Taconic Girls Overcome Slow Start to Repeat at Western Mass
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Ahlyia Phillips started her morning Saturday by missing the team bus.
She ended her afternoon by not missing much at all.
Phillips scored 20 points to lead the Taconic girls basketball team to a 56-43 win over Springfield International Charter School in the Championship game of the Western Massachusetts Class C tournament at Westfield High School.
Taconic overcame a 14-2 first quarter deficit by outsourcing the Bulldogs, 54-29, the rest of the way.
Of course, the team’s rough start was nothing compared to its captain’s.
“I got in a little car accident before we got to the [school],” Phillips said. “So I had to ride down with the assistant coach. So I was in a slump at the beginning.
“I feel like we got here, and the energy was kind of low. It was cold, there was no music playing like there usually is. So we all were in a different bit of a mood, I feel like.”
Alicia Mitchell took advantage of that, scoring 10 of her game-high 29 points in the first quarter to help her team go up by 12.
Taconic coach Matt Mickle said that he did not feel the need to light into his team after the sluggish start.
“I really didn’t say anything,” Mickle said. “Honestly, Aliyah got in a fender-bender before the game. I felt like we were discombobulated early. It was cold. I just felt like we weren’t with it.
“Credit to [SICS]. They took it to us. But I tried not to get too in depth. I thought it would work itself out and it did.”
Phillips started playing like the 1,000-point scorer she is in the second quarter, converting a feed from Amelia Leasure in transition to spark a 9-0 run that ate up most of the Bulldogs’ lead.
Springfield ICS weathered that storm and managed to extend its margin back to five at half-time on a couple of Mitchell free throws in the final minute.
The Dogs went up nine early in the third, but Taconic took its first lead with a 14-3 run that started with a 3-pointer from Alex Hudson (nine points) and ended when Faith Cross put back an offensive rebound to make it 32-30 with 1 minute, 45 seconds left in the third.
In the fourth quarter, Taconic was able to take control with a 12-2 run to open an 11-point margin.
Leasure started things with a 3-pointer, and Maddie Winn and Brenna McNeice each hit a triple in the stretch, which ended with a 46-35 cushion midway through the fourth.
McNeice finished with nine points – all in the fourth quarter – but perhaps her biggest impact was felt on the glass, where she pulled down 16 rebounds to help blunt the advantage SICS got from Mitchell and the Bulldogs’ front line.
“I think probably in the last eight to 10 games, [McNeice] is averaging probably 13 to 14 rebounds a game,” Mickle said. “She’s a phenomenal rebounder for a guard, especially a guard who is playing at the top of our zone and she’s a point-guard. Her effort is always 100 mph. She always gives her best. I’m super happy for her.”
Philips credited McNeice with helping to turn the tide defensively as well.
“In the beginning, our energy was kind of low,” Phillips said. “Once me and Brenna started applying more pressure on the top, and we started getting steals and converting them into layups, I think the whole team came together and picked up on that energy and we did what we had to do.”