Despite being buoyed by the return to action of Siobhan Moriarty and the 24-hour recovery from a jammed shoulder of Nicole White, the Danvers High girls suffered a disastrous shooting third quarter Tuesday night in the DHS field house and dropped its fourth straight game, 52-42, to Swampscott.
The Falcons (7-4) overcame a turnover-filled first half, settling for a 14-14 deadlock after one quarter even though the Falcons turned over the ball five times in their first seven possessions.
The Falcons held Swampscott scoreless for 3:30 of the second and took a 25-19 lead into the dressing room at halftime, keyed by Sarah Unczur’s 12 points.
But it all went downhill quickly once the second half began.The Falcons missed their first nine shots, did not score in the session until Cheyenne Nessenger put in a layup after they beat the Swampscott press, but that came after there visitors scored 11 consecutive points to open the quarter. Lydia Runnels scored on a runner right after that to draw Danvers within 33-29, but that’s all the home team could produce in what evolved into a 2-for-14 shooting quarter and a 38-29 deficit moving into the final stanza.
The fourth quarter started poorly too, the Falcons turning the ball over on their first two possessions and three times in the first two minutes, bothered all night by a nasty SHS zone press, and they never recovered nor made a run at the opponent.
Unczur continued to provide solid scoring inside with 17 points but she needs much better scoring support.
The Falcons home stand reaches Game 3 Friday at 7 against powerhouse Revere.