Following an impressive win over Taft on Friday night, Girls’ Varsity Basketball began its next game ready to continue its winning streak against another talented team. Going into the game with a record of 12-3, a win against Suffield’s strong team would boost the girls in the New England rankings. But Suffield was not willing to go down without a fight.
At the start, less than 20 hours after its previous win, Choate seemed tired and Suffield earned an early lead from a solid offense and several turnovers. However, as soon as the girls began getting to the basket and scoring, Choate’s energy was boosted.
Throughout the first half, players Sam Gallo ’19, Indi DelRocco ’21, and Jordan Obi ’20 all scored from inside and outside of the arc. Notably, Gallo received the ball and took it through the paint, scoring with a spin move around a Suffield defender. In addition, after being fouled multiple times, Gallo made her free throws to help Choate keep the game close.
On the defensive end, Choate saw some great action from Jocelyn Polansky ’19, keeping Suffield’s strong offense at bay.
Toward the end of the first half, the play on both sides became more slipshod. Choate began to become anxious, increasing the speed of play and giving way to bad passing, giving Suffield many fast breaks. Despite Suffield’s impressive ball movement and passing, the players gave up multiple fouls, helping Choate decrease any lead it had. The half ended with over 16 fouls between the two teams and a small lead for Suffield. The lead switched seven times in the first half.
Going into the second half, the Choate squad looked stronger. Despite Suffield’s performance in the first half, Choate would take and keep the lead for the majority of the second. Notably, the team gained the lead less than two minutes after the start of the second half. Choate found itself more successful in passing into the paint, using Suffield’s weaker central defense to its advantage. Choate found itself with better ball movement and shooting, but several foul shots for Suffield kept the Tigers in the game.
For the majority of the half things were the same: Choate kept its lead consistently and Suffield kept itself afloat with foul shots and the occasional two- or three-pointer. It was in the last 30 seconds where things came down to the line.
After extending the lead from two jump shots around the 2:40 mark, a Suffield jumper cut the Choate lead to three points. Suffield managed to draw two fouls in the last 30 seconds, closing the gap further. However, a foul against Choate in the last seconds would guarantee the win.
Extending its win streak to four in a row, the Choate basketball was on fire. In addition, Gallo scored her one thousandth point of her high school career, a massive achievement. The Choate girls performed well and should not be overlooked come the postseason.
