Plenty of Talent in Both Programs
This weekend at the Girls Spring Fling Tournament there are 44 teams playing. Most of the buzz though has been about three teams in particular. The NH Rivals have two 16U teams in the tournament, and the NE Crusaders have one 16U team.
On Day 1 of the tourney on Saturday, the Crusaders played against both Rivals teams in the two best games of the day. The NH Rivals-White team beat the Crusaders 64-58 in an outstanding, well played game. Then in the last game of the night the Crusaders evened the score with a 70-57 win over the NH Rivals-Blue team.
The Crusaders brought a star-studded lineup to the gym that included four players who have scholarships to play basketball next season. Tiffany Ruffin (Boston College), Kaitlyn Mathieu (William & Mary), Emily Siegart (St. Francis) and Christiana Bakolas (Bentley). Other key players on the squad included Melissa Frase, Maggie Brown and Hannah Ebling.
With that kind of talent it makes the win the Rivals-white team had over them even more impressive (although Mathieu did miss that particular game). The team was led by Maddie Blais, Lizzy Ball, Sam Brenner, Brooke Stewart and Alex Cohen. The Rivals jumped out to an 18-3 lead early on in the contest by playing some great defense and team basketball. The Crusaders battled back though and only trailed 27-26 at the half. The game was played at a very high level. Both teams showed exceptional ball movement, defensive intensity and the game was played at a fast pace making it a fun game to watch. Blais had a game-high 29 points, and also had over 20 points in the team's first game of the day.
The Crusaders took care of business against the Rivals-blue team later on. This Rivals team wasn't as strong as their white team, but they still had some solid talent and put up a good fight against the scholarship laden Crusaders team. Savannah Butterfield played very well for the Rivals, as did Kaley Marston and Kellie McDonald who was returning from an injury.
