By DAN PAWLOWSKI
SAUGUS — The Wakefield High girls’ basketball team traveled to Saugus yesterday and left town with a convincing 58-28 victory, improving to 3-1 on the season.
The Warriors were led by senior captain Emma Quinn (18 pts, 2 stl) and junior Aliza Margolis (17 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast). Quinn (3) and Margolis (5) combined for 8 triples. With 3’s also from junior Brooklyn Calder (5 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast), sophomore Emma Ickes (8 pts, 4 reb) and junior Jade Waterhouse, the Warriors hit a total of 11 from beyond the arc, accounting for more than half of their points.
The Wakefield 3-party started in the 1st quarter when Ickes opened the scoring from the right wing. Margolis knocked down two 3’s in the 1st as the Warriors went to work on breaking a 2-3 Saugus zone.
Wakefield’s defense, which was relentless throughout, set the tone in a close opening frame as the Warriors took an 11-8 lead into the 2nd.
The 2nd was similar with Margolis, Quinn and Calder hitting triples to take an 11-point lead but Saugus battled back to keep the game close. Senior captain Savannah Cummings (3 pts, 8 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk) helped the Warriors finish the quarter strong by blocking a shot, running the floor and getting a put-back off a miss as the visitors took a 24-16 lead into the break.
An 8-point halftime lead is certainly a great place to be, but this Wakefield team, ranked in the state’s top 20, always knows when they can reach another level.
The Warriors certainly reached that in a second half in which they outscored the Sachems 34-12.
That advantage was even more noticeable in the 3rd when Wakefield ran away with the game, winning the frame by an 18-2 count. In fact, it was an 18-0 run for most of the 3rd that sealed it. Margolis had 8 points including 2 3’s during this run in which 5 different Warriors scored including Ickes who had 5 points during this stretch.
Meanwhile, Wakefield’s defense elevated from relentless to dominant, rotating, communicating, contesting shots and rebounding well.
All facets of the defense were on display in this one as guards Margolis and junior Shea Suntken pressured the ball to force turnovers, forwards Quinn, Calder and Ickes proved their versatility by getting steals and blocking shots and centers Cummings and senior captain Grace McHugh controlled the paint, altering and blocking shots while communicating from the back line.
It’s this defense that makes the Warriors so frustrating to play against, a trademark of head coach Jason Pavey’s teams over the last six seasons. This might be his best one yet.
That defense combined perfectly with Wakefield’s lights-out shooting yesterday as the visitors continued to cruise in a 4th that belonged to Quinn, who dropped 11 in the quarter including an and-one and 2 3’s to help the team finish strong.
Wakefield will look to keep it going on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. when they travel to Div. 1 Belmont for a tough test against the 2-2 Marauders, a team currently rated 13th in D1.
Wakefield v. Saugus Box Score
| Name | Pts | Reb | Ast | Stl | Blk | |
| Quinn | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Margolis | 17 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Ickes | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Calder | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cummings | 3 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| Waterhouse | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| McHugh | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Suntken | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 58 | 25 | 11 | 6 | 8 |