Late surge lifts Woodstock to win over Cosmos

Defense was the name of the game when Springfield and Woodstock opened up their 2015-16 season Thursday night. No lead got larger than four throughout the game, until the Wasps closed the final three minutes.
    Related story: Late run helps Wasps top Cosmos
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Late surge lifts Woodstock to win over Cosmos By CHRIS DOHERTY cdoherty@eagletimes.com Springfield’s Lizzie Mackenzie works the ball against a Woodstock defender during Thursday’s game. — CHRIS DOHERTY Springfield’s Lizzie Mackenzie works the ball against a Woodstock defender during Thursday’s game. — CHRIS DOHERTY SPRINGFIELD — Defense was the name of the game when Springfield and Woodstock opened up their 2015-16 season Thursday night. No lead got larger than four throughout the game, until the Wasps closed the final three minutes on a 13-0 run to grab the win, 37-26. “They played well, they forced the game into the style of play they wanted,” Springfield head coach Joseph Costello said. The game was tied at 21 going into the fourth quarter. Brooke Willey hit a three to put Springfield ahead 26-24, but that was the last point the Cosmos would score. “We like to play a pack-line man to try and protect the rim.” Woodstock head coach Justin Smith said. “And that’s what it’s supposed to look like, a zone.” The Wasps jumped into that pack-line defense — a defense that packs defenders under the basket and makes passing and shooting inside difficult — early on and staggered the Springfield offense. Springfield’s defense held its own through the first three quarters, forcing turnovers and converting on the fast break and that led to the Cosmos holding a 14-11 lead at the half. The problem Springfield faced was being able to hit open jump shots. Springfield’s biggest test this season will be to find a way to replace first-team Marble Valley League player Chelsea McAllister, who had been the team’s main offensive weapon the past four years. “We need baskets to come from somewhere,” said Costello. “They’ve been coming from the same player for four years (McAllister) and we have to find that group that’s going to be able to get us those points this year.” Cassidy Otis led the Cosmos in scoring Thursday night with eight, while Ari Rowe scored six. In the fourth quarter, it came down to Woodstock being able to force Springfield into tough shots, not allowing offensive rebounds, and hitting 10 of 18 free throws in the quarter. “That’s where we want to be,” said Smith. Natausha Smallwood hit four of her six free throws in the final frame. Smallwood also hit a big three to end the third quarter to tie the game at 21. Mariah Luce led the Wasps with 10 points, four in the fourth quarter. Smallwood and Maddie Shulz each had seven. “At the end of the game they executed,” said Costello. Springfield will look to bounce back Wednesday at Brattleboro at 7 p.m. Published December 4, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Late run helps Wasps top Cosmos By POODY WALSH Correspondent SPRINGFIELD - It was ugly at the start, but pretty at the finish as Woodstock pulled away from a fourth-quarter tie, scoring 11 unanswered points to take 37-26 win over Springfield in a Marble Valley League girls game Thursday night at Dressel Gym. When Justin Smith, who previously coached the boys at Thetford, was named the Wasps coach last spring he had a chance to get a look at his team during the summer and didn’t like what he saw. He knew he had to come up with a team that took care of the ball and played smart on defense. However, when the game began Smith was wondering if what changes he made were having any purpose. “We sure were ugly at the start,” he said, “but we sure finished well.” The teams played the first 29 minutes like a couple of evenly matched teams and the score reflected that effort. Then halfway through the fourth quarter the Wasps broke away from a 26-26 tie as Gabbi Rozemuk scored on a drive and Paitra Martin made a free throw to make it 29-26 and the first chance Smith had he called a timeout. A backcourt weave followed and Springfield never scored again while Woodstock made eight more free throws and headed home with a smile. While it was the first game for Smith at Woodstock it was the first head coaching job anywhere for Springfield’s Joe Costello, who is taking over for Joe Brown. “They played us smart,” said Costello. “We could have made things a bit easier for ourselves if we made some shots.” As it was the Cosmos had just 10 field goals and were only 3-for-10 from the foul line. Woodstock didn’t exactly set the twines ablaze as they had just 11 field goals but picked up 11 points from the line (10 for 18 in the fourth quarter), but struggled early from line and finished with an 11-for-29 night. Another big factor was the 3-point shooting as the Wasps connected four times (two by Mariah Luce) from long distance. Woodstock also put a wall around the defensive basket as Natausha Smallwood, Maddie Schultz and Martin spread out underneath and took the second shot away from the Cosmos. And the Wasps took care of the ball pretty well as well with just 11 turnovers in a game that neither team employed a full-court press and were patient on offense. It was the season opener for both teams, but Springfield had the better of it early taking an 8-3 lead with 3:40 to go in the first period before hitting a bump in the road and going scoreless for the last three minutes of the first period and the first three minutes of the second period. However, Woodstock was stumbling along as well, but managed enough offense to take an 11-10 lead before Springfield got two hoops from hard-working Cassidy Otis and ran of six straight points to take a 14-10 lead at the break. Springfield got the lead to 16-11 on an Ari Rowe hoop, but Luce got a 3 for Woodstock that seemed to give her team an adrenaline rush and when Martin got a put back hoop it was tied at 16-16 and it would to 21-21 after three and 26-26 in the fourth before the Wasps went into the delay game and pulled out the win.