- Details
- Category: Past Issues
Girls' roundup
PHS heads
to CSC
semifinals
PUTNAM --- After winning in the CSC quarterfinals against Prince Tech Feb. 18, the Putnam High School Lady Clippers will take on Cheney Tech Feb. 23 in New Haven.
In the Feb. 18 quarterfinals the leading scorers were Monica Phongsa with 19 and Regan Guillot with eight. Putnam lead 12-8 at halftime; 22-18 after three quarters and was able to handle a strong Prince Tech surge in the fourth to pull out a 37-30 victory. Putnam's record is 15-5 and Prince's is 14-7.
Feb. 16, Senior Night, the score was Wheeler 41, Putnam 33. Putnam led at the end of three quarters 30-28 but suffered a 13-3 Wheeler run in the fourth quarter to suffer loss number five on the season.
Putnam honored seniors Erin Konicki, Regan Guillot, Kat Lamoureux, Steph Baumuller and Molly Mackenzie in their last home game.
Putnam was led by Ashley Espinosa with nine points, Holly Desrosiers with eight points and Monica Phongsa with seven.
Pomfret School
Varsity Basketball
Pomfret 55 Naval 45
Feb. 14: The girls displayed true grit in their 55-45 victory over the Naval Academy Prep School. It was an incredibly physical game and the girls were forced to bring their level of play up another notch - they had to be stronger on the ball, had to be ready to bump inside the paint, and had to box out using their entire bodies. The first half was back and forth as both teams claimed the lead, but good ball movement and consequently good shooting gave Pomfret the 30-29 lead heading into the half. Jamie Samociuk, Meg Gaudreau and Z Hutchins each connected from outside the 3-point line, while Anyolina Montilla and Whitney Willingham worked the inside. Down the stretch in the first, Whitney provided a much-needed emotional lift as she powered in a shot and headed to the line for the old-fashioned three-point play.
To alleviate some foul troubles, the team switched to a 2-3 zone in the second. This was a risk as it would make boxing out a challenge - a risk that was hard to take as NAPS had scored the majority of their first half points from offensive rebounding - but it proved the right decision as Pomfret played its most aggressive, active and vocal zone defense of the season. Samociuk led the charge as she seemed to be everywhere - just as it seemed the opponent had pushed her too far to the corner, she was back at the top, deflecting the pass and taking the ball down the court for the fast break lay-up. This was even more impressive considering that every player for NAPS had Jamie by at least 20 pounds and 3 inches. With less than 5 minutes to play it was a two-point game and Montilla was on the bench with 4 fouls. Gaudreau hit an off-balance three and the girls never looked back. Alyson Chase was relentless in the zone, notching two steals and pushing the ball up the court on the break. Clutch shooting and great foul shooting (Samociuk 3-4, Chase 2-2, Montilla 1-2, Willingham 1-1, Gaudreau 2-2) down the stretch in combination with intense D allowed the girls to build up and hold onto the 10-point lead in the closing minutes of play.
Pomfret 64 Cheshire 34
Feb. 16: While it was a somewhat lackluster performance, there were a few highlights from the win over Cheshire Academy. When the team hit a funk halfway through the first 16 minutes of play, Liv Dalton-Hoffman and Kevalin Hutachinda provided a much-needed spark and showed the team what it meant to be active off the ball. Kevalin slashed through the paint against Cheshire’s 2-3 zone defense to receive two nice passes from Joddie Iyalakhue for drives to the basket. Liv’s efforts were similar, though her movement opened her up for two outside jumpers, both of which she sank. In Kevalin’s time on the floor, she pulled down the second highest number of offensive rebounds (second only to Joddie) and consequently made 3 separate trips to the foul line. Kevalin finished as one of the high scorers today with 8 points.
While our defensive effort in the second half was not our best (after scoring only 11 points in the first half, Cheshire would go on to score 23 points in the second!), it was great to see ten of Pomfret’s players contribute to scoring. L’Or-Iman Puymartin had a quick drive on the baseline for a layup against two defenders while Meg Calderado took a ball the length of the court and all the way to the hoop for a strong fast break basket. Joddie and Jamie Samociuk had a nice inside-outside game going which resulted in two assists for Jamie and four points for Joddie. Lastly, Caroline Kozlowski finished 2-2 from the foul line.
