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Putnam Science Academy’s Ciara Bailey takes great pride in her defense. And when she makes an impact on that end of the floor, it only seems right that she would want to be involved as much as possible on offense.
“She didn’t get as many touches as she probably would want to,” fill-in head coach Jasmyne Fogle said, “but at the end of the game, you look up and she has 20 points and 13 rebounds. She’s just such a presence inside.”
Bailey’s efforts (she also had a pair of blocks) keyed the Mustangs’ Prep Black team to a convincing 74-60 win at Greens Farms Academy in Westport on Feb. 11. It was their first game of the season.
“We started a little slowly like I expected would happen,” Fogle said. “But we got hot, and the second quarter really proved to be the difference for us.”
That was when PSA outscored GFA 16-3 and took a 37-30 lead into the half.
Yamani McCollough added 18 points, and Kristina Goncharuk finished with 12 points. Sade Young (nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals) and Jada Mills (seven points, four rebounds, two steals) had strong all-around games as well for PSA.
Boys
On the boys’ side, PSA’s Prep team won a pair of games in a home-and-home set with Cheshire Academy.
Alexis Reyes led five players in double figures with 15 points as the Mustangs won 108-71 in Putnam with a big second half Feb. 12, then went for a team-high 20 points the next day in an 88-78 win.
In the first matchup, Elijah Hutchins-Everett had 12 points, and Bryce Harris recorded his second straight double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Mustangs, who opened the second half on a 13-0 run to open a 14-point lead.
Leon Williams added 11 points, Nana Owusu-Anane 11, and Boris Mitkin nine points and four rebounds. Cherif Diarra chipped in with nine rebounds, and Darryl Simmons had a game-high seven assists for PSA.
In Cheshire, Reyes also added nine rebounds, and six assists in the win. PSA, which never trailed, also got 19 points from Hutchins-Everett, 16 points and eight rebounds from Owusu-Anane, and 11 points from Mitkin. Diarra pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
PSA’s Elite team traveled to St. Thomas More Feb. 13, and playing for the first time since early November, dropped a 71-54 decision. Theo Benoit led the way with 23 points, Zach Boulay added 14 points, and Edwin Linares finished with four points, seven rebounds, three blocks for the Mustangs (3-1).
Also Feb. 13, Nathan Couhe led a balanced PSA Varsity attack with 11 points in a 52-11 win over Killingly’s freshman team. Jose Guerrero added eight points, Danny Moreno seven, and Fabio Rizzi and Jorge Trueba Hernandez had six apiece for the Mustangs (2-2).
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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