By Matt Lee
Sports Reporter
At the beginning of the season, the girls’ basketball team’s goal was to make the postseason.
After a 71-55 defeat of Bedford gave them their 12th win and further secured that playoff spot, the Lions are focused on a new goal: maintaining their perfect record.
The Boston Globe has Newton South ranked as the fourth best team in the state, while MaxPreps rates them as Massachusetts’ best out of the seven other teams ranked in the top 20.
The Lions have dominated their competition, beating teams by an average of 18.5 points with their smallest margin of victory being an eight-point differential against DCL rival Westford. They have averaged 61 points per game, dominating opponents with their 3-point shooting capabilities.
While senior captain Emily Chang has overwhelmed opponents with her consistent barrage of threes, junior guard Sarah King has emerged as the unsung hero of the team.
“She has improved so much from last year and she’s one of our best 3-point shooters,” senior captain Rachel Goose said. “When most teams scout us, they only talk about Emily and Veronica, so they scheme a defense that tries to deny them the ball. Because of that, Sarah has really had to step up, and she’s done an unbelievable job.”
2014-15 co-league MVP Veronica Burton has been the leading scorer on the team, dropping a whopping 41 points in a win over Cambridge on Jan. 15.
The team has been playing tenacious defense, allowing just 42.5 points per game.
Despite the excellent start and the guarantee of a tournament berth, the Lions are not planning on letting their confidence stand in their way of making a run at a state title.
“Now that we’ve made the playoffs, we don’t want to start slacking,” Goose said. “Making the tournament was one of the goals we set in the beginning of the season, so we’re really happy it happened, but we’re going to focus on continuing to work hard in practice and winning the remaining games on our schedule.”
