Antonellis, Watertown High show Woburn who’s boss of Middlesex League

That’s 12 up, 12 down.

What was set up to be a heavyweight battle between the top two teams in the Middlesex League never materialized Friday, as 12 first-half points from junior Michaela Antonellis and another double-double from sophomore Shannon Murphy sparked the Watertown High girls’ basketball team to a big double-digit win over the previously undefeated Woburn Tanners, 56-42.

“I think we executed well for the majority of the game, both on offense and on defense,” said Raiders head coach Pat Ferdinand, “and when you do stuff like that, you’re generally going to win.”

After steamrolling Reading, 55-17, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, the Raiders faced their toughest test of the season and passed with flying colors.

The Raiders are only allowing 31 points per game this season, tops in the Middlesex League by almost 7 points. And the best defense in the league held a Woburn team averaging a league-high 57 points to just 42, including just 6 in the first quarter. The Raider took a 29-16 lead into the half and ran away with a convincing win.

“I thought we played really well defensively, but we gave up too much on the foul line,” Ferdinand said. “If people had moved just an extra step, we would have been in better position, and wouldn’t have given up those fouls.”

The Tanners had plenty of opportunities with their free throws, with 11 of their 16 first-half points coming from the charity stripe.

The first half, however, proved to be the Michaela Antonellis show, as the junior poured in 12 of her game-high 15 points in the opening two quarters, helping expand a 16-6 first-quarter lead.

Sophomore center Shannon Murphy also had herself a fine game, putting up 11 points and 11 rebounds. Juniors Felicia Korte and Nicole Lanzo also found themselves on the scoresheet, totaling 10 points apiece.

The win is arguably the biggest of the season so far for a Raider team that has consistently looked very impressive throughout the campaign.

“I think that our focus was really high coming in to the game,” said Ferdinand. “We try to build off of that, see if we can keep that focus every game, making sure that we still stay hungry, stay focused, so we continue to trend up.”

Now 12-0, the Raiders next go on the road to take on Lexington (9-2) on Jan. 27 and Wakefield (7-4) on Jan. 30 to complete what is likely to be their toughest three-game stretch of the regular season, continuing on the path to defend their Middlesex League title.

–Jan. 23, 2015–