Game 1 vs Bristol Bandits: Starters won 74-38, team jumped out to a big lead early as Sara Kelley (Newtown) hit 9 of her first 10 shots on her way to a team high 30 points! Linsdey Karle chipped in with 10 points and 2 steals and Damika Martinez (Platt) had 15 points and 3 steals, Jen Ruys (Lyman Hall) jumped in with 8 points and four rebounds. Amanda Cormier had the play of the day as she hustled on defense and stole the ball from behind sliding to her knees, unfortunately she was whistled for a foul. Notable stats Alexis Vasquez(Berlin) had 7 rebounds and 3 assists and Elise Chase (Rockville) had 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
       Game 2 vs Long Island Lightning: Team didn’t start out hot like last game but we were up 14 at the half, led by Damika with 7 first half points. The offensive flow disappeared in the second half as the RED had several scoring droughts en route to shooting 6-24 in the second half. Lindsay Karle hit a big three late to give the team a 7 point margin it never relinquished. Final score 46-39. Amanda Cormier (Wethersfield) had 9 points 3 steals and 3 assists.
       Game 3 vs Rhode Island Cyclones: No Jen Ruys (Lyman Hall), came down with bronchitis. Obviously the team felt it had to step up and it did shooting 60% in the first half. Lindsay Karle (Lyman Hall) was 6-9, prom girl Alexis Vazquez was 3 for 4 and Sara Kelley (Newtown) was 4-7, you get the idea. Reynisha Archer (Manchester) made several great moves, other highlights Elisa Chase (Rockville) had a great no look pass to Amanda Cormier who hit the jumper. Final score 76-33. Word is the 17’s are nervous going into the final game vs the Red later today.
       Game 4 vs the old school Starters 17’s: Apparently, Coach Lewis was wrong because the 17’s jumped out to an 11-2 lead. A quick timeout and the Red stepped up and suddenly were down only 15-14. Elise Chase (Lyman Hall) and Amanda Cormier (Wethersfield) combined to shoot 4 for 5 from the field and Damika Martinez carried the Red offensively in the first half with 10 points on various drives to the hoop. Halftime, the old women were up 22-20. The Red went cold in the second half shooting 5 for 24, and Elisha Homich got hot going 4-7 as the 17’s slowly pulled away. 19 turnovers did not help and the Red suffered their first loss of the season 49-35. Overall, a good start, and a good starting point for future improvement, stay tuned.

       This weekend we opened up our season in our own Starters Spring Classic. We played Saturday at Northwest Catholic and Pope John Paul, and Sunday both games were at Watkinson. It was nice to finally get into competition, but the only downfall was losing Mariah Berry (Southington HS) for the weekend after she got hurt in practice prior to the tournament. It was great that she was on the bench supporting her teammates though.
       In our first game vs. Wescon Fillies, we lost a close one with the final score being 51-43. We played well and took the lead by 2 at halftime. The second half we were outscored by 10, but it was a hard fought game overall. Some highlights of the game were: Alexa Vernadakis (East Catholic HS) knocking down 4 three-pointers, Lindsey Henry (Suffield HS) sacrificing her body and taking several charges and also hitting the boards, Alexis Marek (East Granby HS) making hustle plays both offensively and defensively, and Ellen Donohue (Southington HS) sinking 3 three-pointers and dishing the ball at the point position.
       The second game vs. CT Storm we clinched our first win of the season with the final score being 47-36. The first half was played well both offensively and defensively. We played together and were able to hold the Storm to just 14 points at the half, while scoring 33. The second half we came out with little intensity on defense with the Storm outscoring us, but it was good to see we worked hard and never gave up when all the momentum shifted over. The 2 key things we didn’t excel in were turnovers and free throws (3-10). Game highlights were: Kelly Riddle (Cheshire HS), Becca Pope (Nonnewaug HS), and Lindsey Henry (Suffield HS) contributing offensively with 10, 10, and 17 points each. Everyone else contributed greatly as well as playing tough defense (team & individual), making excellent hustle plays, and getting teammates shot opportunities.
       Sunday got off to a good start, with a victory over the CT Breeze 52-38. For the game, everyone scored offensively, and defensively despite giving up 33 points at the half, we worked together in the second half to get stops and had players getting to loose balls and being a factor in our fast breaks. With the ball being equally distributed, all players were aggressive. Game highlights were: Ashley Jordan (East Catholic) leading the game in assists, Maura Hall (Pomfret School) being aggressive offensively and making hustle plays, and KellyRiddle, Lindsey Henry and Becca Pope each shooting 100% from the free throw line.
       We finished the weekend with our 3rd victory, beating Wescon Fillies 54-26. To start off, we did a great job working as a team on defense. Everyone contributed on offense and we got to the free throw line many times. Game highlights were: Alexis Marek shooting 84% and Kelly Riddle & Alexa Vernadakis shooting 100% from the free throw line.
       Overall, it was a great way to start a season that will be full of learning, developing, and of course fun! Key things we will continue work on is play execution, team defense, and communication.

