HYANNIS — Barnstable (4-4) got the New Year off to a good start Friday afternoon, virtually shutting down Dennis-Yarmouth’s offense in a 37-25 win at home.
Head coach Vanessa Cedrone’s girls got back to the .500 mark with a stifling defensive attack and an even more potent effort beneath the glass. Junior Megan Dombrowski finished with 15 rebounds and tacked on 9 points, while Mia Crawley pulled down 10 rebounds and 8th grader Carly Whiteside had a 9-point, 7-rebound output.
The host Red Raiders held the visiting Dolphins (1-6) to just two points in the fourth quarter: a pair of free throws from Niamh Delaney who was her team’s high scorer for the day with 8 points. Freshman Abby Criser added six points for the Dolphins, but all of Criser’s points came in the first half.
The game was much closer at the start, with Barnstable establishing just a 10-6 lead that did not grow by much at the half with Barnstable ahead by five, 19-14. That lead began to expand in the third quarter when it ended, 31-23 and then in the fourth quarter the Red Raiders nearly held their guests scoreless.
“We had a slow start,” Cedrone said. “But a few kids coming off the bench (Hannah Kerr, Shyanne Pires and freshman Allison Carter) really sparked us and got us moving again.”
In fact, it was Pires whose hot hand in the third quarter may have been the saving grace, offensively, for the Red & White. Pires hit a pair of buckets and Barnstable’s only three-pointer of the day to help build an 8-point lead by the buzzer.
“D-Y got a few open looks beating our press,” Cedrone said. “So in the second half we just went into man-to-man full-court and played high-pressure defense and stopped their scoring.”
Cedrone was quick to credit Dombrowski with an exceptional effort throughout the game as the lanky, fleet-footed forward was virtually unstoppable under the rim.
“Megan has been doing really well on the boards lately,” Cedrone said. “She is really aggressive.”
Barnstable takes a brief hiatus until next Friday night when it resumes play on the road against a super-tough and still unbeaten Falmouth Clipper squad (Jan. 9, 6:30 pm).
Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm