The weekend of April 18-20 saw 16 Red going into a very unkind place to past Starters teams, the vaunted Richmond, VA Blue Chip College Challenge, and leave with a terrfic 3 days of basketball as we finished 4-1! The team also got the "joy" of spending almost 20 hours total on a bus, including seeing some "questionable" movie selections from a mother from Avon (I won't say her name but let's just say it rhymes with bliccio), and the skilled driving of Mr. Glen.
       Our first game of the tournament was a battle against the nationally-known PA Lady Running Rebels program and it was a game that would not be decided till the final seconds. After being up 4 and then down 5 at one point, 16 Red hung together to scrap out a hard fought 40-36 win. The dynamic duo of Clare Fitzpatrick (Canterbury School) and Kristyn Wright (East Catholic HS) combined for 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 steals.
       Game two was probably the best game I saw all tournament on any of the courts in terms of offensive execution. Playing against the skilled Unity Wildcats, we fell behind 24-8 in the blink of an eye, but then realizing that defense was actually allowed and running the fast break might actually work, we came back for a thrilling 65-62 triumph. Fitzpartick led with 18, while Paxton Thornton (Housatonic Valley HS) contributed 9 points and 10 rebounds to the cause and Kat Woods led the team with 8 assists to go with 8 points. Overall, an excellent team win and we even were "blessed" by having director Joseph "Mr. Sigma dancing fool" Ticotsky do our scorebook.
       Game three saw the magical unbeaten ride we were on (6 in a row to start to the season against really good competition) come to a close in a thunderous 59-51 loss to the LI Lightning....a team that has been in 3 straight nationals. This was a game where we struggled at times on each of the end of the floor, but a lot of that has to do with the quality of who we were playing and also a game that saw 16 Red pull ahead 37-32 with 11 minutes to play. The fantastic foursome of Cassie Novicky (New Milford HS), Sam Riccio (Avon HS), Taylor Nkonoki (Middletown HS), and Fitzpatrick combined for 36 points, 17 rebounds, 11 assists, and 5 steals.
       Our fourth game of the tournament spelled trouble for our opponents as it's clear the taste of defeat did not sit well with the Starters team and the Maryland Panthers happened to be the poor team that was next on our schedule. With fire in our bellies and a bad taste in our mouth, 16 Red blazed out to 37-11 halftime lead before hitting the cruise control to ease into a 57-28 victory. Elisha Homich (Ludlow HS) led us with 11 including three 3pt field goals while everyone else played their roles well in this smooth as pudding performance.
       Our fifth and final game was an in-state battle against the elite CT. Cobras team that is exclusively playing in exposure tournaments due to the top players on their squad. However, the Cobras, with all their preseason pub, didn't anticipate the Starters would not be deterred in a very high level game and we finished the tournament with a resounding 65-53 win. Chantel Alford (Wilbur Cross HS) had 12 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, 4 assists, and 1 screaming mom over a "questionable" foul called against her on a great block to lead us to the great team win. Fitzpatrick added 23 while Wright and Thornton combined for 15. However, we won the game because with the exception of about 4 minutes, the team played great as a unit :).
       16 Red Notes: Outstading job this weekend, ladies, playing in the 2nd highest bracket of 25 brackets at a national level tournament....big thanks to the great support of the parents and fans this weekend.....Special thanks to Brian "I am now actually eating like a real man" Medeiros and Jeff "I only had 15 pieces of pizza at the all-you-can-eat pizza place" Benham for assisting this weekend......hoping we add final piece of the puzzle Taneisha Carter (East Catholic HS) for states this week as she is fully recovered from her injury......thanks to the juggernaut that is 16 Blue for their support this weekend as well and we wish them and all the other Starters teams best of luck this weekend....final thanks to the Sigma Sigma Sigma girl for getting our director Joey T on the dance floor as he showed all his moves (i.e.--his one move) on the dance floor.

       The girls from 16 Blue traveled down to Richmond, Virginia for the Blue Chip pre-season challenge.