       The 2009 season started for 15 Red against the Bristol Bandits on Saturday April 4th. The game started with both teams playing a little flat and not much activity on the scoreboard with the half time score being 19-16. However, the second half was a different story. The Starters came out strong and built up a nice lead with tough defense and effective offensive execution. Sarah Benedetti led all scorers with 15 points, shooting an impressive 5-7 from three point range and Ali Berman added 9 points. Ashley Kinney did a great job finding the open person with 5 assists and Taryn Roy controlled the boards with 8 rebounds. Sarah Raftery had a strong defensive game with 3 steals and five defensive rebounds. Tara Higgins went 3-4 from the floor and had three blocks to help the Starters with their first victory. The Starters had their first win of the season in the books with a final score of 58-39.
       The second game of the day was a different story. The Starters were matched up against a bigger Bay State Gators team. The inside play of the Gators really hurt the Starters and kept the game close in the first ten minutes. After that, the Starters took control and led at the half by 15, 35-20. The second half remained in control for 15 Red opening up an even larger lead. The scoring was led by Sarah Benedetti with 20 points and Taryn Roy and Jessica Frawley both chipped in with 9 points. Loren Pachesa cleared the boards with 8 and also had four steals.
       Sunday morning started very early with a game against a scrappy Saratoga Sparks team. It was obvious that the Starters were not awake because their defense was lethargic and passive. 15 Red was down 5 points at the half, 30-25. Unfortunately, the girls did not play any better at the start of the second half and found themselves down by ten points. However, Sarah Benedetti was not going to let the Starters lose. She came out on fire scoring fifteen of her twenty-five in the second half. The girls sets screens and ran the offense to set up their teammate that they knew had the hot hand. It was only a matter of time before 15 Red was back within one. Kerri Stolle grabbed a huge rebound on the defensive end and drove the length of the floor stopping at the free throw line and dishing to Benedetti. Benedetti goes strong to the basket and gets fouled with .3 seconds left on the clock. She calmly shoots her two free throws making both and the Starters win the game by one, 49-48. Kerri Stolle and Loren Pachesa did a great job keeping the team composed and offensively effective with 8 assists between them. Megan Roux also contributed with four steals and four points off of two of those steals. It was a great come back win and gave the Starters a 3-0 record heading into the last game.
       The final game of opening weekend was against the Lady Cyclones. The Starters took control early and found they were the stronger team inside. The offense was balanced amongst the team but Jessica Frawley led the scoring with Sarah Benedetti with 12 points. Jessica went an impressive 5-5 from the free throw line and Loren Pachesa went 5-6 with a total of 9 points. Both Taryn Roy and Kerri Stolle pulled down 6 rebounds and Ali Berman had three assists and three steals. The girls did a great job of working together and balancing the attack. The final score was 63-40 with the 15 Red going 4-0 in their opening tournament.

