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By Shawn Bates
Putnam High
The Lady Clippers did what they needed to do last week and that was to win out for their seeding in the CIAC Tournament. With wins over Wheeler 33-29, Windham Tech 64-45 and a CRUSHING 75-7 romping over Grasso Tech.
Putnam is running on all cylinders and the ladies have nothing but a lead foot on the gas heading into tourney time. The Clippers are at 16-4 for the year and have jumped up in the Class S rankings by another spot to # 3 in the state.
The athletic director mixed ECC teams and tech teams in the schedule and got Putnam where they needed to be at this time of year. The team is prepared to work harder to make a run in the tournament.
Coaches Mandi Hogan and Ashley Espinosa have done more than their jobs with this group of kids this year.
Boys’
The Clippers had one mission this year and that was to qualify for a CIAC tournament berth. Well due to some hard work put in by the coaches and the players, the team has succeeded — they’ve hit the magic number of eight.
Last week the Clippers made their way to Cheney Tech. They had lost to them earlier in the season, 61-53. So the Clippers had pay back on their minds and they would battle throughout the game to get a 53-48 win on the road. That earned them the seventh game needed for the tourney. Tyion Harris would lead all players with 19 points and Sebastian Ramos would chip in 9. Aiden Ciquera delivered another 9.
Feb. 15 the Clippers were on the road again. This time they headed Wheeler to play the Lions. Both teams would come out flat in the 1st quarter with both teams combining for a whole 10 points. At half time the school changed up and with some scrappy play and Tyion Harris playing a huge part of the offense, the Clippers took a 12-point lead into the locker room 25-13.
The Clippers would come back out on to the court and with some good bench play and the starters hitting the shots, Putnam got back onto the bus with a 55-43 win and qualified for the CIAC tournament. The boys now will be playing for seeding with three games left for the season. They are currently ranked 18th in the state. They played Killingly and Montville on the road and on Feb. 22 Putnam will host Grasso Tech for Putnam‘s last home game and senior nigh