At this point in the season every game becomes that much more meaningful for teams vying for a tournament berth.
For the Gloucester girls hoop team — which sat just outside the qualifying top 32 in the most recent Division 3 MIAA power rankings — securing as many wins as possible down the stretch is going to go a long way towards those playoff hopes.
Monday night at home, the Fishermen were able to put one of those monumental victories in their back pocket, building a double-digit halftime lead over Salem before cruising to the finish line from there for a 52-33 decision.
Junior Taiya Mano, who recently returned from injury, was the catalyst, dropping 15 points with some sharpshooting from beyond the arc to lead the charge.
“We were up 13 at half and I told the girls, ‘Let’s try to extend the lead in the third quarter’, and we did,” said Gloucester head coach Tommy McDonald, his team now 4-9 and sitting at No. 36 in the power rankings.
“We’ve been struggling in third quarters so to have some success there was really good for us and good for the girls’ confidence.”
Mano, a versatile guard who spends time at the point and off the ball, knocked down some big triples in the second half. She finished with three makes from deep on the evening and brought some terrific defense to the table throughout.
“We had a competitive first three quarters but Gloucester made a lot of tough threes which opened up the game in the second half,” admitted Salem coach David Kazadi, his team now 1-4. “It was good defense but they were able to get their shots off, especially No. 3 (Mano).”
In addition to Mano, the Fishermen got a huge boost from sophomore Jordan Purdue Del Torchio, the team’s leading scorer and a nightly double-double threat. Purdue Del Torchio was unable to suit up for the first half after missing some time with injury/sickness, but was inserted into the game after the break and finished with 11 points. Lexi Carollo added 10 points, and having three players finish in double figures was a welcome sight for McDonald.
Gloucester shined defensively, too, forcing a number of turnovers that helped ignite their offense on the fly.
“Defensively we gave good ball pressure; that was key,” added McDonald. “I thought our scoring being well rounded rather than dominated by just a couple people, that means the ball was moving more which is great. But it all started with our defense. We practice defense a lot in practice so it was good to see it carry over to the game.”
With post presence Abby Stauffer, one of the top rebounders on the team, unavailable due to an illness, freshman Olivia Madruga stepped up in a big way. She crashed the glass hard, played physical defense without fouling, and filled in well overall down low despite giving up some size. Stauffer should be ready to return in her team’s next outing, but it’s nice to have others that can help fill the void when she’s out.
For Salem, which is still trying to find its legs after a long layoff in the middle of the campaign, senior Isvely Severino dropped a game-high 21 points to go with eight rebounds and five blocks. Fellow senior Kianny Mirabel-Nunez contributed eight points in the setback.
Gloucester will be back in action on Thursday when it hits the road to take on a Swampscott team that topped them last time around by a single point. McDonald feels confident going into that one, especially with Mano back in the fold and playing great basketball.
“Having her back, I mean she’s one of the most important players on the team,” he said. “She’s our best perimeter defender, one of our best scorers and a great 3-point shooter. She’s provided a nice boost for us.
“We’re hoping to have two really good practices to prepare for Swampscott and hopefully go down there and take care of business.”