but the defense was there for four quarters for the Athol girls basketball team in its season-opening 42-13 win against Murdock on Wednesday.
After putting up only four points in the first quarter, the Red Raiders put up double-digits in every quarter for the rest of the game.
“It was our first game,” Athol coach Kelly Kaczmarczyk said. “We were getting the kinks out. Once we got into a flow and an offense that was working for us you could see it was starting to work and we made our shots.”
The Red Raiders were balanced offensively with Haley Bigwood, Taylor Cleveland and Geca Baptista each scoring eight points.
Once the ball started to go through the net the shots went up with more confidence for Athol.
Baptista’s three-point play gave the Red Raiders their biggest lead of the game to that point at 21-2 in the third quarter.
Athol played a very good defensive first half. The Red Raiders were active with their hands and on the glass after a Murdock miss.
The Red Raiders (1-0) played exclusively a 3-2 zone in the half court, allowing Baptista and Bigwood to really get after ballhandlers and cause disruptions.
“Geca is good at controlling the middle and talking to her teammates,” Kaczmarczyk said. “Taylor (Cleveland) and Haley (Wrigley) really see the ball well. It just seems to work the best for us.”
Behind them was Cleveland and Haley Wrigley who went straight up against Murdock drives, making it very difficult for the Blue Devils near the rim.
Right before the half, Bigwood’s hustle saving a ball on the baseline led to a layup for Reily Polana (six points).
Bigwood had a pair of coast-to-coast layups for the Red Raiders, beating the defense down the floor after a long rebound.
The score was 14-2 at halftime.
Cleveland had four points in the second quarter to help the Red Raiders build the lead. One basket came on a running jumper on the baseline and another came after an offensive rebound.
Sophie Putnam and Kendall Deleo each had four points.