       Hello 14 Red Fans- Let me introduce myself. My name is Virginia and I will be doing the wirte ups for 14 Red this season I can't divulge my identity at this point. I sit in the stands and cheer for 14 Red. Here is the write ups for the first tourney of the season. The 14 Red team finished 3-1 in their first tournament of the season in the Ct Starters Spring Classic. It was a great way to start the season. The team has had six practices and were eager for some real games to begin. It was nice to play all our games at East Catholic since it is our practice facility.
       The first game of the season was against the CT Storm 15's. The girls were nervous in the first few minutes of the game. We still were able to lead at the half by the score of 17-14. Kristin Van Gilst (Lewis Mills HS) scored 5 points in the half. The second half saw us lead by 9 with 8 minutes left in the game. The game went into two OT's with each team having chances to win. Finally, in sudden death (camp style) Cassidy Caravella (Somers HS) made a free throw to nail down the season opening game for us. Kristin Van Gilst led us with 10 points. AJ Levy (Maloney HS) helped the cause with 7, including 3 of 5 from the charity stripe. Kayleigh Shaughnessy (Fermi High School) had 6 points. Claire Lang (Rocky Hill HS) added 5, all in the second half surge. The final score was 41-40 Gabby Desisto (Hamden HS) had 4 blocked shots. Her interior defense was key.
       The second game of the day was versus the CT Lightning. This game we got off to a great start. We bolted out to a 29-19 lead at the half. Cassidy Caravella scored 10 points in the half. The second half saw us continue to play some good basketball. We increased our lead and won easily by the score of 53-34. Caravella was high scorer with 13. Kristin Van Gilst chipped in with 10. Olivia Sutherland (Lyman Hall HS) had 9 including a 3 pointer. Chelsea Foster (Avon HS) had 8 with 6 of them coming in the second half.
       Our first game on Sunday saw us play the Rhode Island Cyclones. They were a very good team and gave us some trouble in the first half. The score was tied at 22 at the half. The second half saw us do the little things needed to win games. Ashley Petrarca (Taft School) and Haley Donahue (East Catholic) had many defensive rebounds that kept the Cyclones off the boards. We had a spurt in the second half that propelled us to a 52-39 victory. Cassidy Caravella had a game high 18 points for the winners.
       The last game of the tournament was versus the Saratoga Sparks. With a win, we would finish 4-0. We were sluggish from the start but only trailed 26-21 at halftime. The Saratoga team was very good and a team I would like to see 14 Red play them again. The gas tank went to empty pretty quickly in the second half. We lost by the score of 59-41. Caravella scored a game high 15 and Van Gilst 13. Brie McClelland (Mercy HS) hit her only shot of the game and played aggressively on defense.
       The girls should be proud of the early season sucess. They will continue to work on chemistry and execution. We will practice on Tuesday and Thursday night. We are off until the weekend of the 18th and 19th when we will play in downtown Chicopee, Mass. A special thanks to Mrs VG for keeping score in 3 of the games. Also, a special shout out to Director Joe for having the coaches over to watch the Uconn game on Saturday night. Virginia's gotta go before someone identifies him or her!

       14 Blue opened up the AAU season playing at East Catholic High School in the CT Starters Spring Classic. Our first game was against the 14B Saratoga Sparks and both teams came out sluggish with some unforced turnovers. As the half went on we started to find our groove led by Sarah Hubbard (Hartford, 10 pts) and we took a 15-11 lead into the half. The Sparks came out firing on all cylinders as they raced out to take the lead. But some key contributions from Brenna Roy (Stafford Springs) and Demis Christodlous (Berlin) combined for 10 pts to wrestle the lead back. However, during the final minutes of the game Saratoga took control and we weren’t able to connect on our free throws (7/24!) sealing our fate. Final Score: Saratoga Sparks 30 CT Starters 25.
       Later that day we played against a very good 13A CT Breeze team who was coached by the great Leo Kent. We got off to a great start as we were able to handle the Breeze pressure/trapping defense; by making the extra pass and staying off the sidelines. Consequently, we held a 29-18 lead at the half led behind the hot shooting of Megan Schuppe (Avon, 9 pts). Coach Kent definitely got his troops fired up at the half as they got right back into the game by causing turnovers and hitting big basket after big basket. Dana Queno (Wethersfield 4 pts, 4 asst) and Brenna Roy (6 pts) sparked the run that gave us the lead for good at 42-33 with just over 2 minutes to go. The Breeze fought to the final whistle but their comeback fell short as we held on to win 42-41! Sarah Hubbard scored a team high 12 pts.
       Sunday morning came and we were matched up against the 14B CT Bandits. It was evident that the nerves went away and the team was starting to come together as we played great team basketball. We got out to a 22-11 lead at the half led by our pattern fast break (thanks Coach Rob Smernoff). That trend continued in the 2nd half as we out scored them 29-11 to finish the game. Sara Hubbard (16 pts) and Allie Caponigro (Plainville, 12 pts) led the way. Brenna Roy (8 pts) and Rachel Franzluebbers (East Catholic, 7 pts and 12 rebs) played strongly as well. Final Score: Starters 51-22.
       Our last game of the weekend was against 13A Saratoga Sparks team. Unfortunately for us the game started without any of its coaches. Coach or no Coach the girls came out strong led behind the hot shooting of Megan Schuppe (9 pts, 6 in the first half) and Paige Young (Berlin, 6 pts) and we held an 18-10 lead at the half. The Sparks defense gave us a lot of problems which led them to cut into the lead. Sarah Hubbard made some big plays (offensively and defensively) scoring 8 of her team high 10 pts in the 2nd half to secure the win for the Starters. Final Score: Starters 31-23.
       Weekend Notes: Free Throw shooting is something that we need a lot of work on as we went 23-60 (38.3%) for the weekend. Secondly, just want to give a big Thank You to the parents of 14 Red and 14 Blue for running the site over the weekend.

