Yasmeen Guerrier achieved the 1000-point milestone in her Everett High career to lead the Lady Crimson Tide basketball team to a pair of victories this past week.
Guerrier hit for 22 points to lead Everett to a 53-38 victory at Swampscott Tuesday, which brought her within nine points of the 1,000-point plateau.
Three nights later on her home court, Yaz achieved the milestone in the opening quarter and then added 15 more on the night to pace the Lady Crimson Tide to a 65-58 triumph over Beverly.
The twin wins raised the Everett girls’ winning streak to six games and improved their record to 9-4. They now are within one victory, with seven games to play, of punching their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney to play in the MIAA post-season state tournament.
The contest at Swampscott was a close affair through the opening half, with Everett holding a slim 28-24 advantage. Swampscott’s top player, Nikki Rosa, was driving to the basket and drawing fouls, which not only caused Crimson Tide defenders to get into foul trouble, but also sent Rosa to the free-throw line 12 times in the opening 16 minutes.
However, EHS head coach Tammy Turner switched her team’s defensive strategy from a man-to-man press to a sagging man-to-man after the intermission that ensured that Rosa always was covered. The result was that Rosa did not go to the free-throw line at all in the second half and the Everett “D” limited Swampscott to just six points in the third period, allowing the Lady Crimson Tide to expand their four-point halftime lead into a 12-point bulge, 42-30, after three periods.
The Everett defense continued to remain firm in the final quarter, holding Swampscott to just eight points over the final eight minutes.
In addition to Guerrier’s 22 points, Jackie Emmanuel and Carolann Cardinale reached double figures with 14 and 10 points respectively. Kiara Wilkinson hit for four points, Maddy Duraes added two, and Kloe Cardillo sank a free throw.
Although Guerrier struck for her 1,000th point in the opening quarter against Beverly, the Lady Crimson Tide found themselves trailing, 17-10, at the first buzzer. However, the Everett offense found its rhythm in the next eight minutes to move out to a 30-28 edge at the half.
The Lady Crimson Tide maintained their momentum after the intermission and expanded their lead to 51-40 at the third buzzer. Beverly drew within three points with about four minutes to play in the game, but Everett’s free throw shooting provided the crucial difference down the stretch. Turner’s crew hit on 12-for-15 from the charity stripe in the final eight minutes and had sunk a perfect 6-for-6 in the third period. Everett was a sterling 20-of-27 for the game.
Turner and her crew were scheduled to play Marblehead last night (Tuesday) and will travel to Peabody tomorrow (Thursday) evening in a make-up game. They will host Lynn English Friday and travel to Somerville Tuesday.