Game 5 of the AAU State Tournament was a rematch against the CT Premiere, with the winner advancing to play the Storm in the Championship Game. The game started off very slow with both teams trying to get into some type of an offensive groove. The Premiere was able to slowly get out to a 5 point lead and hold that going into half. 16 Red shot a jaw crushing (just ask Coach Lewis) 3-25 in the first half. The second half the Premiere added to the lead going up as much as 15. Slowly, 16 Red chipped away at the lead closing the gap to 4. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough and Premiere was able to hold on and win by 7. Damika Martinez finished with 13 points, while Sara Kelley had 12 and Alexys Vazquez added 8 in the loss. Elise Chase and Reynesha Archer combined for 12 rebounds. After two long weekends we saw buzzer beaters, upset wins, big shots and possibly a broken jaw. I think I even saw Jason (Al's baby) chuckle when his Dad hit himself with the ball. Overall, 16 Red finished 3-2 and came in 3rd place out of 14 teams. This earned them a bronze medal in the extremely competitive 16-A bracket of the State AAU Tournament. We are also happy to say that Caroline Brasa (East Catholic High School) is progressing nicely and hopefully we might be able to see her back in action by the end of the AAU season.

       May 1—State Tournament
       The 15 Red advanced into the second weekend with a 2-1 record. There were four teams left and whoever won the Friday night match was guaranteed a medal. Still without Sarah Benedetti and Caycee Williams, the Starters faced off against the Spirit. The Starters found themselves in a tough match early. Ali Berman kept the Starters alive scoring the first 4 baskets. Unfortunately, the defense broke down and the Spirit was leading the Starters at the half by 11, 29-18. Kerri Stolle did a great job on the boards with a total of ten rebounds. Loren Pachesa hit back to back threes late in the second half, but it just wasn’t enough to beat the Spirit. The final score was 53-40.
       We will see you all at practice on Thursday at Sheehan 6:30-8:30.

       14 Red finished 2-2 in the State tourney held in lovely New Haven. The team finished tied for fourth.
       We played the East Coast Renegades on Friday night at Yale. It was another fine start for 14 Red as we led 14-6 midway thru the first half. AJ Levy was perfect from the free throw line (4 for 4). She has now made 12 straight free throws. Way to go, AJ. Then for some strange reason, our basket was closed for construction as we were held scoreless for the rest of the half. We trailed 19-14 at the half. We continued to struggle scoring in the second half and lost 48-31. The Renegades played a very good game. AJ Levy hit two more FT's to push her streak up to 14. Kristin Van Gilst (Lewis Mills HS) scored 4 and played well on defense.
       14 Red Notes: The team is now 7-5 on the young season. We will practice next week to prepare for the CT Storms Mother's Day Classic in the New London area. Congrats to Kayleigh Shaughnessy (Fermi HS) who was with her school band in lovely Virginia. Til next time folk, keep your head up high and your morale higher!

       Friday, May 1st: Northstars v. Ct. Starters 12 Red - Entering into last weekends second round of tournament play, the Starters Girls 12 Red Team faced elimination with a second loss. They needed a victory against the Northstars to play in the medal round. The first half against the Northstars was close at halftime. The Starters held leads as much as 8 points in the first half but a flurry of points by the Northstars closed the gap at halftime to 12-11. The defense played well. Led by Nikki Nash, Mika Howard, Kelsey Clemens and Sarah Thompson in the frontcourt, the Starters held the Northstars front line from any real scoring and keeping them out of their offense. Margaret Frawley, Lily Dolyak, Missy Bailey and Caroline Teti combined for 12 steals and their relentless backcourt pressure kept the the Northstars out of their rhythm. Coach Jimmy Eco made half-time adjustments to an already sound defensive plan. He pressured the ball in the second half forcing numerous turnovers by the Northstars. What was a 3 point halftime lead swelled to a double-digit lead only 6 minutes into the second half. Lexy Prince played her position extremely well rebounding the ball, as she wound up with 8 rebounds. Turnover after turnover by a relentless pressure defense turned this close game at half into a 41-20 final score limiting the Northstars to 9 second half points. Missy Bailey led all scorers with 17 points including 3-3 from beyond the circle, Kelsey Clemens chipped in with 8 and Lily Dolyak had 7 points.
       Semi-Final Game results. Saturday May 2nd CT. Spirit vs. Starters Girls 12 Red Team - Defense again was the deciding factor in our game against the Spirit. The Spirit team seemed more athletic and taller than our Starters in warmups before the game. Most parents whispered how "good" our opponent looked and hoped we would play them well enough to win. Again this game was about adjustments at halftime by Coach Nick Eco. In the first half the Starters led most of the way but the score was very close. Missy Bailey had 6 halftime points which led the Starters scoring. Kelsey Clemens had 4 points and Caroline Teti chipped in with 2 points giving the Starters a slight 12-9 lead. In the second half it was all about our defense. Lily Dolyak and Caroline Teti shut out the Spirit's backcourt from scoring and continually pressured the ball, which allowed the Starters to score at will in a transition game. Lexy Prince had 3 consecutive buckets in the 2nd half that pulled us into a double digit lead which we never surrendered. Nikki Nash had a great put back of a Clemens miss to increase our lead to 13 points, the biggest lead of the game. As important to our team win as our backcourt pressure was, our play inside by Clemens, Nash and Prince was the deciding factor in a great win. The Starters controlled the boards and had numerous second chance baskets. This combination led to a second half drubbing which outscored the Spirit by 10 points leading to a final score of Starters 39, Spirit 26.
       Final Game results. Saturday, May 2nd. CT Cobras vs. Starters Girls 12 Red Team - This game was decided in the first half as the Cobras outscored the Starters 27-18. The Starters were forced into too many turnovers which pushed the Cobras to a comfortable lead at halftime. Guard Margaret Frawley, did a great job handling the Cobras pressure defense. Kelsey Clemens, high scorer in todays game with 12 points, worked the offensive boards beautifully pulling down 8 offensive rebounds which resulted in 3 put backs. Sarah Thompson did a great job rebounding with 5 defensive and 4 offensive rebounds. Caroline Teti worked extremely hard, playing the point until she left late in the game due to injury. Margaret Frawley responded well and sank both ends of a one-and-one. Kelsey Clemens led the team with 12 points in the game. With the 44-35 loss against the Cobras, the Starters finished 2nd overall in the tournament and each player received their Silver Medal after the game. Final Score Ct. Cobras 44- CT. Starters 35.

       The CT Starters 11 Red team played for the state championship Saturday afternoon at Yale. Going into the game we were 3-0 and had to play against a very good Premier team again. The game went back and forth but the CT Starters prevailed, winning the game 36-30. Michaela Marcus was the leading scorer with 12 pts and also chipped in with 6 steals. Tashai Price and Hannah Michalik each chipped in with 2 pts. Price also pulled down 6 rebounds and had 2 assists. Hannah put great ball pressure on their guards. Cindirose Morgan had 8 pts and 12 rebounds. She ended the game with a lay-up at the buzzer putting us up 6 to clinch the gold medal. Natalie Ruel had 4 assists and 3 rebounds along with her pressure defense. Jeanna Willis (4pts, 4 assists) and Nicole Rojas (8 pts, 3 assists and 2 rebs) both handled the ball pressure the Premier put on them all game long. Jessica Berry (coming off an ankle injury) gave us some great minutes, pulling down 4 rebounds and dishing out 2 assists. 11 Red played an all around great game and everyone contributed to the win. Without everyone's determination and passion to win, the game may have turned out differently.
       CONGRATS ON WINNING THE GOLD MEDAL!

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