NORTH READING — The North Reading girls’ basketball team turned around a three game losing streak with a three game winning streak to improve to 4-3 on the season. After an opening CAL win over Triton, the Hornets suffered consecutive close losses at Manchester-Essex, at Stoneham and against Beverly. During the disappointing stretch, there were some highlights including Sophie Gallivan with a 17 point, 14 rebound performance against Manchester-Essex and steady scoring and rebounding performances from Allie Lanciani and Ariana Demetri.
The girls reversed the losing streak with wins over Danvers, Lynnfield and at Newburyport.
On Dec. 29, in the consolation game of the North Reading Holiday Tournament, the Hornets began the three-game winning streak with a 61-22 convincing victory over Danvers, led by All Tournament selection Allie Lanciani’s 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Maggie Schulz, the other North Reading All Tournament selection, had an outstanding all around effort with tremendous defense, 6 points and 4 rebounds. Ariana Demetri had a hot shooting hand with 16 points including 5 3-pointers. North Reading raced out to a 28-10 halftime lead and never looked back.
Returning from the holidays back to CAL play on Jan. 3, North Reading had another solid 56-37 win against rival Lynnfield. Once again, the Hornets built a commanding 31-15 halftime lead with stifling defense and solid offense.
Bella Cannalonga led the way with 11 points, 7 assists and 2 steals with plenty of support from Demetri (13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals), Caitlin Reilly (10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) and Gallivan (8 points, 9 rebounds, 6 steals).
On Friday, the Hornets traveled to Newburyport to battle the CAL champions Clippers. In a 32 minute battle, the Hornets came away with a very hard-fought 44-40 victory.
In a 4-4 first quarter, the defense for both teams was on full display. The Hornets rode a good second quarter to an 18-12 halftime lead.
Out of the break, North Reading continued their strong play building a 32-20 lead after three quarters.
A late rally by Newburyport behind some big 3-pointers led to a great finish capped by a Maggie Schulz put back, an Ariana Demetri 3-pointer and a Caitlin Reilly free throw in the two minutes to seal the win.
In a great team win, North Reading was led by senior captains Schulz (12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and amazing defense against the 6’2” Newburyport center), Cannalonga (10 points, 4 assists), Reilly (10 points, 2 assists, 2 steals) and Demetri (9 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals).
“I think the early season losing streak was a growing pain that served as a valuable learning lesson for our young team,” said head coach Bob Romeo. “As a group, we were able to figure some things out, make some adjustment, and form an identity as a team.
“We have 13 challenging and competitive games remaining on our schedule and hope to ride this renewed confidence going forward.”
The Hornets pushed their winning streak to four with a win over Georgetown after press time on Tuesday. They travel to Pentucket on Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
