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As the calendar flipped to February to begin the stretch run, the Winchester High girls basketball team (13-7) took on four Middlesex League rivals, and ended up splitting with them to maintain their winning record.
The Red & Black first lost to visiting Woburn on Jan. 30, 52-39, but they bounced right back to beat Lexington on the road to begin a new week on Feb. 3, 47-38. A trip to Reading followed on Feb. 6, where they defeated the Rockets by an almost identical score, 47-35. But on Super Sunday back at home, the Wilmington Wildcats snapped their modest two-game winning streak, 79-51.
The final score against the Tanners was rather deceptive. It was a tight battle between the schools throughout the first three quarters, before the visitors heated up in the fourth.
“We were really good about setting the pace to slow Woburn down in transition,” said Coach Sam Mosley, “but unfortunately they started making some big shots in the fourth, and we were unable to catch up.”
Freshman Carolyn Collins played a fine all-around game for the Red & Black with 11 points, 5 assists and 5 steals, while her classmate Mya Korpal led the team in scoring with 13 points.
But it was a much different story against Lexington.
“Lexington played us tough, but we never let go of the lead throughout the game,” said Mosley. “We executed our plays really well, which gave them opportunities to score.”
Collins was the team’s all-around star of the game against Lexington after collecting 9 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 8 blocks. Her defensive presence constantly disrupted the Lexington offense, and also broke Claire English’s school record for rejections in a single game. But it was Korpal again, who paced the offensive attack with 17 points.
The Red & Black then made it two in a row with the win over the Rockets.
“This was a great team win against the Reading Rockets,” said Mosley. “Unlike the last time we played them – a narrow 54-53 win on Jan. 9 – we were able to take the lead early and hold on to it throughout the rest of the game.”
Collins once again paved the way to victory with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Sophomore Molly Doyle chipped in with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists. Senior captain Catherine Ryan contributed 9 points and 9 rebounds to the winning cause.
But on Super Sunday against the Wildcats, the visitors came out hot and did not miss, according to Mosley, who added, “we dug ourselves a hole in the first half, and could not overcome it.”
Winchester gave up 51 points in the first half, but played better defense in the final two quarters, allowing just 28 points.
Ryan led the offensive effort with 17 points to go along with six rebounds. Junior GG Fantini and Korpal were next in line with 10 points apiece.
After dropping a 56-49 decision to visiting Belmont on Feb. 10, the Winchester girls have one more regular season game left on the schedule against host Arlington on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m.
They will then be on winter vacation next week, but will still be busy on the court with practices and maybe a scrimmage or two to stay sharp for the postseason, just before the Division 1 state tournament pairings are announced on Saturday, Feb. 21. As of Feb. 10, the Red & Black girls are seeded 23rd in the power rankings.
There are 57 teams statewide in this division.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News in November 2024 and is currently its Sports Editor. He can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