Varsity Hockey
Pomfret 1 Cushing 1
Feb. 19: Izzy Regine scored the tying goal with just 3:13 remaining in the game and Kristy Brown turned aside 25 shots in the tie.
It was senior day at Cushing and they struck early in the first period, catching Pomfret playing poor defensive zone coverage. The play was back and forth all period with Cushing registering 10 shots on net to Pomfret's 9. The line of Cassie Catlow, Valerie DiLella and Izzy Regine played well all day. They skated hard, battled and got pucks to the net. Candace Lu blocked a point shot and headed in on a breakaway towards the end of the first, but the Cushing goal keeper caught part of the shot with her blocker to deflect it wide of the net. The game got increasingly physical in the second and Cushing took four penalties, one of which was a game misconduct for checking from behind. On the powerplay, Pomfret peppered the Cushing goaltender, but could not find the equalizer. Jordan Lipson and Brooke Bytalan each got some good point shots off while Andi Nicholson battled down low in front of the net. Alex Gerew went down with an injury mid-way through the second, shortening the Pomfret bench. Pomfret outshot Cushing 14 to 7 in the second.
Cushing had a few chances to extend their lead by two goals, but Kristy was up to the challenge. She was helped by Pomfret defenders Gabby Criscuolo, Moira MacArthur and Lilah Fones who were making plays in our defensive zone. In the third, Pomfret continued to get scoring chances. With just over three minutes remaining, Ashley Anctil cycled the puck low to Candace Lu who found Izzy Regine open in front of the net. Izzy released the puck low glove slide to tie the game at one and force overtime. Pomfret nearly scored on a couple of occasions in overtime, but the game ended 1-1.
Marianapolis
Varsity Basketball
Marianapolis 61 Wheeler 20
Feb. 17: With emotions running high on Senior Night the Lady Knights came out running and improved their season record to 16 and 7. Melanie Mills (2012) had seven twos for 14 points and Alyson Stolz (2011) had four threes for 12 points to lead the Knights.
Hyde
Varsity Basketball
Hyde 47 Williams 42
Feb. 12: Hyde made the trip to New London and the campus of Connecticut College to face Williams in a league game. For the first time in weeks the team was at almost full strength. In the first half of the game Williams was playing well and shooting lights out. Hyde, on the other hand, struggled to contain Williams defensively and the only player that was scoring was Andrea Crute ’12. The team went into halftime thirteen points down. During halftime the wolf pack decided on the strategy of taking the ball to the hoop in order to force the other team to foul. This strategy had worked earlier in the week against Wheeler. Gradually the team closed the gap behind the scoring of Lara Cornelius ’11 and Andrea Crute each respectably scored twelve and thirteen points in the second half. Rebounding was also a key in getting second chance points offensively and preventing Williams from getting second chance points. Becca Katz ’12 hit four critical free-throws to put Woodstock ahead. With the clock winding down and Hyde up by three Bryn Nolan stole an inbounds pass and made a basket to put the wolf pack up by five and the game out of Williams’ reach. It was a great team effort and bodes well for next year with a lot of the team returning. The scoring was as follows; Katie Smith ’12 0-1-1, Katherine Hagood ’13 1-0-2, Becca Katz ’12 0-4-4, Bryn Nolan ’12 3-0-6, Lara Cornelius ’11 4-4-12, and Andrea Crute ’12 7-6-22.
Hyde 32 Wheeler 34
Feb. 14: Hyde hosted Wheeler in a rematch of the overtime game. Early on it became apparent that Wheeler was on a mission to avenge their loss and Hyde was a bit complacent settling for outside shots as opposed to taking the ball to the basket which has been the team’s bread and butter. The shots were not falling and Hyde was getting beat on the back end with fast breaks. The wolf pack went into halftime ten points down. Since the outside shots were not falling it was decided to once again employ the drive to the basket and hope to get fouled strategy. The team closed the gap but never was able to take the lead. It was a four point game with a minute to go but Hyde would never get closer than two. The girls worked hard but it was not their day. The scoring was as follows; Katie Smith ’12 0-1-1, Katherine Hagood ’13 1-3-5, Becca Katz ’12 4-0-8, Lara Cornelius ’11 4-1-9, Andrea Crute ’12 3-3-9.