HATFIELD — Where Hannah Rickert goes, so goes the Smith Academy girls basketball team. Rickert is the team’s only senior and her teammates turn to their captain to take the lead.
“She’s the hub of the wheel — as she goes we go,” Smith Academy coach Fran Lafond said. “When she plays all out they play all out.”
Lafond said that his team is young, with a freshman center and sophomore guards, but the underclassmen look up to their senior captain. Lafond wants to make the playoffs and then see what happens from there.
Rickert had 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals as the Falcons cruised to 47-18 victory over Smith Vocational at home. The Falcons dominated the glass on both sides of the ball. Freshman center Emma Kelly had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
“Hannah Rickert played exceptionally well — the fast breaks, her leadership, making nice passes to Kelly,” Lafond said.
Kelly used her height to great advantage in the paint, pulling down rebounds on the defensive end and keeping plays alive on offense. The Falcons (1-1) racked up second-chance points as Kelly, who started at center last year as an eighth-grader, leaped over Viking defenders to grab missed shots.
The Falcons got to the line early and often. With two minutes left in the first quarter, Rickert drove hard to the basket and got fouled on the way up. She made both free throws, and the Falcons led 12-6 after one.
On the first possession of the second quarter, Smith Voke’s Natasha Ding stepped into the paint and sent up a floater that fell through the hoop to cut into the lead. But the Vikings scored only one more point in the second.
With 5:50 on the clock, Mary Catherine Whalen stole the ball at half court and raced for two easy points. She finished with 12 points in addition to her two steals, and Maggie Hession added three more takeaways for the Falcons, who led 27-9 at halftime.
“Our defense was exceptional,” Lafond said. “That’s probably the best defense we’ve played in a couple of years. From our defense comes our offense.”
In the second half, Smith Academy pulled away with a six-point run from Kelly. She received a pass from Rickert at the top of the key, faked a shot that sent her defender soaring, and laid the ball in. Ella Sherman replied with a jumped for the Vikings (0-2). Smith Academy led 37-13 after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Sydney Cyr (four points) slid across the paint to emphatically block a Falcons’ shot.