TAUNTON — Just another day at the office for the Coyle-Cassidy girls basketball team.
The Warriors led from start to finish on Wednesday, winning their first Eastern Athletic Conference contest as C-C came away with a convincing 58-26 victory over Martha's Vineyard at Coyle-Cassidy High School.
With the win, the Warriors improved to 8-1 and 1-0 in the league.
"Offensively, I thought we got whatever we wanted today but we didn't finish a lot of times," C-C head coach Mike O'Brien said. "Overall, I was pleased with the game. Very pleased with the response in the second half as far as taking care of the basketball."
Sam Hourihan led the way for the Warriors with a game-high 18 points, 11 rebounds, a block and three assists. Kassidy Fields finished with a season-best 17 points, five steals and seven rebounds. Rachael Johnson chipped in with 16 points, four steals, five rebounds and five assists.
Molly deBettencourt had a team-high 17 points for the Vineyarders, including five three-pointers and 14 points in the second half.
deBettencourt is now two points shy of 1,000 points for her career.
MV (3-5) were held in check for much the contest by a smothering, C-C defense. The Vineyarders recorded just four points in two quarters and five in another.
"We lost three seniors last year and that took away 14 points a game for us," MV head coach Sterling Bishop said. "We had to find a way to build around that. We're lacking a little bit. We came into today timid. We're well aware of this team and played them over the years. Once we got down, we were down on ourselves. We got some work to do."
Fields set the tone defensively in the first quarter for the Warriors. The junior forward recorded three buckets along with three steals as C-C took an early 14-5 lead.
The Warriors outscored the Vineyarders, 15-4, in the second quarter to go into the locker rooms with a commanding 29-9 lead. Hourihan paced C-C's offense with nine points in the quarter. Johnson also scored five of her 11 first half points. Abbie Kurtzer (five points) drained a 3-pointer right before the buzzer to give the Warriors a 20-point lead.
deBettencourt scored 11 of MV's 13 points in the third quarter but still trailed C-C by 22 points. Hourihan recorded another nine points in the quarter.
The Warriors outscored the Vineyarders 14-4 in the final frame. Fields scored half of those points in the last eight minutes.
"Kassidy [Fields], we left her in the game to get her confidence back," O'Brien said. "I thought she did (get her confidence back). The good thing is she is in the right spot and getting good looks. Defensively, she maybe our best player in the post. The team is very confident in her. I thought [today] she really responded well."
Despite not scoring, Kaylee Haynes had a great overall game. She finished with a game-high eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. Stacie Leonard also played well defensively.
It's on to Bishop Feehan on Friday. The Warriors haven't beaten the Shamrocks since 2012.
"We'll see," O'Brien said. "We're hoping and keep our fingers crossed. We're going to work out tails off tomorrow."