Crosby, Cosmos slip past Ghosts, 42-37

Hanna Crosby, a slender redhead with a soft touch, had 15 first-half points and 23 for the game as Springfield took a big early lead, stuttered a bit in the middle, then held on down the stretch for a 42-37 Division II win.


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http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/RH/20161229/SPORTS02/161229571 http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20161229/SPORTS02/161229571 Published December 29, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Crosby, Cosmos slip past Ghosts, 42-37 By POODY WALSH SPRINGFIELD – Hanna Crosby, a slender redhead with a soft touch, had 15 first-half points and 23 for the game as Springfield took a big early lead, stuttered a bit in the middle, then held on down the stretch for a 42-37 Division II win over Randolph Wednesday night at Dressel Gym. “I was just floating the ball up there,” said the sophomore, “and some of them went in.” “She kind of took over the first half,” said her coach, Joe Costello. “She’s getting better every time out.” Randolph was probably the pregame favorite with its 3-1 record, but the Cosmos zone seemed to cause some concern. “You know we didn’t play well and we seemed to have trouble with Springfield’s pick and roll,” said Randolph coach Scott Lafreniere. “That put us in an early hole.” That early hole was 12-2 and even though the Galloping Ghosts came back to take a two-point lead twice in the third quarter they could never put a big run together to take charge of the game. “We just kind of regressed a bit when we finally took the lead,” said Lafreniere. “We just let them get the lead back.” Randolph had a 33-31 edge going into the final period, but Springfield scored the first six points to start the quarter as Hailey Perham got the bucket to tie the game them Crosby hit a drive and a one-hander as Springfield went on top 37-33 with 4:02 to play. There was not much scoring for the next couple of minutes and Springfield was leading 39-35 with one minute to play. Then, as the clock was ticking down, Randolph’s Rielle Brassard launched a 3-pointer from the side that did a 360 around the rim and popped out. Springfield then went down the other end of floor, scored on Julianna Albero-Levings lay-in to put a lock on the game. “I’ve been telling the girls all along that this is the type of a game they are capable of playing.” said Costello. Springfield, now 2-3, got eight points from Crosby in the first five minutes of the game as the Cosmos jumped out to a 12-2 lead. After a Randolph timeout the Ghosts chipped away at the lead cutting the gap to 14-8 after one period and 23-19 at the break. Randolph kept playing tough on the defensive end and its grit paid off as the Ghosts took the lead for the first time at 31-30 with 56 seconds to play, and they were still in front by two at the end of three quarters. However, Springfield regained the lead in the early going of the fourth quarter and picked up the needed win. “I think I’ll go to sleep with a smile on my face tonight,” said Crosby. Perham, just a ninth grader, followed Crosby in the scoring column with nine. For Randolph, Cheyanne Jones had 11 and Brassard 10.