PHOTO GALLERY: Boys, Girls Basketball Lose to Belmont

Four Belmont High School hoopsters scored in double digits while Winchester's shooters went into a deep freeze in the second half, resulting in the Marauders easing to their fifth win of the season, defeating the Sachems, 52-39.

Winchester, with its big, strong front court of senior center Craig Fitzgerald (8 points) and co-captains Conor Dunleavy (7 points) and Ryan Murphy (3 points), kept the game close in the first 16 minutes, out-rebounding the smaller Marauders and taking a 16-13 lead after the first quarter. 

But Belmont's pressing defense allowed the Marauders to take a 23-21 lead before Dunleavy tied it up at 23 by out-hustling three Belmont defenders with a sweet up-and-over shot. It appeared that the teams would go into the half tied until Belmont’s Sam Musler (16 points) hit a straight-away jump as time expired, giving the Marauders a 29-27 lead. 

The third quarter opened with both teams simply unable to fill the basket but not for want of trying. Twice in consecutive times up the court, Belmont’s Tyaishawn Abdul-Aziz (10 points) rejected Fitzpatrick and then scored inside after nearly four-and-half minutes had expired. John Dillon upped Belmont's lead to 37-31 hitting a tre' as the buzzer sounded.

And Winchester never got close again as Belmont’s Musler hit two threes in a row and point guard Manny Cabral followed suit with a three and a pair of driving twos giving Belmont a 19 point lead with two minutes to go.

Winchester Struggles in Second Half

Knotted at 19 at the half, Belmont upped their defensive coverage, holding Winchester to a pair of baskets over the eight minutes, shutting out Winchester's top scorer, 5' 10" senior guard Elise Testa, in the quarter.

While Winchester struggled with Belmont's D, the Marauders saw five players score including four from Belmont star Katie Leinbach,  Izzy Goldstein's 3 and a pair from junior 'sixth man' Kate Zolner to jump the lead to 32-23. 

While Testa scored four quick points in the fourth, it was too little to halt the Marauders from grabbing their first winning streak of the year, beating Winchester, 41-32.