Girls-Clippers pg 1 1-27-11
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PUTNAM --- The Putnam High School girls' basketball team beat Douglas 43-32 in recent action. Putnam was in control from start to finish. At the half the score was 19-6. The Clippers were 9-14 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Leading scorers: Ashley Espinosa 17 pts (8 rebs); Erin Konicki 7 pts., and Regan Guillot 7 pts.
Putnam's record is now 9-2
Jan. 19 the Lady Clippers fell to Windham Tech by a tight score, 40-37. It was a back and forth battle that ended up on the wrong end for the Clippers.
Putnam was lead by Ashley Espinosa with 11 pts and Monica Phongsa with 11 pts., Holly Desrosiers grabbed 7 rebounds.
Jan. 10 the Clippers stomped Norwich Tech, 45-14. PHS lead 22-3 at half time and never looked backed in recording the victory. Leading scorers: Ashley Espinosa 14 pts.; Monica Phongsa 8 pts.; Holly Desrosiers 5 pts. 4 rebounds.
The win qualified Putnam for the state tournament.
Pomfret School
Varsity Basketball
Pomfret 51 Suffield 32
Jan. 19: In what was hands down Pomfret’s “best team performance of the season,” the girls took on Class B opponent, Suffield Academy, a team they’ve never beaten on the road, and came away with the 51- 32 victory. After handfuls of lectures this season about not playing a complete game, not being disciplined to do the little things, the girls brought it all together and played an almost perfect 32 minutes. Certainly there were missed baskets, turnovers, etc., but it was the effort that was almost perfect. They crashed the offensive boards and boxed out their players on the defensive end with a determination not yet seen, finishing the game with an impressive 42 overall rebounds. Offensively the team found a new level of confidence, attacking the vulnerable spaces of Suffield’s 3-2 zone, taking it hard to the basket when the opportunity presented itself, and making hard cuts through the paint. For the first time this season, our players would peek at the rim knowing that a teammate was breaking for the basket - a chemistry Pomfret had not found yet.
Team defense took the prize. Jamie Samociuk led the charge, taking on Suffield’s extremely quick point guard. Most of her opponent’s points (13) came on the fast break and not versus Jamie. Whitney Willingham played excellent deny defense at the top of the key, making it difficult for Suffield to ever get into a set offense. Alyson Chase showed that she is able to body up against opponents bigger than her as she worked to deny Suffield’s small forward on the post. And overall, the team pulled down an impressive 30 defensive rebounds. Meg Gaudreau finished with 6, Anyolina Montilla with 9, Alyson Chase with 7, and Z Hutchins with 5. In the second half Suffield was held to only 14 points.
Hutchins played her best game of the season, demonstrating poise at the point and sinking her first 3 of the season. She finished with a season-high 7 points and 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Pomfret 50 Cushing 54
Jan. 22: In the opening minutes, Pomfret’s two captains, Z Hutchins and Jamie Samociuk, set the tone by sinking three straight threes and grabbing three straight offensive rebounds, respectively. Both proved to be just the confidence boost that the team needed, and soon Pomfret jumped out to take the lead against a team that has not trailed its opponent much at all this season. Baskets were not easy to come by on either end of the court, and both teams found themselves fighting for open looks and rebounds. It was incredibly physical as Cushing’s scrappy guards constantly looked for opportunities to steal the ball, and both sides were hit with fouls. Alyson Chase played her toughest game of basketball yet, getting herself in the middle of most jump ball opportunities and hitting the ground on numerous occasions (the end result, unfortunately being a concussion). Meg Gaudreau played an incredibly physical game against Cushing’s 6’3" forward, forcing her to turn over the ball more times than not while Whitney Willingham did a terrific job adjusting to defend Cushing’s 3-guard and leading scorer. In the closing minutes of the half when Cushing went on a 6-0 run, Meg Calderado stepped into the lane to take a hard charge by Cushing’s forward. Though the charge landed Meg right on her back, it was the lift that the team needed at the end of a hard 16 minutes, and Pomfret held onto the 1-point deficit heading into the half.