       The first game of the tournament was against the Empire Dragons from New York. 16 Blue jumped out to an early lead, first half scoring was led by Brittney Huffman (North West Catholic HS) who had 7 points in the first half and some near perfect shooting from the free throw line, by Dayshima Jackson (Manchester HS) and Laura Dulla (Avon HS). The second half was led by Emily Savino (Ellington HS) 9 points and Emily Walker (East Lyme HS) who had 8 points. Unfortunately our first game saw the Dragons take the lead as the scored 15 points in a row from the foul line.
       Game two was against the Metro Stars from Maryland. The Stars started off hot in the first half hitting there first 7 field goals from the floor. The 16 Blue girls had to fight from the beginning to bring a large deficit to 9 points by half time. Maggie Riddle (Cheshire HS) and Laura Neff (Waterford HS) led the first half with 9 points combined. The Stars ended up winning by that 9 point lead; as Blue played dead even with them in the second half. Emily Savino (Ellington HS) and Shardae Brown (Sacred Heart HS) combined for 12 points in the in the loss against the Stars.
       Game three at the University of Richmond was a different story for 16 Blue. The first half was a back and forth game with the Liberty leading by 2 at the half. The second half defense and rebounding helped Blue earn our first win. Emily Walker (East Lyme HS) finished with 10 rebounds and 6 points while Laura Neff led all scoring with 11 points (shooting 4 for 4 in the second half). Transition basketball was the key in this victory, as defensive rebounds turned into quick baskets on the other end of the floor.
       Game four was against the Ohio Lady Sparks. This was another back and forth game, mainly do to the amount of foul shooting of both teams. Both teams shot a combined total of 33 foul shots in the first half alone. The first half of the game was led by Emily Walker, (East Lyme HS) Laura Dull, (Avon HS) and Shardae Brown (Sacred Heart HS) who combined for 15 out of 26 first half points. The second half was almost a mirror image of the first half. A back and forth game with both teams trying to hold onto the lead. Late in the second half the Sparks pulled out to an 8 point lead and never looked back. The Lady Sparks were able to capitalize from the free throw line and score with a dead clock. The second half was led by Emily Savino (Ellington HS) and Brittney Huffman (North West Catholic HS) combined for 10 points. Emily Walker and Dayshima Jackson (Manchester H.S.) combined for 19 rebounds in the losing effort.
       The final game of the weekend was against the Syracuse Lady Lakers. The Lakers jumped out to an early lead and was able to carry that early lead to win the game. Emily Savino led all scores with 19 points. While Maggie Riddle led in the team with 3 steals, all of which were converted to quick baskets. Maggie finished with 8 points. Dayshima Jackson also chipped in with 5 points in the losing effort.
       I would just like to thank all the coaches that sat on our bench helped out, and for the parent support, it was greatly appreciated.

       Westchester, NY - The 15 Red squad started the challenging weekend off against the Long Island Renegades 16’s. The Renegades came ready to play and took a nine point half-time lead. The Starters have proven to be a second half team, but just couldn’t bounce back enough for a victory in this one. We were only outscored by one in the second half, but went 8-19 from the free throw line. We make a couple more of those and the game changes very quickly. Caroline Brassa led the scoring with 9, Damika Martinez and Lindsay Karle chipped in for seven. The final score was 43-33 with the Starters starting the weekend 0-1.
       Game two of the weekend was against a very big Team Mass team. This was the only 15 year old team we would face for the weekend. Lindsay Karle came out and hit two threes to start the game, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the opponent. The Starters fell behind early and went into the half down four. At the start of the second half, Team Mass went on a 15-1 run. But, the Starters came back and ended up tying Team Mass in the second half, but couldn’t pull out the win. We lost by four, but had a great run to make it a competitive game at the end. Reynesha Archer led the scoring with 11points, Caroline Brassa had 9points, and Damika Martinez and Lindsay Karle contributed 7 pints each.
       Sunday morning was another 16 year old team called the NY Elite. We definitely made them look elite! We started off pretty strong scoring 33 points in the first half. The defense by both Elise Chase and Lindsey Henry was the key to the Starters success in the first half. Unfortunately, the second half fell apart for the Starters. There was pretty balanced scoring, but the Starters went an ugly 10-26 from the free throw line. Free throw shooting needs to improve in order for us to be competitive with other successful teams.
