COHASSET — After looking at the stats of Cohasset High girls basketball leading scorer Sarah Chenette, you’d be surprised by what you see in person.
The 19.4-points-a-night scorer is actually defensive-minded guard. As a junior captain, it just so happens that her defense leads to offense on the court. That’s exactly what happened in Tuesday night’s 39-29 win over East Bridgewater.
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“It feels great, especially coming from our defense,” Chenette said of the win, which improved the Skippers to 8-3. “We held them to 29 points. Just shows that as the season’s going on we’re playing stronger together as a team.”
Offensively, Chenette put up 10 points, six of them in the fourth quarter as the Skippers pulled away. She was also perfect from the line in the fourth quarter, hitting all four free throws. But it wasn’t about the points scored, moreso about the points that were prevented.
“I feel like sometimes this is a game where someone else gets an opportunity,” said Chenette. “And when we were low and everybody wasn’t scoring as much, everyone powered through by not (committing) turnovers. We really were coming together.”
Cohasset floor general Laney Larsen also starred in this one. She and Chenette had a defensive chemistry that caused turnovers in the back court.
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“She’s one of my best friends, so we’ve been playing together since third grade,” said Larsen. “We both know how each other plays, so it’s always nice to know I have her to my right and left of her.”
In this new-age era of basketball where the 3-point shot is king and fast-paced, high-scoring games are prevalent, the Skippers have the same mindset that dates back to when milk crates were used as hoops.
“In practice we emphasize moving the ball, we emphasize team basketball,” Cohasset coach Mike Sacchitella said. “I’m a product of the 80’s Celtics, so that’s where I’m at.”
And that’s exactly what the Skippers did with their focal point being stopping EB forward Phoebe Katilus, who finished with 4 points and 13 rebounds.
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“Our bigs like Emma (Goff) and Abbie (Goff) played really great defense on number 24 (Katilus) and held her to 4 points,” said Chenette.
After starting the season 1-3, the Skippers are now on a seven-game winning streak. In six of those wins they allowed 33 or fewer points.
“We started the season by having four objectives,” said Sacchitella. “The first one being that we want to be one of the best defensive teams in our league.”
“The only way you’re going to win a game in this league,” he added, “is stopping them from scoring.”
But it takes more than just the 1-2 punch the Skippers have. With only one senior on the team, younger girls have had to step up.
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“I love how Kate Greer plays defense, she dives for the ball and is really aggressive,” said Chenette. “(Addy Andrews) is a great shooter; she has the basketball IQ and knows how to shoot. I feel like Catherine Toomey (11 points) played a great game.”
For the Vikings (8-6), Jessica Long was the leading scorer with 8 points, and Emma Farrell and Chloe Lang each added 7.
Cohasset will get its chance at revenge against Rockland at home on Thursday. Back on Dec. 20 the Skippers lost to the Bulldogs, 58-42, on the road to fall to 0-2 on the season.
