Defeating a familiar foe served as motivation for the Oxford girls basketball team on Monday.
Oxford’s seniors remember playing in Seymour’s program during their freshman year and this familiarity with the Lady Wildcats worked to the team’s advantage.
The Lady Wolverines used this knowledge, plus their press to their benefit in a 44 – 28 home victory over Seymour.
Oxford students attended Seymour High until the new school was completed and the Class ’10 moved to the new school their sophomore year.
“The fact we played with Seymour during our freshman year helped us,” said Lady Wolverine senior quad-captain Jackie Morrissey. “We really wanted to win and it pumped us up.”
Oxford senior quad-captain Katelyn Greene said, “It was fun playing against the Seymour girls and I wanted to win so badly.”
With the win, the Lady Wolverines raised their record to 4 – 6, doubling their win total from last year (2 – 18) when they were a first-year program. If they go 4 – 6 during the second half of the season, they will qualify for the Class S tournament, a major accomplishment since they are only a second-year program. The Lady Wildcats dropped to 2 – 10.
“In order for us to get to States, we have to play as hard as we can,” said Oxford coach Ron Picard. “There are teams we can beat and we have to work hard to get it. If we make States, myself and the underclassmen owe it to the senior class.”
Morrissey (16 points, one 3‑pointer, six rebounds, one assist, four blocked shots) said, “We’re a whole different team than last year and we have much better chemistry. We work the ball well and with the path we’re going, we’ll make States.”
Greene said, “If it’s a team goal and everyone wants to make States, we’ll definitely make States.”
Based on what the Lady Wolverines showed against their neighbor to the Southeast, they definitely want to make States. Oxford’s press suffocated Seymour and made it almost impossible for its offense to get on track.
“It was our full-court press that bottled them up and got in their passing lanes,” said Picard. “The trap was great and I couldn’t ask for anything more. We won the game on defense.”
Greene (nine points, eight steals, three assists) set the tone on defense and running the offense. She went coast-to-coast for a layup off a steal for the first points of the game.
“I think we had to have a lot of patience and moved the ball well tonight,” said Greene.
Seymour didn’t quit and had a size advantage with junior Mary Kate Durette (12 points, five rebounds) and sophomore Christina Critella (13 points, 10 rebounds, one steal). Critella tied it at 5 – 5 by swishing a 3‑pointer from senior co-captain Meghan Cabrera (three assists) and Durette had a conventional three-point play with 1:58 remaining in the first quarter to give the Lady Wildcats an 8 – 5 lead.
“Going hard for the basket and not letting up was key,” said Critella.
Durette said, “I just tried to play hard, play with heart and give it all I got.”
Morrissey rallied the Lady Wolverines, hitting a layup from sophomore Hannah Lindemann (three assists), cutting it to one, 8 – 7 after one quarter. Oxford regained the lead on junior Kelsey Svenson’s (nine points, three steals, one blocked shot) coast-to-coast layup off a steal.
Citrilla put Seymour back in front with a layup but Greene’s jump shot with 7:09 left in the half put the Lady Wolverines back in front, 11 – 10, and they never trailed after that. Junior Rhiannon Bacik’s (one point) free throw gave Oxford the lead for good, 13 – 12, with 2:05 to go, and started an 8 – 0 run which gave the hosts a 20 – 12 halftime lead. Morrissey and Svenson both swished trifectas during this rally.
The Lady Wildcats were aggressive in the paint and had a chance to cut the deficit in the third quarter, but they missed six straight free throws and trailed 26 – 18 after three quarters.
“It came down to foul shooting in the end,” said Seymour coach Brian Cleveland. “When we were coming back, we didn’t connect.. The pressure we broke in the first half, we had trouble breaking in the second half.”
Durette said, “It just didn’t fall for us tonight.”
Picard credits senior quad-captain Katie Biagnoni (two points) for containing the Lady Wildcats in the paint. Biagnoni led the Lady Wolverines on the glass with 10 rebounds, five off the offensive glass. Sophomore Jordyn Tolomeo (six points, two assists, two steals) hit her shots and was a defensive sparkplug for Oxford.
Morrissey showed why she’ll be playing for Brandeis University next year by hitting shots and playing stellar defense. She was also instrumental on the glass even though it didn’t show in the box score.
“I played with Christina [Critella] before and I knew I had to front her in the post because she’s capable of scoring,” said Morrissey.
Also contributing for Seymour were senior co-captain Ali Ciocca (two assists, one steal), classmate Amber Martinez (one point), junior Alison Garman (two assists, one steal), sophomore Stephanie Orts (two points) and freshman Angela Tacinelli (one steal).
“We weren’t tough on defense and the shots didn’t fall for us,” said Citrilla.
