- Details
- Category: Past Issues
caption, page 9:
Winners
The Pomfret girls' varsity basketball team took the crown in tournament competition March 7. Courtesy photo.
Griffin
girls' team
takes the
crown
The Pomfret girls are number 1.
The Pomfret School girls’ varsity basketball team completed the perfect season March 7 by inching out the Rivers School from Weston, Mass., by the score of 34-33 in the finals of the New England Class “B” Tournament. The victory gave the girls an unblemished 28-0 record and a New England championship. This was the team’s fourth New England Championship, winning Class “C” titles in 2002, 1997 and 1995. They also complied an undefeated season back in 1984 when they went 17-0; this was before New England tournaments had been established.
The game itself was far from perfect - Pomfret shot 5-31 in the first half and were held to their second lowest scoring half of the season, 13. They made up for it on the defensive end, holding an equally talented Rivers team to 19. Kim Derosier was the difference in the first half, taking advantage of the Rivers zone defense and driving the paint at every opportunity. Defensively, the girls were at their peak, denying almost all outside looks while simultaneously clogging the paint. The result was only a 6-point deficit at half and no Rivers player with more than 6 points.
Starting the second half, Jamie Samociuk hit a big 3 in the opening minutes of play. Rivers switched to a man defense, and the Pomfret girls experienced difficulty getting open looks. Numerous traveling, illegal screen and jump ball calls certainly didn’t help. Maura Hall kept Pomfret alive from the foul line during this time, going 4-6. Pomfret finally took the lead on another jumper by Samociuk, but Rivers quickly responded with a 3, taking the lead by one. Zenab Keita and Hall followed by scoring some big points from inside the paint. Derosier and Keita were each playing with 4 fouls, which effected Pomfret’s defensive intensity. In the final stretch, only one Pomfret player would score, Megan Gaureau. Down 1 point, Megan slashed through the paint, received a pass and threw up an off-balance, fade-way jumper with just the right touch that it kissed the glass and fell through the rim; Pomfret now lead by 1.
With one minute left to play, this would be the last basket scored. With just over 30 seconds remaining, Pomfret had the opportunity to put the game out of reach, but the shot missed. Maura Hall came up huge with the offensive rebound, and it was Pomfret’s ball yet again with about 20 seconds remaining. An inadvertent whistle by the referee gives Pomfret the ball out of bounds with 14.3 seconds remaining. A difficult pass and tight defense by Rivers resulted in a turnover, and it became Rivers’s ball with 14 seconds still remaining. Rivers inbounded the ball, and Pomfret’s suffocating defense resulted in two Rivers players colliding and the ball rolling out of bounds; Pomfret’s ball again. After at time-out, Pomfret inbounded the ball to Zenab Keita, who was immediately fowled. Zeita missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Rivers rebounded the ball and dribbled down court, only to face tough defense and a game clock that had expired. Kim Derosier was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the game award for her 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots.
Pomfret 61 - Miss Porter’s 42
The opening minutes of the semifinal were “perhaps the best minutes that this team has played all season. It was as if these girls had been playing together for years as they anticipated each other’s movement with perfect confidence, said coach Rebecca Brooks.
The play of the half, and perhaps the game,was Zenab Keita’s steal of ball and passing it to Meg Gaudreau who looked to push the ball down court on the dribble. She realized that the drive wasn’t open, pulled back for a moment, only to suddenly throw the ball cross court to Keita who sprinted the length of the court, for the grab and the layup. Maura Hall was playing excellent defense on Miss Porter’s standout sophomore guard, Jamie Samociuk was all over their point guard, and Gaudreau just couldn’t seem to miss, draining five 3-pointers. Halftime score: Pomfret 42 - Miss Porter’s 14.
In the second half, Miss Porter’s was not about to throw in the towel, and they came out with guns firing in the second. Pomfret was caught on its heels, Porter’s went on a 9-0 run. Things continued in this direction as turnovers, foul trouble, and poor decision making plagued Pomfret, and Porter’s closed the gap to 13. With only a few minutes left to play and the momentum swing completely in the opponent’s favor, Kim Derosier took control of the ball and the game. Stats: Alyson Chase: 2 rebounds; Jamie Samociuk: 8 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals; Tristyn Drake: 1 assist, 1 steal; Joddie Iyalekhue: 1 point; Megan Gaudreau: 17 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block; Maura Hall: 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal; Kim Derosier: 2 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals; Z Hutchins: 3 points, 1 rebound; Zenab Keita: 22 points, 16 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 steals, 5 blocks.