Ghost Gals Beat Mt. Abe

By Jill D. Montgomery

The Randolph girls basketball team travelled to Bristol, to face the Mt. Abe Eagles Tuesday night and came away with the 42-35 win.

The Gal Ghosts started strong, getting the opening tip-off and the first hoop, a trey by Kelsey Higgins. Jumpers from Emily Howe and Shelby Peltier quickly saw Randolph holding a 7-2 edge.

Peltier, Gwen Reis and Sharayah Nonemacher definitely had the edge on the boards in the first period with Reis taking advantage of the inside action and hitting four of six foul shots. The Lady Ghosts ended the first up, 13-9.

The second quarter was fairly even with Randolph adding 9 and Mt. Abe, 7. Brynn Fabian and Arielle Connolly pushed the Ghosts lead to 18-9 and the score remained the same for over two minutes as each team seemed to have steals on one end and turnovers on the other. The Gal Ghosts held a 22-16 lead at the halftime break.

Mt. Abe led off the third with a hoop that Higgins matched. The Eagles scored again and then hit two from the charity stripe to tie the game, 24-24. Randolph fell slightly apart in this quarter with too many turnovers and not enough rebounds.

Reis and Fabian brought them back with swishing jump shots to put Randolph back in the lead, 28-27. Fabian ended the quarter with another hoop and the Ghosts headed into the final stanza with a slim edge, 30-27.

It was all Reis to start off the fourth with three freebies, a rebound and a steal for a 35-29 Randolph edge. The Ghosts picked up their defense making Mt. Abe waste precious time to get the shot they wanted. A three-pointer by the Eagles was their last hurrah as Randolph settled down and ran time off the clock.

Coach Alan Stewart said after the game, "We need to maintain control for the whole game. I thought we played well in the first half and then had too many turnovers. We came out good down the stretch."

Reis ended the night with a double double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Fabian added 10 points, Higgins 5, Howe and Peltier had 4 each, Nonemacher had 3 and Connolly 2. Peltier also had 7 rebounds and Nonemacher had 6.

Loss to Lamoille

The Randolph girls faced a fast-moving Lamoille team Friday at home and lost, 54-48, through they came back from an 18-point deficit halfway through the third.

Randolph went into the halftime break down 23-16 and had two promising hoops from Emily Howe to start off the third. Unfortunately the Lamoille Lancers more than matched those hoops with a trey and three jumpers. Both Sharayah Nonemacher and Gwen Reis got into foul trouble and the Lancers took full advantage to run the score to 38-20. Lamoille ended the third period ahead, 43-29.

Reis poured on the offense in the fourth quarter with a long jumper, a foul shot and an inside move that ended with two points to open up the period. Shelby Peltier and Brynn Fabian added four points from the charity stripe and then Nonemacher made it a whole new ball game with a steal and a shot from downtown. Nonemacher got another steal and dished off to Howe who put in the hoop to close the gap to six, 49-43.

Reis cut the lead to five, but that was as close as the game would get. Reis fouled out with 1:03 to go and the Lancers ended the game with a foul shot. Lamoille’s high scorers were Rachel Wellman with 17 and Corey Palumbo with 13.

Lamoille led 11-6 at the end of the first period and 23-16 at the half. The Ghosts stayed close to Lamoille in the second, aided by treys by Fabian and Peltier.

Scoring for the Gal Ghosts were Reis with 19, Howe 8, Fabian 6, and Connolly, Peltier, and Nonemacher each had 5. Nonemacher also had four steals in the second half. The Ghosts shot 13 for 22 from the charity stripe.

J.V. Girls

The J.V. girls lost to Mt. Abe, 50-21. Shayne Reis was the high scorer with 7 points, eight players on the team scored.

The J.V. girls also lost to Lamoille, 34-19. The high scorer was Emily Beaudin with 8 points.

These were the J.V. squad’s first losses this season.

Halftime Show

At halftime the RUHS Sports Boosters Club debuted their halftime program with a choice of three-point shots or free throws with a gift certificate from Tewksbury’s Corner Store as the prize.

The contestant was Vincent Palumbo from Massachusettes who sank 12 three-pointers in a minute. The event was emcee’d by athletic director Bruce Viens.

The Gal Ghosts play Oxbow at home Friday, Jan. 5 and Hartford away Tuesday the 9th. Randolph’s record is 3-4.

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