By Timothy Dolan, Lookout Advisor
After a February 25 victory over West Springfield by a score of 60-50, the 26th ranked Bedford High School Girls Basketball team traveled to Easton on Friday March 27 to face 7th ranked Oliver Ames led by star guard Avery Gamble. While Oliver Ames led almost wire to wire, the game was close (8 points or under) up until the final minutes when OA extended their lead with some clutch free throws, ultimately winning 59-50.
Bedford was paced by their juniors, Ashley Cohen (18 points), Isla Sheridan (14 points), Annabelle Davis (8 points) and Georgia Stathakis (5 points). Cohen, Davis, and Stathakis played the entire game, minus the final seconds when Cohen fouled out on a take foul trying to stop the clock. Cohen controlled the game offensively for Bedford as both the primary ballhandler and scorer, while Sheridan played tenacious defense and leaked out for a series of electric fast break layups off turnovers. She would have likely played the full game too if she had not gotten into foul trouble at the end of the second quarter. Davis had a great sequence in the 3rd quarter, punctuated by a huge block, when Bedford went on a run and close the OA lead to 1, but they could never quite take control of the game. She was also fouled while hitting a clutch three in the 4th, as Bedford again surged back to cut an OA lead of ten points down to five.
The BHS Girls put forth a tremendous effort, but they could never quite catch OA and their two standout seniors, Avery Gamble, who finished with 28 points, and Maeve Horsman, who finished with 19. Gamble is a career 1,000 point scorer, in the top 3 in Ames history, and committed to play next year at Trinity College. For perspective, the rest of Oliver Ames scored a total of 12 points.
Beyond their core four juniors, Bedford got contributions from senior Tatum Gayron and junior Maddie McInnis. While Bedford’s season is over, they will be returning five key seniors, many of whom have been playing varsity since freshman year, and are likely a strong team next year.