At the start of the second Cushing came out firing and extended the lead to 5 points. A key timeout brought the girls back down from a frantic level as the team discussed composure and playing with patience. The words stuck and the girls slowly chipped away at the lead by running their half-court sets to find the open shot and by denying Cushing scoring opportunities. Meg Gaudreau was the offensive spark in these minutes as she scored all but 3 of her 15 points in this half. Pomfret took back the lead and pulled away by as much as six, but Cushing was not backing down. Both teams had players in foul trouble, and with Alyson Chase and Whitney Willingham on the bench with 4 each, Joddie Iyalekhue and Meg Calderado provided valuable minutes. Joddie kept Cushing’s 6-foot, 3-inch center scoreless during this time as she also pulled down two defensive rebounds. With five minutes remaining Pomfret held onto a 4-point lead, but Cushing slowly chipped away at it with trips to the foul line (Cushing found themselves in the bonus at the 10-minute mark). With 15 seconds to go, Cushing had the ball and the opportunity to take the lead or get the tie. Cushing’s guard pushed the ball down the court and all the way into the paint. The shot went up and the whistle was blown for another Pomfret foul. She missed the first but hit the second, sending the game into OT. Though two of Cushing’s starters were on the bench for the extra time with 5 fouls, Pomfret fell behind immediately and could not seem to regain the lead. The girls were unable to get a basket to sink, but Chase and Willingham each hit two from the foul line. A couple of good shots were taken in the closing minutes, but luck was not on Pomfret’s side tonight as they did not want to fall. Both Jamie and Whitney fouled out in the final minute.
Varsity Ice Hockey
Pomfret 2 Kent 1
Jan. 19: Two third-period goals by sophomore Ashley Anctil propelled the Griffins to a 2-1 win over the Lions of Kent. The first period was a back-and-forth battle with Pomfret getting 9 shots on net and first year Kristy Brown turning aside 8 Kent shots on net. Assistant captain Lilah Fones and Moira MacArthur continued their strong play as a defensive pair, communicating well and playing smart offensively. Heading into the second, Pomfret spent a lot more time in the Kent zone, outshooting them 10-3, but the Griffins were still unable to find the back of the net. Alison Horst, Victoria Geary, Alex Gerew and Nataly Maloney got pucks deep in the offensive zone and forechecked aggressively. The line of Cassie Catlow, Valerie Di Lella and Izzy Regine picked up their games and got more pucks to the net. Four minutes into the third period, Ashley Anctil scored off a point shot from Lilah Fones that was originally tipped by Jordan Lipson. Anctil scored her second of the night on her next shift out. The play started in our defensive zone when captain Brooke Bytalan passed up the boards to Andi Nicholson who made a smart pick so that Jordan Lipson could make a heads-up pass to Anctil. Anctil beat the defender to the outside and scored a backhand goal to put us up 2-0.With three minutes remaining in the game, Kent pushed back, not giving up. They scored on a scrum in front of the net on the powerplay to cut the lead in half. Gabby Criscuolo and Kristy Brown (also known as the Tweedles) showed a lot of composure in the last few minutes for first year players. Kristy Brown turned away a flurry of shots to finish off the game. With seconds remaining on the clock, Kent continued to pressure, but Andi Nicholson blocked a slap shot to preserve the victory.
Hyde
Varsity Basketball
Hyde 27 Williams 16
Jan. 19: Hyde faced Williams in a league match up. The team has been working on teamwork and effort in practice. Once again the Wolfpack struggled with consistency on the offensive end and effort on the defensive end. Hyde went into halftime down by two points. During halftime the team talked about effort and its importance which paid dividends in the second half. Andrea Crute ’12 came out firing on all cylinders she scored 15 of her 17 points including three three-pointers. The team got behind her effort and worked harder on both ends of the floor. Scoring: Katherine Hagood ’13, 1-0-2; Lara Cornelius ’11, 3-2-8. Andrea Crute ’12, led all scorers with 7-0-17.
Hyde 13 St. Andrews – 48
Jan. 22: St. Andrews has solid guard and post play which made them extremely tough to match up against. The wolfpack was missing two key guards which made moving the ball on offense tough. But the team moved forward and there was improvement in terms of their effort on both ends of the floor. Unfortunately, they were only able to score one point in the first half. During halftime composure on offense was discussed and the importance of working together to not turning the ball over. The second half was better in terms of scoring. Junior Becca Katz scored all seven of her points in the second half. Scoring: Mari Barnett ’11, 1-0-1; Katherine Hagood ’13, 1-0-2; Lara Cornelius ’11, 0-3-3; and Becca Katz ’12, 3 – 1-7.
Marianapolis
Varsity Basketball
Marianapolis 47 Northfield 46
Jan. 22: With 6 seconds left in the game, Melanie Mills, a junior, made two free throws to put the Lady Knights ahead for their ninth victory of the season, beating Northfield Mount Hermon. Sophomore Sydney Latour, had 20 points and 9 rebounds. Senior Mary McGinn hit a big three-point shot. Junior Dalton Hoffman controlled the boards with 10 rebounds.