GROTON –– Gulianna Pascarella poured in five 3-pointers and scored 25 points Friday to lead the Dryden girls basketball team to a season-opening road victory against Groton, 53-34.
After winning five games all of last season, Dryden first-year head coach John Pascarella knew starting the season with a victory was important.
“It’s big,” John Pascarella said. “You come out, you get a win, you’re away. It’s a non-league game but anytime you get a ‘W’ in the column it puts smiles on everybody’s face and you remember that moment and want to keep that moment going.”
Gulianna Pascarella was aggressive from the opening tip, scoring 11 in the first quarter. She connected on three 3-pointers and made all four of her shots in the first.
“I was just thinking if I’m open, I’m going to shoot the ball,” Gulianna Pascarella said. “I wanted to do what I can for my team, so I just tried to do my best and really put my head in the game (Friday).”
She was the one consistent factor for either side in the opening quarter, which saw the two teams combine for 16 turnovers. Dryden continued to make life difficult for Groton offensively in the second, as it built a 14-point lead at the break. The Lions’ defense forced 14 turnovers in the first half, allowing them to blow the game open.
Groton enters this season with a young team featuring only three returners and one senior who transferred into the program. Groton head coach Justin Albro believes it’ll be able to clean things up as it progresses through the season and gets more time together.
“We just have to keep practicing,” Albro said. “We weren’t able to get any scrimmages in, it just didn’t work out for us. So (Friday night) was kind of the first live session the girls got see and we’re a young team. Getting to know everyone again is kind of tough and having everybody play together. It’ll come. Those turnovers, we can clean those up in practice and get in the flow of the game playing together and it’ll be better.”
Groton came out in the third ready to make a push, but Gulianna Pascarella stemmed the tide. She scored eight of her team’s 10 third-quarter points to ensure the margin held up. Abbey Smith helped finish it off in the fourth, scoring seven of her 13 points in the final frame.
“I got it from everybody (Friday),” John Pascarella said. “Gulianna and Abbey got a hot hand out there and gave us a little cushion. The defense was amazing in the first half. It was good to see the kids come out here and really work hard and get a win for themselves.”
Albro knew the challenge Gulianna Pascarella presented and tried to shuffle what defense his team played throughout, but the Red Hawks couldn’t consistently slow her down.
“We knew she was going to be a threat from deep, we tried to game plan against it and she beat us at our own game,” Albro said. “We were just trying to switch it up and communicate a little bit better. As the game went on, I think they kind of settled into that and it helped us out. She’s a hell of a shooter and she can shoot the lights out and we saw that on film. We know she can do that so it’s something to look out for. We get to see them at their place (later this season) and we’re excited for it and I think we’ll be ready for the challenge.”
Lillian Ellis (6), Maysie Davis (5), Alyson Smith (3) and Claire Fitzgerald (1) rounded out the Dryden scoring.
Groton was led by Devyn Blasz with nine points. Jill Zigenfus scored five, Abbi Houghwat, Bailey Vliet, Diella Nino and Reese Brockway all scored four, Lauren Gallinger had three and Kadyn Casterline had one for the Red Hawks.
Dryden will seek a 2-0 start when it hosts Newfield at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Groton gets its chance at its first win at 7 p.m. Tuesday Tuesday, when it heads on the road to Union Springs.
