Girls’ Wrap-up

Tournament 

time on the

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By Ron P. Coderre

Three local teams remain standing in high school girls’ basketball as Tourtellotte, Plainfield and Putnam prepare for the CIAC Tournament.  The Lady Panthers and Lady Tigers are also immersed in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Tournament.  Both teams picked up victories in the play down round of the event. 

It was a dismal week for the Marianapolis V1 and V2 teams as they went a combined 0-3.  Pomfret School with a shot at the NEPSAC postseason lost two of three games.  Hyde-Woodstock split a pair of games.

Tourtellotte and Plainfield 

Post ECC Tourney Wins

After closing out the regular season with a 55-44 victory over Parish Hill, the Tourtellotte Lady Tigers stepped into the play down round of the ECC Tournament with an exciting 36-34 win over Small Division nemesis St. Bernard.

Tourtellotte opened up a 22-15 lead on the Saints after three periods and had to withstand a strong offensive surge in the final stanza to capture the opener of the tourney.  It’s the second time in three meetings that Tourtellotte has beaten St. Bernard this season with all three games going down to the wire.

Allie Ablondi, who posted nine points in the win, made four free throws down the stretch to secure the win.  Deanna Lazzarra was the Lady Tigers high scorer with 11 points, while Jess Dodd chipped in eight and sophomore Abby Poirier added six.

The 17-4 Lady Tigers are now in the unenviable position of playing #1 seed and undefeated Norwich Free Academy in a quarterfinal contest at the Lady Wildcats gym.  The game pits NFA with a student population of more than 2000 against Tourtellotte with less than 300 students.  It’s a David versus Goliath battle.

Three players led by Ablondi with 17 points paced the win over Parish Hill.  Poirier (13) and Dodd (10) were also in double figures.

Plainfield got by its play down contest, beating Montville 55-42 behind a 23-point performance by Madeline Lorange.  Julie Jordan had 13 for the Lady Panthers, who move on to the quarterfinals against #4 seed Waterford in a game on the Plainfield home court.

Earlier in the week Plainfield lost to New London, one of the State’s top teams, 68-58.  The Lady Panthers had four players in double figures as they acquitted themselves well against the Whalers.  Adrienne Lorange led the way with 15 points followed by her sister, Madeline with 12 and Jordan and Morganne Collins with 10 points apiece.  Plainfield is 13-8 on the season.

Putnam didn’t do itself any favors as it prepares for the CIAC Tournament, as it lost both of its games last week to drop to 10-10 on the season.  The Lady Clippers were beaten by University Prep 50-20 and by Wheeler 53-19.

Lawless Scores 1000th Career Point at Pomfret

The highlight of the week for the Pomfret School ladies was standout Juliette Lawless scoring her career 1000th career point in a 38-33 win over Kingswood-Oxford School.  Lawless posted eight points in the win.  Alyzae Davis with 21 points was the high scorer for the Lady Griffins.

Earlier in the week Pomfret was felled by Cheshire Academy 66-56 despite 23-point performances by Lawless and Davis.  The team closed out last week’s action falling to Tilton Academy 73-56.  The Griffs, who are 12-8 on the season, were in the game until the high scoring Davis, who had 27 points, fouled out.  Lawless had 13 in the loss.

Hyde-Woodstock also split a pair of games last week, beating The Williams School 44-23 and losing to The Lincoln School 54-15.  Traniece Mims, with 26 points, paved the way to the victory over Williams, while her teammate Dossou Ndiaye added 16.  The Wolfpack is 4-12 on the season.

The Marianapolis V1 unit was beaten by Tilton Academy 61-38, dropping below .500 on the season at 10-11.  The Little Lady Knights suffered a similar fate, losing to The Wheeler School 52-30 and to The Lincoln School 35-19.  They are 4-10 on the year.