The 15 Red played in the Starters Summer Classic this weekend at Northwest Catholic High School. The morning game was against a less experienced team from Canada. However, it appeared that the Starters had a seven hour drive, not the Canadians. 15 Red struggled handling the ball and were forced into 25 turn overs and shot 9-24 from the free throw line. Despite the 13 rebounds from Haley Cole, 12 from Maggie Donohue, and the 11 rebounds pulled down by Rachel Franzluebbers the Starters lost the game 47-33.
       The Starters only had about an hour to regroup and bounce back from the loss before they faced the Kingston Vipers. A very skilled team kept the Starters fighting hard and holding onto a small 22-19 lead at the half. Genelle Green and Haley Cole led the offense with 12 points and 13 points respectively. Olivia Sutherland had four steals and four assists to help secure the win. It was a hard fought game by both teams, but the Starters came out on top with a 43-42 victory over a very good team. It was a great way to end Saturday and a much needed win for 15 Red!
       Sunday morning was an 8:30 scheduled start, but a couple of the girls never woke up for the game. They were all there physically, but that’s about it. Even though the Starters were flat, they were still up by five at the half, 19-14. Kristen Van Gilst led the scoring with 10 points and Genelle Green chipped in with 8 points. Haley Northup also did her best trying to keep the Starters alive with 5 points and 5 rebounds. Kathleen McCormack had 5 rebounds and 3 assists, but it just was not enough to keep the Knicks down. The Starters lost by 3 points, 38-35. It was a very tough loss because of the lack of play from our post players. 15 Red is in need of a post player that is willing to step up and battle on the block!!!
       After a long break, the Starters were back on the floor against the Middlesex Rage at 2:45. There really is nothing to say about the final game of the weekend. It was an ugly display that even the coach of the opponent couldn’t believe. The Starters lost 40-20!!!
       This weekend was a very disappointing weekend of basketball for the 15 Red. There were so many mistakes made and very little growth. The effort from most is always there, but the execution was less than acceptable. We did play mostly 16’s this weekend, but the record really should have been different. Now we need to learn from this weekend and the mistakes that were made to become a better individual and team. We only have three tournaments left and there is still a lot to learn. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and be ready to work hard in practice Wednesday.

       Happy Memorial Day weekend and there is no better place to spend it then........ in the gym of East Catholic! The girls got off to a slow start against the Stamford Peace. We had some unforced errors and the peace capitalized on those mistakes and took a 12-2 lead early on. The girls battled back but found themselves down 18-14 at the half. The second half the girls woke up and started to play the basketball we were accustomed to seeing. Led behind our pressure defense and our 2-2-1 press we took the lead for good and never looked back. Paige Young 9 pts, 6 rebs (Berlin HS) and Carrie Polomsky 8 pts, (Wethersfield HS) led us offensively. Brenna Roy 7 pts, 3 steals, and 2 asst (Stafford Springs HS) and Molly Jalbort 7 pts, 10 rebs, and 5 blocks (Cheshire HS) had great all around games. Final Score Starters 47 Peace 38.
       The second game of the weekend was against the CT Cobras 15s. This would be a very good test to see how far we've come thus far as they like to run, trap, and press all over the floor. Both teams exchanged baskets early on but we started to find a nice groove on both sides of the floor which resulted in a 28-17 lead at the half. Carrie Polomsky was on fire draining almost every shot she took, scoring 11 (3 3's) of her game high 15 in the half. The second half started and the cobras came out strong and dicitated the tempo getting themselves right back into the game! We battled back behind the steady play of Zoe Fanolis 7 pts, 5 assts (Hamden HS) and Megan Schuppe 6 pts, 4 assts, 4 rebs, as they managed the game very well down the stretch. Molly and Brittney Needham (Hamden HS) did a great job controlling the boards and limiting their big post player to minimal touches down the strech. However, some poor free throw shooting kept the Cobras in the game but we escaped with a 43-39 win!
       Sunday morning came and we were up against the Newburg Liberty 15s, both teams came out strong but cooled down towards the end of the half. Halftime Score, Starters 17 Liberty 12. The second half might of been our best basketball to date as we completely dominated them in every aspect. Our 2-2-1 press caused many turnovers which led to easy transition points, coinciding we were making the extra pass on the offensive end getting teammates open looks from the floor. Alex Marques 10 pts, 8 rebs and 2 blocks (Newington HS) was outstanding after missing both games yesterday with ankle sprain. Paige and Brittney chipped in with 8 and 6 pts respectively. Final Score Starters 47 Liberty 29
       The last game of the weekend was against Team BSB 15's. Of note, we played Team BSB 14s and lost by 3 at the Storm tourney earlier in the month. Early on we were dominated and for the first time it showed that we were the younger team. They got off to a great start and had a 15-3 lead and each basket seemed to be easier then the previous one. After a time out, the girls started to snap out of it and battled but we found ourselves down 24-16 at the half. Minutes into the second half, Megan was injured after taking a charge that aggravated a hip injury from the first game on Saturday and lost her for the rest of the way. Knowing we needed people to step up, we got some great contributions from Sara Hubbard (5 pts, 4 steals, and 3 assts Wethersfield HS) and Zoe (2 pts, 2 steals and 3 assts) on the defensive end on their star point guard, forcing her into making bad decisions with the ball. Alex and Molly dominated the boards against their bigger and stronger counterparts and did some damage of their own around the paint scoring 7 and 6 respectively. Our 3 pt shooting was key down the stretch as Carrie and Amanda Curvino (5 pts Canton HS) connected on three 3 pointers to give us the lead for good. Final Score Starters 39 - BSB 35!!!
       *** This was a great team weekend as we all contributed to our success. I'd like to thank all the parents and kids who helped out at East Catholic throughout the course of the weekend! It was nice to have Brittney return from her knee injury, unfortunately Megan went down and we hope for a speedy recover with her hip. We will see you next weekend at the CT Wave Tourney!

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