The Conant girls’ basketball team looked every bit the preseason favorite they were made out to be on Friday night, when the Orioles traveled to Belmont and smothered the Raiders 65-20.
“We really did a great job of being aggressive early and taking good shots,” said head coach Brian Troy. “The energy was awesome from start to finish.”
Junior Elizabeth Gonyea led all scorers with 17 points and hit four three-pointers. Freshman guard Brynn Rautiola made a splash in her debut, with 16 points and two three-pointers; Mylie Aho scored ten points and Emma Tenters and Teagan Kirby had six each.
“The girls were really excited to get the season underway,” Troy said. “Nice to start the year on a win.”
Conant (1-0) faces rival and last year’s runner-up Fall Mountain Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Rindge Memorial School. Fall Mountain has yet to take the court this season as their season opener, planned for Friday at Raymond, was postponed.
The Vikings traveled to Epping to start their season Friday night with a game that came down to the wire. Mascenic started out cold, with a five-point first quarter, and trailed the Devils at the half 14-11 in a low-scoring affair. But both teams picked it up in the second half and started pouring it in, and Epping – led by senior star Hayley Pelletier (20 points) held on for a 47-41 win.
Senior Shelby Babin (15 points) led Mascenic in scoring; sophomore Annika Martel had nine and senior Kylie Millea added eight.
Mascenic (0-1) travels to Pittsfield Monday at 6 p.m.