Leading Attleboro by four points early in the fourth quarter, the Stoughton High girls' basketball team was able to pull away and cement a 57-47 win Friday night at home thanks to a balanced offensive attack, led by the team's three captains.
Mackenzie McGrath paced the Black Knights with 20-points, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer heading into the half. Nicole Daniels had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals, while Emma Zuk had 8 points and 5 assists.
"We had big nights tonight from Nicole Daniels and Mackenzie McGrath," Stoughton coach Janet Sullivan said. "Emma Zuk runs the [offense] and had two huge three-pointers in the second half when we were having a little drought there."
The first three-pointer from Zuk gave Stoughton a 43-35 lead with 1:28 left to go in the third quarter, but a pair of 2-point shots from Attleboro's Beth Clifton over the next four minutes of play cut the Stoughton lead to four.
Zuk then came through with her second 3-pointer (from the same spot on the court) with 5:30 left to play in the fourth. Ashley Medeiros then stole the ball on the next possession, taking the ball to the hoop for a layup. Stoughton went inside on its next two possessions with Ariene Ohimor and Nicole Daniels scoring and opening up the lead.
With both the inside and outside game working on offense, especially in the fourth quarter, Stoughton came away with a 10-point win, starting the season 1-0. Meanwhile, Attleboro falls to 2-1.
"In the first quarter we didn't use our inside game at all. In the second quarter we went inside and that's our strength. We had great outside shooting so they had to extend out [and] that opens it up inside for our post players so in the second quarter we had great balance and that's why we pulled ahead," Sullivan said.
"In the third quarter we reverted back again and stopped using the inside game. In the fourth quarter it came alive again."
Medeiros added 8 points and had 5 steals. Motley had 9 rebounds. And, Ariene Ohimor provided a spark with 6 points and 6 rebounds.
"[Ohimor] came in and just gave us huge minutes and just pulled down some really impressive rebounds at critical moments," Sullivan said.
Bri Hochwarter had 19 points for Attleboro, but was limited to six in the second half. Bri Laplume added 11 points.
"They have some great outside shooters [but] we played tough enough on defense to hold their great shooters in check," Sullivan said.
Stoughton is next in action Tuesday when the Black Knights take on Hockomock League Davenport Division rival Sharon at home.