       The 12 Red Team's 1st weekend was the CT Starters Tournament played at Pope John Paul II in New Britain, CT. Our young ladies played a very exciting 1st weekend together, going 2-2. In the 1st game our girls won a razor-thin victory over the CT Mavericks by a score of 41-39. Alexus Prince and Missy Bailey led the scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively, followed by Lily Dolyak who chipped in with 8.
       The next game the 12 Red Team lost a very close one by a score of 40-36 to the CT Bandits. Alexus Prince had 10 points, followed by Missy Bailey and Lily Dolyak with 8 each. Caroline Teti chipped in with 6 points and had several steals. Mika Howard and Margaret Frawley played excellent defensively.
       Day two of the tournament saw the 12's lose a real close one to the Long Island Lightning by a score of 38-36. In a game that was tight the entire way, the team had several chances to tie or win at the end but lady luck was not in the gym! This exciting game saw Missy Bailey leading the way with 19 points followed by Kelsey Clemens with 6. It was great to see Coach Eco match wits with his old buddy, Coach Slater from the LI Lightning.
       Not that the Lightning game wasn't close enough for all the coaches and parents, the 12 year old Red Team squeaked out a very exciting win in their last game against the NCCC Flyers by a score of 40-39! Kelsey Clemens led the way with a solid effort offensively, scoring 17 points, and defensively, getting many key rebounds, especially toward the end of the game. Nikki Nash, Sara Thompson and Mika Howard also played solid defensive games, coming up with several steals and rebounds at critical points. Missy Bailey chipped in 15 points with another excellent offensive performance.
Special thanks to Craig Dolyak for doing a great job as the Starters tournament director. Thanks Craig!!

       The CT Starters 11-under team had a good start to the season this weekend going 2-2 in our own Starters Spring Classic. In our first game on Saturday we played the Ct Breeze bright and early at 8:30. We led the whole game winning by a large margin. Everyone scored in the game which was great and showed that we played unselfish and shared the ball. Cindi Morgan scored a game high 12 pts and was an animal on the boards bringing down 15. Tashia Price also did well rebounding and had 8 herself. Nicole Rojas had 4 assists to go along in the win.
       The next game we played the 12 yr old CT Bandits. It was an exciting game right to the end. The game went back and forth until the last minute. Nicole Rojas drove to the hoop getting the foul and making 1-2 free throws to put us up one. With our defensive pressure, Jeanna Willis was able to get a steal with under 10 seconds and lay it in to seal the win. Jessica Berry(10pts) played solid defense on their best player and held her to just three points in the second half. Natalie Ruel chipped in with 10 pts as well. Hannah Michalik had 6 pts and 2 steals playing great defense throughout the game.
       Sunday came and we were up early again for an 8:30 start. We played a very good Ocean State Waves team. We ended up losing by one in the final seconds but played well throughout the game. Natalie Ruel was our high scorer with 12 pts, including going 2-2 from the 3 pt line. Tashia Price rebounded well again for us, bringing down 6, and also did a great job driving to the basket finishing or getting herself to the free-throw line. Hannah Michalik chipped in with 4 pts, 3 assists and 3 steals. With 5 seconds left Jeanna Willis got a steal but the lay-up came short with time running out.
       Our last game of the weekend was another game against the CT Bandits 12's. Once again we played well especially getting on the boards. Cindi-Rose Morgan had 8 pts and 12 rebounds. Tashia Price chipped in with 6pts and 6 boards. Natalie Ruel had a great shooting weekend coming in again with 10pts. Jeanna Willis and Nicole Rojas did a great job handling the ball and the pressure from the Bandits. We ended up losing by five but fought till the end. Overall, it was a good start to the weekend and we are only going to get better from here.

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