Girls’ Wrap-up:

League 

tournaments 

take center 

stage

By Ron P. Coderre

The Eastern Connecticut Conference and Constitution State Conference tournaments featured the premier games of the week, as the teams that qualified were in action with mixed results.

The Putnam Lady Clippers pulled an upset in the CSC quarterfinal matchup.  Putnam seeded #6 upset #3 seed Bullard Haven.  In the ECC Plainfield won a first round game before falling in the quarterfinals to Norwich Free Academy.  Woodstock Academy and Killingly lost a play-in games in the ECC.

Tourtellotte and Ellis Tech closed out the regular season below the eight-win level necessary to play in the postseason.  The Lady Tigers won their final game of the regular season while the Golden Eagles went out on a losing note.  

Pomfret was the only prep school to play.  The Golden Griffins picked up two wins and dropped one.

On an individual note, Killingly’s Meagan Bianchi hit a milestone.  The senior, four-year starter passed the 1000-point plateau in a game against East Lyme.

Putnam Moves on in CSC Tourney

Putnam crashed the CSC party when it upset higher seed Bullard Haven in the quarterfinals 40-20.  The Lady Clippers jumped out to a 21-12 halftime advantage and used a big third period to ice the contest and move into the semifinals.  Olivia Braithwaite had 14 points and was immense inside for coach Mandy Hogan’s charges.  Alyssa Espinosa also reached double figures with 11points.

Earlier in the week the Lady Clippers closed out the regular season on a disappointing note losing to ECC opponent Wheeler 54-37.  Ashley Burke had a dozen points and Espinosa added 10 in the loss.  Putnam is 13-8 and 8-2 in the conference.

In the ECC, Plainfield posted a play-in victory, beating Ledyard 58-49.  The trio of Julie Jordan (21), Zoe Beaver (18) and Madeline Lorange (10) were the big guns for the Lady Panthers.  In the next round the team faced the unenviable task of playing Norwich Free Academy one of the top teams in the state.  The Wildcats prevailed in the cat fight 63-34.  Jordan with 16 was the lone Lady Panther in double figures.

In the final game of the regular season, Plainfield was forced to overtime before edging Woodstock Academy 53-52.  The big cogs in the win were Jordan with 17 and Lorange with a dozen.  Woodstock was led by freshman Ari Koivisto’s 15 points.  Plainfield is 13-9 as it awaits the CIAC Tournament.

Woodstock faced Stonington in the play-in round of the ECC Tournament and lost 63-53 in a well played game.  Down by three, 34-31 at intermission the Centaurs couldn’t quite muster the needed offense to pull off the upset.  Jamie Woods had a great game for the Acads posting 22 points.

In the final regular season game, Woodstock lost to Ledyard 43-26.  Woods had 12 and Koivisto 11 in the loss.  Woodstock is 10-11 as it awaits the postseason and finishes 2-8 in the ECC Large Division. 

Killingly opened the week with a 49-42 loss to East Lyme.  The highlight of the game for the Redgals came when senior Meagan Bianchi eclipsed the 1000-point mark for her brilliant career.  Bianchi ended the game as Killingly’s top scorer with 17 points.  Reagan Morin, who’s been coming on strong down the stretch and Ally Conde each had 11 points.

In its final game of the regular season Killingly beat Montville 57-51 as Bianchi turned in another stellar performance, scoring 20 points to lead the Redgals.  Morgan LeSage and Conde each chipped in 10 points in the victory.

In the ECC play-in round Killingly faced #2 seed Bacon Academy and fell 56-26.  Bianchi was the only double figure scorer for coach Mark Lowell with 12 points.  Killingly enters the CIAC postseason at 9-12 overall and finishes its ECC competition at 2-8 in the Medium Division.

Tourtellotte put the 2015-2016 season to bed with a convincing 56-26 win over St. Bernard.  Abby Poirier garnered game high honors with 19 points for Tourtellotte, which finishes at 7-13 and 3-7 in the ECC Small Division.

Ellis Tech lost its final two games of the season, falling to Cheney Tech 45-26 and 43-17 to Wheeler.  The Golden Eagles finish at 4-16 on the season and 2-8 in the CSC East Division.

Pomfret Only Prep in Action

Pomfret School enjoyed a good week winning two games before losing 75-45 to Tilton Academy, despite a 20-point performance from Alyzae Davis.  Corinne McPadden posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the 12-8 Lady Griffins.

Pomfret opened the week with a 68-35 victory over Cheshire Academy as four players hit double figures.  McPadden led the way with 19 big points, followed by Deja Ross with 15, Davis with 11 and Issy Forti with 10.

The Golden Griffins closed out the week with another big win, blowing out Kingswood-Oxford 71-49.  Ahead by three, 34-31 at the break, Pomfret outscored K-O 37-18 in the second half to pull away for the win.  McPadden, who enjoyed a great week, led the way with 20 points.  She was joined in double figures by Ross 15, Olivia Batastini 12 and Davis with 11.

 

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