FAIRFIELD-The Connecticut Starters 17-Under National team was a perfect 4-0 in the Connecticut Breeze tournament played over the weekend of June 9th and 10th at Fairfield University.
       On Saturday, June 9th, the Starters 17-U Nationals defeated the Hudson River Breeze by a final score of 64-53. They had held a 33-27 halftime lead. Leading the way in scoring was Kristi Stolle with 16, while also adding five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Her high school teammate, as well as AAU teammate, Sandy Mosley, also contributed to the close victory with 14 points and seven rebounds. Meg Smith chipped in with eight points, three assists and five steals.
       In the second game on Saturday, the 17-U's led by only seven points at the halfway point of the game (33-26), but pulled away from the Connecticut Breeze to win by 24 points, 71-47. It was Ann Belforti's turn to lead the offense with her 15 points, including two three-pointers. Mosley was in double figures again with 13 points and added six rebounds. Christine Arsego was the leading rebounder with eight caroms and chipped in with six assists. Taryn Miller-Stevens had six points and contributed on the defensive end with three blocked shots.
       On Sunday, June 10th, Stolle had a five-for-six day at the foul line enroute to a team-high 19 points in leading the 17-Under Nationals to a solid 71-57 win. Raenielle DeCastro-Cain pulled down 12 rebounds, while also scoring nine points. Erica Sheppard and Lauren Jones finished with similar totals, each scoring eight points with seven rebounds.
       In the last game of the tournament, the Starters raced out to an early lead and easily beat the Long Island Silver Bullets as they cruised to an easy 75-31 win. Belforti had 15 points to lead in scoring. Other players making significant contributions to the victory included Sheppard's 10 rebounds with four steals, Dyann Busse's six points and five assists, and Taryn Miller-Stevens's six assists, five points, and five rebounds.

       The 17 West went 4-0 this weekend in the Connecticut Breeze Classic. Our first game on Saturday was played against the Future Stars at Fairfield University. We played tough defense the first half and jumped out to a 14-point lead. Only a last second basket by the Stars cut our lead to 27-15 at the half. We played them pretty evenly the second half and finished with a 42-33 victory. Carrie Frascino (Ellington HS) led a balanced scoring attack with 8 points and Katie Susat (Glastonbury HS) had 6 points and 9 rebounds. Betsy Treado (Southington HS) added 5 points with 4 assists, Meaghan Adams (Rockville HS) had 5 points and Edna Caamaño (East Hartford HS) had 5 points with 8 rebounds.
       Our second game was played against Team Connecticut. A 3-pointer by Sarah Cote (Enfield HS) tied the game at 17 with 4:20 to go in the half. We went on an 8-0 run the rest of the half to take a 25-17 lead into the break. In the second half we opened the lead to as much as 16 points before ending with a 44-31 victory. Sarah Cote led the team with 13 points and Betsy Treado added 10 points. Katie Susat had 8 points with 7 rebounds while Edna Caamaño handed out 6 assists with 6 rebounds.
       On Sunday we played at Sacred Heart University. In one of the best played games of the season so far we battled the Westchester Hawks right to the final buzzer. We pulled out to a 10-point lead half way through the first half, but they came back and at the half we led 30-36. Katie Susat scored 8 points in the first 4 minutes of the second half as we took an 8-point lead. The rest of the half was a battle and with 2 minutes left the score was 55-54. Becky Stanish (E.O. Smith HS) made a huge block with 30 seconds to go to preserve the 1 point lead. Betsy Treado sunk 2 free throws with 20.1 seconds to go and we held on to a 57-56 victory. Katie Susat was the leading scorer with 18 points along with 10 rebounds and Betsy Treado added 12 points. Edna Caamaño had 7 points with 7 rebounds and Michelle Bruneau (Cheshire HS) handed out 5 assists.
       Going into the final game of the weekend we were really banged up, but we put up a good effort against the Northern Dutchess team. Becky Stanish had 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in the first half as we opened up 25-12 lead. In the second half we shut them down on the way to a 61-25 victory. Sarah Cote had 16 points and Betsy Treado had 11 points with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Marrisa Ferguson (East Catholic HS) had 8 points, Brynn Crockett (Manchester HS) had 8 points and 7 rebounds and Edna Caamaño had 8 points with 13 rebounds and 6 assists. Becky Stanish ended up with 6 points along with 11 rebounds. Our next tournament will be at the Northeast Hurricanes.

       The Starters' 12 National team went 2-2 this weekend in Fairfield at the Connecticut Breeze Classic. Game one against the Springfield Junior Slam was a 51-40 win for the girls. The scoring was shared by Sharnise Beal-11, Saraia Vann-8, Emily Skelton-7, Mallorie Michalak & Julia Fagan-6, and Chevowne Pettway & Stephanie Harris-5.
       In game two the team suffered a double loss. First a 47-44 deficit to the South Shore Saints and second, teammate Mallory Krupa got a slight contusion after hitting her head, and was forced to stay home for the remainder of the weekend.
       Game three may have been a loss but it was also a huge measuring stick for the team. The girls lost by two to the Bristol Bandits, a team that beat them by 16 in the Association Tournament a few weeks ago.

Back to Weekend Updates