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Girls’ Roundup
Lady Tigers
romp to
Clipper
Classic
championship
By Ron P. Coderre
Off to the best start in the recent history of the girls’ basketball program at Tourtellotte Memorial High School, the 5-0 Lady Tigers of coach Carla Faucher breezed through the 13th Clipper Classic capturing a very rewarding championship with a two-game sweep.
The Lady Tigers, following a 60-37 opening round victory over host Putnam, had a surprisingly easy time in the title game beating Windham Tech 45-27. Ali Ablondi, the tournament Most Valuable Player, led the way to the championship with 14 points. But it was the all-around team effort that was the true picture of the victory. Ablondi received offensive support from Jess Dodd (nine points) and sophomore Abby Poirier (eight points), while guard Liz Coty (six points) controlled the tempo of the contest. Nicole Dion and Lydia Cortiss along with Dodd and Ablondi ruled the backboards on both ends of the court.
“These young ladies are seeing the rewards of sticking with the program. As freshmen and sophomores they took their lumps but it’s all paying off for them now. I couldn’t be happier for this group of kids,” said Faucher.
In the opener over Putnam, Alblodi was on fire, leading the way with 24 points. She had five three-pointers with three coming in the crucial third period when Tourtellotte took control of the contest. Dodd added 14 in the first round win. Putnam received 12 points from MaKenzi Kaylor and 11 from Cynthia Briere in the loss.
The Lady Clippers, who were 0-2 in the tourney, lost the consolation game to Killingly 42-37. Putnam, which is 2-3 on the season, was paced by Briere and Kaylor with a dozen points apiece. Earlier in the week coach Mandi Hogan’s charges lost to Hale Ray 60-27.
Killingly (1-5), which picked up its first win of the season against Putnam, was beaten in the first round by Windham Tech in a high-scoring affair 63-57 despite a Herculean effort by sophomore Meagan Bianchi who poured 30 points through the nylon. In the win over Putnam, despite being closely guarded Bianchi had eight points. Cara Mayhew with 10 points was high scorer for the Redgals.
Woodstock Academy in one of its best performances of the young season was edged by Lyman 44-41, dropping the Lady Centaurs to 0-6. Liz Rondeau and Annabel Shackett with nine points each were Woodstock’s top guns. Earlier in the week the Acads lost to Plainfield 50-42 despite a 17-point effort by Galina Grades for coach Willie Bousquet.
The 4-1 Lady Panthers rode the coattails of Alicia Cournoyer (20 points) and Julie Jordan (16) to the victory over Woodstock. In a 69-37 win over archrival Griswold, Plainfield put on an offensive showing led by Adrienne Lorange’s 27 points including five from three-point land and Madeline Lorange 11 markers.
Ellis Tech fell to 0-5, in what will be a long season for the Lady Eagles, as they were beaten by Norwich Tech 46-8.
Hoop Happenings: Alblondi the Clipper Classic MVP was joined on the all-tourney team by Bianchi (Killingly), Briere (Putnam), Dodd and Poirier (Tourtellotte) and Kara Thibodeau (Windham Tech)…In an unusual display of fire Putnam’s coach Hogan received a T in the Tourtellotte game…Lady Clipper junior forward Lyndsay Dashnaw is like the “energizer bunny” on the court…Killingly’s Bianchi is also an A student in the classroom, taking after her dad, Scott Bianchi who was a student/athlete at Putnam a few years back. Her grandfather Dick Bianchi, a 1960 Putnam grad, was a star lineman for the Clippers…It’s a family affair on the Tourtellotte coaching staff. Coach Carla Faucher’s son Andrew is an assistant. Assistant coach Dawn Poirier is the mother of sophomore guard Abby Poirier…Lady Tiger’s Lizz Coty and Lydia Cortiss have locally famous fathers. Coty’s dad is Mike Coty, the superintendent of Quinnatisset Coountry Club, and Cortiss’ dad Herb Cortiss is the maitre d’ at The Inn at Woodstock Hill in addition to being a teacher in the Thompson school system…Killingly’s Cara Mayhew’s dad is former Woodstock Academy three-sport standout Chris Mayhew. Her stepfather is former Plainfield three-sport standout Alan Carpenter…Spotted in the stands was former Putnam Lady Clipper Ashley Espinosa, who is now a member of the Worcester State University women’s basketball team. She is headed to Costa Rica with the Lady Lancers for a holiday tournament…Windham Tech head coach Ray Elliott is well known to local sports fans, having coached boys and girls at WT for more than 30 years.