By Mike Rubin

Kelsey Garrity led the Highlanders with 10 points in a losing effort.

For the Somerville girls basketball squad, victory was within grasp. Instead, the Highlanders suffered a hard fought 39-33 defeat to Lynn English  in falling to 0-2 overall.

“We’re very close and we’re getting there,” said first year coach Shannon Clark. “The girls are giving it their best effort, and we’ve had some great performances. It’s a new system, and the girls will get it, and once we do, we’re going to be just fine.”

The Highlanders couldn’t convert on open perimeter shots.

“We were missing easy shots,” said Clark. “We have a lot of girls that are new to the varsity level, and you have to make shots like those at the varsity level. We had a lot of open looks to the basket, and we couldn’t find our shots.”

Leading the way for the Highlanders was senior captain Kelsey Garrity, who recorded a team high 10 points while Indira Evora added nine in the losing effort.

“Our backcourt did a nice job really setting the tempo of the game, but we have to find our shots,” said Clark. “It’s going to take time, and there’s still a lot of basketball left to be played.”

Also contributing for the Highlanders was Melissa Baptista, who added four points in the loss.

“Our defense did a nice job defending off their guard play,” said Clark. “We were able to play some solid defense at the perimeter, and it was a game that could’ve gone either way, but in the end we just came up a little short.”

After a slow start, the Highlanders closed to within 22-21 in the fourth quarter as Evora delivered an uncontested lay-up.

Any hopes of momentum by the Highlanders were quickly thwarted as Diondra Woumn nailed a key three-pointer, extending the lead to four. Woumn would also struck another three pointer, as the Bulldogs increased the lead to 36-29 in the final minutes.

“(They) hit a couple of three pointers, and that took the wind out of our sails,” said Clark. “We hung in there until the end, but it wasn’t enough.”