Girls’ Basketball Wrap-up

Pomfret

ladies clean

house in 

New England

tourney

By Ron P. Coderre

It was holiday basketball tournament time for the local prep schools and they took advantage of all the games by improving on their records.  Pomfret School hosted the New England Girls Basketball Classic.  The Lady Griffins enjoyed success by sweeping all four games they were involved in and claiming the title.

Marianapolis played in the Rivers School Holiday Tournament and won three of four games, losing only to host Rivers School in a tightly contested game.  Hyde-Woodstock, which is attempting to get its season off the ground, ran into tough going losing to Providence Country Day.

The high school girls’ season got underway with a full slate of games in the first week.  Putnam and Plainfield got off to perfect starts, each winning two games.  Killingly split a pair of games while Tourtellotte, Woodstock Academy and Ellis Tech are still in search of their first victories.

Pomfret School Wins Four Games

 in Two Days

In a test of stamina as well as ability, Pomfret School won the New England Girls Basketball Classic capturing four contests in two days.  The Lady Griffins were involved in two games a day over a three day period.

The hosts opened the marathon tourney by beating Deerfield Academy 59-43, placing three players in double figures.  Pomfret was led offensively by Alyzae Davis with 18 points, followed by Deja Ross with 15 and Olivia Batastini with 14.  In the afternoon encounter they took the measure of Berkshire Academy 43-36 as Davis tickled the twine for a game high 19 points.  Ross chipped in 12 markers and Corinne McPadden had a strong performance in the middle.  She had four points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots and four steals in a great all-around performance.

The Golden Griffins continued their mastery of the opposition by downing Choate School 53-50 in their toughest test of the four-game event.  Sophomore Batastini had her best game of the season, tallying 24 points with 18 of her points coming from beyond the arc on six three-pointers.  Davis, who is a consistent threat on offense tossed in 18 points in the win.

The Pomfret ladies concluded the four-game set with a 59-44 victory over Miss Porter School.  Ross (15) and Davis (13) were the Griffs top scorers, while Chrissy Bacon with six second half points led the revival of the team after intermission.  Coach Rebecca Brooks’ team is 5-2 as they break from classes and court action during the holiday season.

Marianapolis picked up three wins at the Rivers School Tournament beating Naval Prep 48-45, Northfield-Mount Hermon 63-54 and The Taft School 48-45.  The Lady Knights only loss came at the hands of the hosts in a 53-50 nail biter.

The Lady Knights posted the win over Naval Prep on a Caroline Soucy steal and layup at the buzzer.  Nicole Anderson with 20 points was high scorer for Marianapolis.  Jordan Frye and Sophia Widmeyer led the way in the win over Northfield-Mount Hermon with 16 points apiece.  All-tournament selection Soucy was Marianapolis’ top point producer with 16 in the victory over The Taft School.  Anderson was also in double figures with 11 for the 6-2 Golden Knights of coach Lauren Moore.

Despite 13 points from Dairy Rojas, Hyde School-Woodstock fell hard 43-17 at the hands of Providence Country Day.  The Wolfpack are yet to hit the win column as they are 0-4 entering the holiday break.

High Schools Open with a Flurry of Action

The Putnam High School girls got the 2015-2016-season off on a high note with a pair of easy victories.  The Lady Clippers of coach Mandy Hogan traveled to Middletown for their opener and came home victorious, besting Vinal Tech 28-17.  Olivia Braithwaite with six points and 14 rebounds and Mackenzie Livingston with two points and a dozen boards were the controlling factor in the season opener.  Maria Fredette with seven points was the team’s high scorer.

In a 63-6 laugher over Grasso Tech, Putnam was paced offensively by Alyssa Espinosa with a game high 18 points.

The Plainfield Panthers like Putnam also got off to a 2-0 start as they recorded wins over Tourtellotte and Montville.  Plainfield led by the trio of Zoe Beaver (15), Madeline Lorange (10) and Julie Jordan (16) doubled up on the Lady Tigers 60-30.  Emily Vincent had 11 points for Tourtellotte.

In the 67-31 win over Montville the Lady Panthers put four players in double digits led by Jordan and Lorange with 19 points each.  Beaver added 13 points and Madison Kelley had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Tourtellotte attempting to get to the win column ran into some bad luck as they lost at the buzzer to Lyman 45-44 on a three-pointer by the Bulldog’s Kristina Olenick.  Vincent was once again high scorer for the Lady Tigers with 16 points followed by Katie Kwasniewski with a dozen.

Killingly opened the season in an unusual manner, posting a 45-44 win over Wheeler.  Meagan Bianchi was the big reason for the win as she hit the scorebook with 25 points.  The Redgals couldn’t stand prosperity, losing big to New London 74-23 to drop to 1-1 in the early goings.

Woodstock Academy under new head coach Will Fleeton is off to a 0-2 start, losing to Bacon Academy 49-26 and East Lyme 53-40.  Freshman Ari Koivisto was high scorer in both games for the Lady Centaurs with nine and 14 points respectively.

Ellis Tech lost its only game of the week, falling hard to Griswold, 62-13.

Holiday Tournament Time

The girls’ CNB a Division of ESB Clipper Holiday Classic is scheduled for Dec. 26 and 28 with games tipping off at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.  The field includes the host Lady Clippers along with Killingly, Tourtellotte and Windham Tech.

In Woodstock the Centaur Classic Holiday Basketball Tournament for the females is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 28 and 29.  On Monday at 4 p.m. Greenwich tips off against University High School followed at approximately 5:30 p.m. by Lyman Memorial and the host Woodstock Academy.  

The next day the girls’ consolation game will take place at 1:30 p.m. with the championship contest at approximately 3 p.m.

 

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