Raiders’ defense doesn’t rest

Business as usual. 

With an extra few days of rest in their legs from a first-round bye, the Watertown High girls’ basketball team cruised to a 52-33 win over visiting Danvers on Friday night, March 4, 2016.

Senior Felicia Korte led the charge for the top-seeded Raiders, dropping 16 points on the night to lead all scorers. Junior Shannon Murphy was solid on both ends of the floor, adding 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 blocks to anchor the Raiders defense.

“I thought we played well,” said Watertown coach Pat Ferdinand. “We came out with a lot of energy, shot the ball really well early, and we did a good job crashing on the weak side against the 2-3 [zone].” 

With the win, Watertown (18-3) advanced to the Division 2 North semifinals. The Raiders’ opponent will be No. 13 Triton (12-10), which beat No. 5 Swampscott in overtime Saturday afternoon.

On Friday night, the Raiders led from the opening tip, taking an 18-8 lead into the second quarter, led by Korte’s 7 first-quarter points.

The Watertown offense struggled in the second quarter, adding only 8 points to take a 26-14 lead into halftime. 

“They went to a 1-3-1 that made our offense stagnant for a while, and we didn’t do a good job of getting to spots against that defense,’’ explained Ferdinand. “But as the game went on, we got more comfortable with that.

“We did a good job preparing all week, focusing a lot on zone offense. The kids did a good job of taking advantage of what we worked on.

“I think we had some jitters and some nerves that led to some mistakes that were kind of uncharacteristic, but it’s kind of a big stage for some kids. It was important for them to work through it, to make some mistakes, and for their teammates and coaches to pick them up.”

Despite only allowing 14 first-half points, the Raiders changed up their defense at the start of the third quarter, leaving their half-court 2-3 zone in favor of a full-court press, eventually dropping back into their 2-3.

“Using the press was slowing them down bringing the ball up, to buy time and extend them out,” Ferdinand said. “So [Danvers] had to try and run their stuff against our 2-3 with a shorter clock.” 

The Raiders regained the momentum in the third quarter. They extended their advantage to 20, taking a 43-23 lead into the final period, when Ferdinand was able to pull his starters and give his bench some playoff minutes.

Eight minutes later, the Raiders had their first win of the postseason under their belts.

For ninth-seeded Danvers, its season ended with a 13-9 record. Watertown, on the other hand, moved one step closer to defending its North sectional title. But to make a really special run, to get all the way to the state championship game in Springfield, the Raiders will need to get better with the little things.

“I think we need to work on patience and decision-making, communication, people showing up to the ball better,” said Ferdinand. “Sometimes basketball is a matter of one or two steps, so we can’t get lackadaisical. We have to work hard the whole way, offensively and defensively.”

–March 4, 2016–