Mills tops Thomaston

THOMASTON — Reenforcing lessons arrived for both teams in a Lewis Mills 40-22 win over a young Thomaston girls basketball team Thursday evening at Thomaston High School.

The Golden Bears (0-2) start just one senior, Megan Guay along with two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman.

“They’re young but they want to play,” said coach Bob McMahon, who led Thomaston to five straight Class S finals and two state championships from 2013 through 2017.

Now the process begins again with a trademark fearless young group who eventually showed they can play trademark in-your-face defense Thursday night.

Mills, along with defending league champion Northwestern and Gilbert (Thomaston’s Monday-night opponent), earns its preseason status largely on the strength of one of the best players in the league, senior Samantha Chadwick.

Thursday, it was never supposed to be much of a game, but the lessons were significant for both teams.

The Spartans opened up with what coach Al Ciarlo called their “best defensive half in a long time” for a 10-2 first-quarter lead that stretched to 29-12 at the break on the strength of 16 second-quarter points by Chadwick, including four three-pointers on her way to six treys for the game.

Then McMahon clearly used halftime to remind his young Bears what Thomaston defense is all about.

They swarmed all over Chadwick and her teammates for just an 11-10 second-half Spartan margin, re-enforcing Mills’ own

lesson in its hopes for a Berkshire League championship.

The Spartans depend on their All-State, All-BL star to be a do-everything player, but she, in turn, recognizes her responsibility to help meld the new cast of Spartans together.

“We’re emphasizing communication and teamwork,” Chadwick said. “We want to

play five as one, picking up good shots by turning our defense into offense.”

Meanwhile, Ciarlo is happy for “our first win in a long time in this school.”