Game 1 vs Queens Shooting Stars: We jumped out to a 15-4 lead, by virtue of full court pressure. Damika Martinez (Platt) led the way with 3 early steals and she also hit the boards hard ("padding her rebound totals" is the rumor going around) getting 7 offensive rebounds. The eventual letdown happened and the Stars climbed to within 28-23. The second half saw Lindsay Karle (Lyman Hall) get hot as she hit 4 of 6, with an assortment of pull ups and hard drives to the hoop. Elise Chase (Rockville) had 8 points, 6 rebounds and several key steals that led to easy baskets. Sara Kelley (Newtown) found success attacking the basket going 7 for 7 from the free throw line. Special props to Kelly Riddle of the 16 Blue who joined us due to the prom commitment of Amanda Cormier (Wethersfield). Riddle hit two threes and did an admirable job helping the Red win 60-41.
       Game 2 vs Rockland Royals: Good offensive half for both teams as the Red led 28-25 behind Alexis Vazquez (Berlin) who was perfect from the field on her way to 10 first-half points. The second half saw a renewed emphasis on perimeter defense as Sara Kelley (Newtown), Lindsay Karle (Lyman Hall) and Kelly Riddle (Cheshire) shut down #14 who only scored once in the second half. Kelley helped out on offense as she scored 9 second half points and Damika Martinez (Platt) went 7 of 9 from the line down the stretch on her way to 24 points and 6 assists, helping the Starters pull away for a 57-42 victory.
       Game 3 vs Lady Cyclones: Sluggish start by both teams for the first 5 minutes and then Damika Martinez (Platt) and Sara Kelly (Newtown) started heating up, scoring 10 and 8 points respectively to lead the Starters to a 27-19 halftime lead. The second half saw us shoot 48% from the field and the Cyclones shoot 7%. Highlights saw Reynesha Archer (Manchester) just miss a pretty reverse layup. Jen Ruys (Lyman Hall) got an offensive rebound and made a nice double pivot move to convert. Elise Chase (Rockville) had a nice block which turned into a steal and a fast break layup. Alexis Vazquez (Berlin) banked in a three, rumor has it she called the bank as the ball left her hands but it could have been people in the stands mumbling after the shot went in. Final score: Starters 57-28.
       Game 4 vs Team CT : Good start offensively and defensively as the Starters jumped out to a 30-18 lead. With only seven players, fatigue became a factor late in the game but every time Team CT went on a run, the Red would answer with a fast break layup or a big shot. Reynesha Archer (Manchester) had 9 rebounds and 2 beautiful assists down the stretch. Sara Kelley (Newtown) had 14 points and 3 assists and Jen Ruys (Lyman Hall) had 9 points and attacked the hoop aggressively all game. The team shot 17-18 from the free throw line and sealed the victory in the last two minutes as Team CT fouled us and we were perfect. Great 4-0 weekend, special thanks to Caroline Brasa (East Catholic) for representing, to Lindsay Karle (Lyman Hall) who was sick Sunday and to Kelly Riddle (Cheshire) of the 16 Blue who filled in admirably.

       14 Blue, with some assistance from 14 Red (AJ and Kristen) went 2-2 in the CT WAVE “Cure for Autism” Tournament which was held at Nomad’s Adventure Quest in South Windsor.
       The first game was against the MA Lady Ballers. The Ballers were very athletic and quick which gave us problems early on to start the game. The girls started to make the proper adjustments offensively and defensively and closed the half only trailing by 2, 20-18. In the second half, we came out with great intensity led by Megan Schuppe (Avon, 15 pts 5-5 FT!!!) and Sara Hubbard (Hartford, 9 pts 6 steals) as we took our first lead of the day. Clutch shots by Carrie Polomsky (Wethersfield, 11 pts) and strong inside play AJ Levy (Maloney, 8 pts) sealed the win for the Starters. Final Score CT Starters 43 MA Lady Ballers 33.
       In our second game we played the Mass Wildcats, who had 2 very good post players and had some strong guard play. Needless to say the Wildcats jumped on us early behind their post players as our post defense wasn’t very good! As the half went on, we tightened up our defense and we made it much tougher for them to score or get the ball inside which led to us going on our run. We closed the half down 22-21. In the second half, our shooting got hot led by Carrie (10 pts, two 3’s) and Kristen Van Gilst (Lewis Mills, 10 pts two 3’s) as we took our first lead of the game during the later stages of the half. Unfortunately, our 4 pt lead of 29-25 slipped away and we found ourselves down 34-29 within a blink of eye. Things didn’t get any better for the Starters as we turned the ball over and the wildcats were making the necessary plays to put them up 38-29 with under 3 minutes to go. Knowing that time wasn’t on our side we went to our 2-2-1 full court press, Sara (7 pts, 5 steals) and AJ (11 pts, 3 steals) went to work and cut the lead to 38-37 with less than 30 seconds to go. Kristen stole the inbounds pass, got fouled as she attacked the basket; she wasn’t successful on her first try but made up for it with her second as she tied the game at 38! The Wildcats tried to answer the call but came up empty on their possession setting up one final chance for the Starters to win the game. However, we turned the ball over on our inbound pass which ultimately sent the game into overtime. Overtime wasn’t good to us as we got outscored 6-0! Final Score Mass Wildcats 44 CT Starters 38.
       Sunday afternoon came and we played the NC Blaze and we found ourselves down early and often which led to them having the lead at 26-19 at the half. In the second half, we played a much stronger game of basketball from all perspectives, as we erased that 7 pt deficit early on. Carrie and Megan led us in scoring with 9 pts apiece, not far behind was Rachel Franzluebbers, (East Catholic, 7 rebounds) and Sara who scored 7 pts each. The “Berlin Connection” of Paige Young, and Demis Christodlous combined for 10 pts, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals. The only overall downfall was our poor free throw shooting let our opposition hang around as we shot 11-35 from the line. Final Score CT Starters 47 NC Blaze 41.
       Our last game of the weekend was against the XTREME HEAT. This was a tough game to swallow from our perspective as we forced many turnovers (Dana Queno, Brenna, and Sara) in our full and half court press but we couldnt capatlize on their misfortune. We held a slim 3 pt lead at the half 21-18. In the second half the Xtreme's pressure picked up and we started to turn the ball over, which led them to gain some momentum and eventually take the lead. The girls fought back hard to tie the game up but with under two minutes to go AJ went down with a shoulder injury. Ultimately, we didnt recover from that point on as the Heat hit the deciding 3 pt basket to put them in the lead for good. Our girls had two chances in the final moments to tie the game but both were unsuccessful. Final Score Xtreme Heat 39 Starters 36.

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