Dartmouth High’s girls basketball team broke through an early season slump with a 45-32 win over Bishop Stang on December 30.

The Indians commanded a lead early in the first quarter, but Bishop Stang chipped away at it. The Spartans brought the score up to 6-6 with 2:48 remaining in the first quarter. The team then jumped ahead, closing the round on its home court, 15-10.

A re-energized Dartmouth tied up the game, 20-20, late in the second quarter. The Indians then took the lead with less than a minute remaining, and maintained it through the rest of the game to finish with a win.

It was a welcomed change of pace for Head Coach Scott Richards. The win ended a three-game losing streak, following losses to East Bridgewater, Sandwich, and Greater New Bedford Voc Tech. The Indians had opened the regular season with a win against Old Rochester.

Richards commended senior Ashley Cadorette for bringing in points and providing plenty of opportunities for baskets.

“She made it easier for everybody else to spread the floor out. She had a big game for us and it really helped,” Richards said.

Richards’s focus for this game was preventing turnovers. In previous matchups, Dartmouth struggled to keep control of the ball, he said.

“We’re doing a better job with [turnovers]. We had less today than we have had in the past,” Richards said.

Richards is already thinking strategy for the Indians’ next matchup on January 6 against Bridgewater-Raynham, the team's first league matchup of the season.

“First of all, we have to scout them. We haven’t seen them yet,” Richards said. “Once we figure out what they’re good at, we’re going to devise something to take that away."