GARDNER — After having one week off since its last game, the Mahar A girls summer basketball team used the 3-ball to defeat Fitchburg 39-18 on Monday in Gardner.
The team combined for eight 3-pointers. Micalyn Mailloux netted four 3-pointers and had a team-high 19 points. Jazmyn Vautour netted two 3-pointers and had eight points. Delaney Parker and Mary Anne Prescott each netted one 3-pointer.
Even though Mahar A found success from beyond the arc, Mahar A coach Scott Parker had instructed the team to shoot inside.
“We did shoot well, but that’s not what I want them to work on,” said Scott Parker. “We can shoot the 3-ball. We need to start working the ball inside, especially when the year gets closer and we start playing (in varsity action), we have to get some of the backside girls cutting into the paint. We have to start scoring in the paint because the threes aren’t always going to be there.”
Summer basketball is largely used for development. Scott Parker made it clear at the start of the season that he wanted to help develop the inside presence of this Mahar team. But on Monday, Mahar A largely played around the perimeter, netting only three baskets from inside the paint.
“We came right out of halftime saying ‘work in the paint, work in the paint,’” said Scott Parker. “Our first shot is a one-pass 3-pointer.”
Through all the 3-point shooting, Vautour played an important role on the defensive side of the ball, gathering in 10 rebounds. Sophia Apteker had her best game of the summer, gathering in eight rebounds and generating four points. She took in the pass and drove to the hoop to put her team up by 20 points at 26-6 with 13 minutes and 31 seconds left in the game. Apteker’s other two points came off a pass from Delaney Parker into the paint, where Apteker got the basket through one defender, putting her team up 31-6. Apteker played with a confidence not previously seen before.
“We really played some really good ball tonight,” said Scott Parker. “We attacked the rebounds, boxing out and I’m surprised we ended up with a lot of rebounds because when you’re shooting threes they don’t usually end up in the paint they fly out. But we really did that well.”
Mahar A built a 24-3 lead going into halftime. Mailloux led the charge with 15 first half points. She netted eight of her team’s first 13 points, putting her team up 13-3 on an open three from the top of the arc with six minutes and 43 seconds left in the half. The basket created a 14-0 run by Mahar A mostly created from shots beyond the arc. Delaney Parker’s layup off of an offensive rebound that put her team up 24-3 going into halftime was the only basket not created along the perimeter during the run.
Fitchburg started the second half off with three straight points off a long jumper and one free throw. Mahar A turned the run into a 7-0 run of its own to go up 31-6. The two teams traded points the rest of the way with no run lasting longer than four points.