Continuing to climb the ladder of success, Greenwich Academy’s basketball team added its fourth win of the season to its record, leading from start to finish on its way to rolling to a convincing 49-33 win over visiting FAA opponent Hopkins School on Jan. 23.

Despite missing several players due to illness and injury, Greenwich Academy played through the adversity, using a balanced scoring effort and stellar defensive play to post their latest victory.

“We played extremely well in the beginning and we had some players who have been working extremely hard the last few weeks and they were rewarded today,” GA coach Jordan Griffith said, following the Gators’ triumph against Hopkins on Jan. 23.

Junior center/forward Mallory Walker scored a game-high 18 points to lead GA, which raised its record to 4-6 on the season. Greenwich Academy traveled to Masters School today (Jan. 25) for an FAA matchup.

Guard Madison Hurns totaled 10 points, while playing strong defense and junior forward Mirabel Rodgers added seven points for Greenwich Academy, which led Hopkins School, 29-12 at halftime. Senior point guard/captain Ruby Montanez had five points, while helping set up the Gators’ offense.

“Leading up to it this week, the team worked really hard,” said Montanez, also a lacrosse and soccer star at Greenwich Academy. “We had a lot of conditioning this week and I’m really proud of everyone on the team. Every single one of them worked hard and pushed through.”

GA stormed out to an 18-3 lead on Hopkins after the first quarter, before leading by 17 (29-12) at halftime.

Montanez’s basket gave the Gators a 21-7 lead on the Hilltoppers. Walker made a short jump shot in the lane, then grabbed an offensive rebound and scored, upping GA’s advantage to 25-7 late in the second quarter.

“We came off a tough loss to Choate, so we all were definitely working hard,” said Walker, who also plays field hockey at GA. “At practice earlier this week, we ran a lot, which definitely helped us in this game.”

Walker scored eight first-quarter points and had 12 points in the opening half.

“At practice, we all were working on our shots and trying to compete with each other, so it would translate to the game, which I think it did,” Walker noted.

Eva Stirk scored 13 points for Hopkins, which received six points from Veronica Vece. In the third quarter, guard Aneka Lakhani, who scored seven points, converted a layup off a steal, then drove baseline and scored, putting the Gators on top, 35-20.

Rodgers scored off a spin move and made a layup off an inbounds pass, making it 41-26 in favor of the home team, which played stellar defense throughout.

“We worked a lot in practice on it,” Hurns said of the team’s defense. “I feel like we worked together as a unit and all our hard work paid off.”

GA has a busy upcoming week, as it will visit School of the Holy Child on Jan. 27 for an FAA matchup, then travel to travel to Hamden Hall Country Day School on Jan. 29 for another league game. They will visit Cheshire Academy on Feb. 1.

“We know that we play in a really tough league with Division I players,” Griffith said. “In general, we feel we have the athletes, we have girls who put the work in. We have a great power player in Mallory, who is really coming into her own.”

“We are playing good teams, we want to compete and hopefully, come out with some wins,” Griffith added. “This was a really good win and we needed it,” Montanez said. “It’s good momentum for Masters.”

Montanez mentioned how enjoyable the current season has been.

“Basketball is one of those seasons, where we are all really close,” she said. “They are such hard workers.”

Said Hurns of the team’s improvement: “All the players are coming in on the weekends and were here during the offseason putting the work in. We’ve had some good wins and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”