ORANGE — Micalyn Mailloux didn’t miss much from the perimeter for the Mahar girls basketball team in a 53-43 win over Athol on Wednesday afternoon.
Mailloux scored 24 points with five 3-pointers. Her shooting helped build a big lead for the Senators, but it was the shots she missed that left her frustrated.
“I was missing layups,” Mailloux said. “But every time I start with a three I get my head in the game and I do well for the rest of the game.”
The shooting was contagious for the Senators as Tori Tenney, Abby Bonk, Jazmyn Vautour and Courtney Page all hit early perimeter shots for the Senators.
“We all started to get in the game,” Mailloux said. “Everyone was shooting, moving the ball around and getting open.”
Mahar (11-7) started the game on 10-0 run made possible with several second-chance opportunities.
Athol’s defense did an effective job keeping the Senators away from the basket in the first half but the outside shots hurt the Red Raiders.
After a slow start, Athol found a rhythm offensively in the second quarter to make the score 35-19 at halftime.
Down 30-7, Geca Baptista scored nine of her 11 points to close the gap before the break.
Baptista hit two 3-pointers for the Red Raiders.
Rozlyn Nelson had some strong minutes late in the fourth for the Red Raiders. Nelson went after loose balls aggressively and hit the floor hard on two occasions.
“They never gave up,” Athol coach Kelly Kaczmarczyk said. “At halftime they told each other that. They kept fighting.”
Nelson had eight tough points for the Red Raiders (3-13). Haley Bigwood scored eight of her 13 points in the fourth quarter.
The lead that was once 23 points moved down to 10 as the Red Raiders kept applying pressure.
“We got a little lackadaisical in the second half,” Mahar coach Larry Fisher said.
Tenney had six points for Mahar while Vautour did well distributing with four assists. Taylor Cleveland had six points for the Red Raiders.
