BERLIN- Worcester Prep’s girls’ varsity basketball team picked up where it left off before the holiday break with a couple of impressive wins to start the second half of the season.
The Mallards closed out the first portion of their schedule with an impressive 7-3 mark and then split a pair of games against tough opponents in the Governor’s Challenge holiday tournament in Salisbury. The Christmas break followed by the major winter storm in the first week of January then conspired to keep the Worcester girls off the court for nearly two weeks.
In their first game after the long break last week, the Mallards hit the road for a game against old rival Saints Peter and Paul. Worcester had beaten the Sabres, 49-11, back on December 19 in a rare lopsided win in the traditional season series. Back in action last week, the Mallards took down the Sabres again, although this time it was much closer at 39-32.
Last Friday, the Worcester girls hosted North Caroline in a rare game against a Bayside North opponent and routed the Bulldogs, 46-22. Worcester led 13-7 after one quarter and built its lead to 28-10 by halftime. The Worcester defense was stifling throughout the game and created dozens of turnovers resulting in fairly easy scoring opportunities down the other end.
In a low-scoring third quarter, Worcester outscored the Bulldogs, 6-1, and took a 34-11 lead into the final period. The Mallards cruised through the fourth quarter and closed out the contest with a 46-22 win to improve to 11-4 overall on the season. Hailey Merritt led Worcester with 16 points, while Hannah Merritt added 10.