Gaudreau’s 4th-quarter play sparks Centaurs
 Kayla Gaudreau saved the day for the Woodstock Academy girls’ basketball team Feb. 1.
The Centaurs watched a 17-point halftime lead disappear but thanks to some timely plays late in the fourth quarter by their senior guard were able to pull out a 45-41 win.
The Centaurs were trailing by a point with under a minute left and Achievement First Amistad High School in possession of the ball.
Gaudreau engineered a five-second violation against the Wolves and got the ball back for Woodstock Academy with 33 seconds to play.
She was hardly done.
Fifteen seconds later, she buried a 3-pointer from the corner and gave Woodstock Academy a two-point lead.
The senior had two more big plays left.
She deflected the in-bounds pass off a Wolves’ player out-of-bounds to give the Centaurs the ball once again. She capped it off with five seconds left with a nice bounce pass to senior Katie Papp for the insurance basket.
“I’ve been singing Kayla’s praises all season because she has really delivered effort-wise, on the defensive end and scoring some points. The game on Saturday, once again, displayed not only her scoring ability but also her defensive skills,” said Woodstock Academy coach Will Fleeton.
With Gaudreau working against Wolves’ standout Paige McDonald and holding her to four first-half points, the Centaurs were able to jump out to a 27-10 lead at the half.
Gaudreau scored 10 of her team-high 19 in the first half while Rachel Lambert tossed in seven of her eight points.
The good times ended quickly in the second half.
Before the Centaurs knew what happened, the 17-point lead suddenly was a five-point differential in the third quarter.
McDonald was a big cause of that as she scored eight of the Wolves 19 points in the quarter.
Still, the Centaurs led by nine, 38-29, going into the fourth but eight more McDonald points, giving her 20 on the day, made it close at the end.
The non-league win raised the Centaurs record to 4-11. “Of course, it was great to find another ‘W,’” said Fleeton. Papp finished with eight points and nine rebounds while another senior, Hallie Saracina, dished out six assists.
The Centaurs only had a two-game week.
The Jan. 30 contest was not as productive as Saturday’s, Woodstock Academy lost to Bacon Academy in Colchester, 62-39.
Papp led the Centaurs with 14 points while Alexa Pechie tossed in 11.
The Centaurs (4-11) need a few more if they wish to qualify for the Class LL state tournament.
Woodstock Academy would have to win four of their last five to accomplish that.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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