Branford — The Branford Buccaneer girls varsity basketball team lost to the Bell Bulldogs Tuesday night, Jan. 15, on the Bulldogs home court 48-19.

“They stomped us pretty good”, said Athletic Director Wade Cashwell. “I sat three of my starters. One of them is bad on the flu and another one, her knee has been flaring up a little bit so I sat her as well.”

Cashwell said that although he sat some of his starters, he was able to put in some of the kids that don’t play as often, so it gave them some time on the court.

“We were able to get a little workout with them,” said Cashwell.

The first quarter scoring was pretty low as Bell had gotten eight and the Bucs made only one on a free throw.

The second quarter, the Bucs made three to Bell’s 11 bringing the score to 19-4, Bell, at the half.

The third quarter, the Bucs didn’t fare too well as they were only able to pull in four to Bell’s 14, so the wining margin for Bell widened with the score 33-8, Bell.

The fourth quarter, the Bucs were able to pick it up more than they had the rest of the game with 11, but Bell’s 15 for the quarter and huge lead gave them the victory with 48-19.

Cashwell said that Bell has a pretty good team this year and that they are quite competitive. He said that the last time the Bucs played them, they beat Bell by only one point.

Cashwell said that he wasn’t too worried about the loss. He didn’t like it for their record, but he mainly wants his team to be focused on the district matchup with Mayo.

“To me this game was not important,” said Cashwell. “We need to be healthy for Friday night which is Mayo. I was glad it wasn’t a district game and it wasn’t something I had to win or lose. At this point, I’m just focused on the district tournament and that were ready for that.”

Cashwell also wanted to note that one of his star players, Becca White is out for the season. She had hurt her knee a few weeks back apparently worse than she or Cashwell anticipated. The doctors thought it best she not play or put too much strain on it so it could heal quicker.

“We’ve been playing without her for a good part of the season now,” said Cashwell. “A lot of our success has been able to deal without her there. We hate it, but our key thing is being ready for districts.”



Bucs beat Tigers


The Branford Buccaneer varsity girls basketball team won their district game against the Jefferson Tigers Friday, Jan. 11, 38-34.


The first quarter neither team scored too high as the score by the buzzer was 5-4, Bucs.


The second quarter, both teams started turning up the heat as the half came and the score was 19-13.


The third quarter, both the Bucs and Tigers were evenly matched as they both made nine and now the score was 28-22 with Bucs still in the lead.


The fourth quarter was the only quarter that the Tigers scored higher, but since the Bucs had already secured a bit of a gain, they were able to take the victory with the final score of 38-34.