By DAN BYRNE
WAKEFIELD— The Wakefield High girls’ varsity basketball team was back in action on Friday at the Charboneau Field House as they played host to Middlesex League rival Melrose.
The visitors stood no chance as the Warriors blitzed them for four quarters en route to a 72-26 win to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Wakefield jumped out to a quick lead in the first quarter as junior Shea Suntken got the scoring started. She had 5 points, all in the first quarter, helping the Warriors to a 22-4 lead.
Senior captain Grace McHugh scored the first four points in the second quarter sparking the Warriors on a 10-0 run to start the second.
Junior Brooklyn Calder had 6 points in the first half, and 2 in the second half to account for her 8 points.
Senior captain Emma Quinn had 16 first half points, 11 in the first quarter and 5 in the second, doubling the total of the entire Melrose team at the midway point, when the Warriors led 36-8.
The Warriors were relentless on defense, causing Melrose to commit at least a dozen turnovers in the first half.
The third quarter started with a flourish of 3-pointers as sophomore Emma Ickes knocked down a trey early in the third quarter. She would go on to connect on another shot from downtown later in the quarter as she contributed 8 points of the team’s 22 in the third. Senior captain Savannah Cummings also chipped in 6 third quarter points. After three, the Warriors held a 58-17 lead.
Melrose had no answer for Quinn, who had the hot hand with a game high 30 points. She knocked down a pair of shots from deep in the 4th to bury her opponents scoring 8 points in the final frame to round out her big night.
The Warriors won the 4th quarter 14-11, as they capped off their second victory of the season.
Next game, Wakefield will face some stiffer competition as they host Woburn on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
The Warriors were ranked 9th in last week’s Boston Globe top 20 rankings for all teams in the state regardless of division. Woburn (2-1) was ranked 15th. The Tanners beat the Warriors 38-33 in their only matchup last season. That was one of only two regular season losses for Wakefield.