       The final game of the weekend and before States was against the Jersey Extreme. The girls were feeling a little down after the first three games, but really pulled it together as a team and took complete control of the game. Caroline Brassa played her best game and scored 8 points and had several steals. Brenna Verre also had a strong offensive game contributing 8 points. Hayley Currie started the game off strong with some deflections, a steal, and a basket, but couldn’t finish the game due to an ankle injury. Amanda Cormier gathered some confidence and drove a couple times to the basket scoring her six points. Sara Kelley chipped in with 9 points and another strong defensive performance. The Starters decisively came out on top with a final score of 65-41.
       The team that showed up for the last game was a very different team from the first three games. The last game was a team effort and the execution finally came together. It was an impressive win that hopefully carries over into States. Enjoy that victory, but we still have a long way to go!!! Keep up the hard work and good things will happen for the 15 Red.

       Hello Sports fans, this is Virginia with the recap of 14 Red weekend in lovely Westchester. We finished 2-2 in the Future Stars tournament.
       Our first game saw us play a very athletic Albany Capitals team. We got off to a very slow start and trailed 21-11 at halftime. We started to perk it up a little in the second half but got no closer than 8. We lost 44-30 and shot 9-37 from the floor. We shot (this is not a misprint) 12-29 from the free throw line. Mariah Berry (St Paul HS) led us with 11 and played a fine game all around. Loren Pachesa (East Catholic HS) was 5-8 from the free throw line.
       The second game saw us play a Bay State Blizzard team. I hope they are affiliated with the ice cream because Virginia loves Blizzards with Reese's in them. Sorry folks, lost my head for a sec. Once again, our shot was not falling and trailed by seven at the half. The second half saw us play very hard but we could not put the ball into the basket. We lost 56-36 and shot a dismal 13-53 from the floor. Nicole Bentley (Hamden HS) scored a game high 13 for us and also hit two 3 pointers. She was a perfect 3-3 from the line.
       After a little pizza party on Saturday night, the girls played the Jersey Extreme on Sunday morning. Maybe the girls got a little shooting tip from Pope Benedict because Sunday would see the 14 Red team shoot 21-43 from the floor. We scored 33 points in the first half and led by 13. The Jersey team would not go away and made us work hard in the second half. We prevailed by the score of 69-60. Sarah Royals (Torrington HS) scored 23 points and made 15-18 FT's. Mariah Berry had 8 points on 4-6 shooting. Sarah "H" Benedetti (Canton HS) added 7 points. The team made 26-34 free throws and thwarted a comeback from the Jersey Extreme.
       The last game of the weekend pitted us against the host Future Stars. We shot better in the second game than we did in the first. We were 23-41 from the floor. More importantly, we shot 17-19 free throws. Four players were perfect from the line. Emily Kessler (Canton HS), Nicole Bentley, Sarah Benedetti, and Taryn Roy (East Catholic HS). We saved our best play of the weekend for the last game. We defeated the Future Stars by the score of 66-47. Taryn Roy had a game high 22 on 8-9 shooting. She also hit two 3's. Ashley Kinney (Somers HS) chipped in with 10 on 5-6 shooting. Our fastbreak was outstanding, beating the Stars down court for most of the game. Nicole Bentley had 9 and Sarah Benedetti had 8. Jess Frawley (Agawam HS) scored 6 on 3-4 shooting.
       14 Red Rumblings-It was nice to see us perk it up on Sunday. The effort was there all weekend. The execution will be a focus at practice this week. We get ready to play in the State tournament next weekend in New Haven. We are the third seed and play Saturday morning. Operation Clarksville is about ready to begin. A speedy recovery to Sarah Royals as she tweaked an ankle Sunday morning. We are 6-2 on this young season. In 5 of our 6 wins we have scored more than 60 pts. That all for now folks, Virginia has to get some beauty rest. Talk to you soon, V.

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