February 6, ESA hosted the JV team from Prospect Hill Academy and proved to be the superior team once again. Although ESA did not put up the numbers they did the previous game, they were still victorious. Again, junior Jessica Milord put on a defensive exhibition that shut down the PHA guards. All ESA players saw action allowing them to build up their individual skill, as well as team play.
Final score: 30-20, ESA.
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January 31, ESA headed to Somerville to play the JV team from Prospect Hill Academy. ESA played very well creating many scoring opportunities. Offensively, ESA was lead by sophomore Kathleen McGillycuddy who lead all players with a game high, season high, carear high, school history high, 21 points. She was not able to do this by herself as guards Emily Moynihan(So.) and Brittney Carroll(Fr.) fed McGillycuddy assist after assist. Defensively, Jessica Milord exhibited unbelievable quickness as she shut down who ever she was guarding at the time. ESA has been working extremely hard as a team in practices and during games which shows in the first ever win streak that this school has seen.
Final score: 45-35, ESA
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January 26, ESA hosted the freshman squad from Trinity Catholic High School. This game will go down in ESA history as the much anticipated first win was finally achieved. ESA played its finest game to date with strong preformances from each team memeber. It was an exciting fast paced game in which ESA was able to utilize and execute many of their plays.
Final score: 38-7, ESA
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January 24, ESA travelled to Boston University Academy for the first and only meeting between the two teams. ESA was plagued by injuries and illness and was only able to bring a team of seven players. However they showed that they had improved greatly. All players saw plenty of playing time, however fatigue set in during the second half after a valient effort at a come back.
Final socre:
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January 13, ESA hosted Chapel Hill-Chauncy for their second home game of the season. ESA, still looking for their first victory, came out strong. Three pointers were flying from the hands of guards Mary Moynihan (Jr.), 2, Emily Moynihan (So.) and Brittney Carroll (Fr.), one respectively, which allowed for ESA to stay in the game during the first half. Aggressive play by Cortney Purcell (Fr.) also added to help ESA stay to within 11 at the half.
Unfortunately for ESA, Wesley (#15, CH-Ch) proved to be too talented. Her athleticism and finesse allowed for 24 points against ESA. CH-Ch was able to pull ahead in the second half. Final score: 46-26, CH-Ch.
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January 9, ESA travelled to Basketball City to square off versus the Commonwealth School. Commonwealth came out ready to play and ESA couldn't seem to find a way to get a basket. Down by 17 at the half, ESA knew they needed to come out harder in the second half. Guards Emily Moynihan (So.) and Brittney Carroll (Fr.) put pressure on Commonwealth in the back court which lead to numerous steels. Offensively, Mary Moynihan (Jr.) was able to break through the zone of Commonwealth for some strong drives to the hoop. Kathleen McGillycuddy used her strong post moves to give ESA a chance down low. Unfortunely, it was too little too late for ESA. Final score: 45-33, Commonwealth. These two teams match up again on March 1 at ESA for what will prove to be an exciting season finale for ESA.
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January 6, ESA held the first home game of the season hosting Newman Prep. ESA was looking for revenge after falling to Newman 22-25 in the season opener at Basketball City. The first half was tightly played, neither team taking more than a 5 point lead. At the half, Newman led by one. The second half was not as close as the first. ESA fell into a ten point deficit with four minutes left in the game. But they would not give up. For the last four minutes of the game, ESA dove for loose balls, grabbed rebounds, and played their game. With ESA down by two with less than 30 seconds in the game, a heads up play by Mary Moynihan landed her on the line with two free throws. She converted both which sent the game into overtime. The loyal student body of ESA exploded as the buzzer sounded.
Overtime was a battle for both teams. With players for each team fouling out, it was anyone's game. Unfortunately, it was to be Newman's game. ESA lost by two, after playing their hearts out. Final score: 40-38, Newman.
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December 20, ESA traveled to Massachusetts College of Art to play Boston Trinity Academy. ESA stayed with BTA for the first half thanks to the perimeter shooting of guards Mary Moynihan (Jr.), Emily Moynihan (So.) and Brittany Carroll (Fr.). With good ball movement, these three were able to find the open shot and convert to keep ESA within 4 at the half. Due to the depth of the BTA team and the injuries of ESA, BTA was able to pull ahead and beat ESA. Final score: 63-31, Boston Trinity Academy.
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December 13, ESA traveled to the National Guard Armory in Quincy to take on a very tough team from the Woodward School for girls. ESA hung tough led by a gutsy performance by freshman guard Courtney Purcell. Although playing against taller opponents, Purcell was constantly diving on the floor for loose balls and banging the boards for rebounds. Junior guard Jessica Milord also added a strong performance as she demonstrated her speed and athleticism throughout the contest.
Although ESA put up a valiant effort, the experience of the Woodward team proved to be too much for them this time. Final score: 60-22, Woodward.
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December 7, ESA traveled to Basketball City to play Newman Prep. in the first game of the season. The first match up between these two teams proved to be evenly matched. Despite being down by 9 points with 3:00 left in the second half, ESA fought its way back thanks to the tenacious defense of Emily Moynihan, Mary Moynihan, and Brittany Carroll who repeatedly stole the ball and converted Newman mistakes into ESA points. ESA brought the game to within 1 point with :32 to go in the second half. Unfortunately time expired before ESA could complete their comeback. Final score was 25-22, Newman.
