By Bill Gilman
FITCHBURG--What the Fitchburg High girls' baskeball may lack in spit-n-polish they make up for with grit. And sometimes that's enough.
The Red Raiders built a 36-20 halftime lead, then overcame a sloppy second half to hang on for a 68-56 win over Shrewsbury High, Saturday night at the Brickyard. It was the second win in as many nights for Fitchburg (5-1 overall, 2-0 Mid_Wach A), which stopped Marlboro, 78-68 on Friday.
"With us having such small numbers, the girls get tired," said FHS coach Tony Alario. "Especially coming off a game like that against Marlboro with their full court man-to-man all game."
Sara Thomas and Shelly Richard again paced Fitchburg with 17 points each. Richard added six assists and eight steals before leaving the game after twisting her ankle with 7:04 remaining. The extent of her injury is unknown and her status is uncertain for Monday's key league clash with Wachusett.
Fitchburg led 51-37 when Richard left and Shrewsbury appeared poised to make a run. But Kristy Pappas came off the bench and combined with Elena Pandiscio to pick up the slack. Pappas (8 points) put home an offensive rebound then sank both ends of a 1 and 1 to push the Red Raiders' lead to 55-37 with 6:02 left. Pandiscio (10 points) added six points down the stretch, including a nifty layup off a steal by Pappas.
Still, Alario wasn't ready to downplay Richard's absence. "You don't replace a Shelly Richard," he said. "Without her in the lineup we're in trouble."
Fitchburg took advantage of 19 first half turnovers by Shrewsbury to build an early lead. Richard had six steals in the half and combined with Pandiscio to harass the Colonial guards unmercifully. Leading 15-11 the Red Raiders went on a 14-2 run to blow the game open.
Meanwhile the Fitchburg forwards were holding their own against the bigger Colonials. Alyssa Gauvin, Deanna Wilbur and Taryn Paul did an excellent job limiting Shewsbury to one chance on each possession. That, in turn, triggered the Red Raiders' potent fast break. Gauvin closed out the half by putting home her own rebound to put Fitchburg up, 36-20.
Things changed in the second half, as Shrewbury's front line began asserting itself. Center Allison Miller held to just one point in the first half after picking up two quick fouls, dominated the paint in the second half and finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Sara Schmidt came off the bench to add 11 points and seven rebounds.
Shresbury (5-3) opened the second half with a 10-4 run and closed to 42-32 wiht 11:25 remaining when Miller put back a rebound of a Meg YOung miss.
With momentum shifting, Richard stepped up. The junior guard drained two free throws and a jumper before burying a three- pointer to put Fitchburg back in charge at 49-34 with 8:45 left.