Hello Sport Fans, its Bobby Beeball with the recap of 16 Blues weekend in lovely Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I apologize for not being around but I was away at a Sand Castle competition in the area. I was able to escape them sometime Saturday. The 16 Blue Bombers finished 2-2 in the Seacoast Slam. The last game of the weekend was very impressive as the girls prevailed in some extreme heat conditions in the gym at the University of New Hampshire. More on that victory later.
       In the first game of the weekend, we played the local entry in Oyster River. It was a very good game as we only trailed by one at the half 19-18. We played very good defense but our offensive game was not clicking. Our opponent had a very talented player who scored 18 versus us. We ended up losing 41-33. Tae Rentas (Sabis School- Springfield Mass) had a game high 7 for us. Emily Kessler (Ethel Walker- Simsbury) hit a three pointer in the first half. Alex Williams (Sabis School- Springfield Mass) was a demon on the offensive boards and she also chipped in with 6 points.
       The second game on Saturday pitted us against the Eastern "Land of" Lakes team from nearby. It was a closely contested game as our offense was off again. Our defense was spectacular as we led 21-15 at the half. The game would be decided on the free throw line. Eastern Lakes had to foul us to get the ball back. We struggled from the line but won by the score of 35-33. Chelsea Foster (Avon HS) was high scorer with 7, including a 3-pointer and Emily Stetkiewicz (East Longmeadow HS) had 6 for us.
       Saturday night was a fun night as most of the team and parents went to dinner at Bratskellar. Kudos to the Buffalo Chicken pizza as it was yummy. There was a very short parent meeting to discuss Penn State and the World Cup. We had two games on Sunday starting at 10 am. Sunday morning Bobby and his lovely wife Michelle had a nice breakfast at the Roundabout Diner. This is when I noticed that my car was painted. Local police are still investigating and will have some leads soon. But, my good luck charm was found on the ground. He goes by the name of Bobby Cianfarani, my twin brother.
       Our first game on Sunday saw us play the Silver Bullets. We lost by a few plus a few plus a few points. We had trouble scoring and were out of sync. Rachel Karlins (South Windsor HS) was high scorer with 9 points. Emily Stetkiewicz had 6 points and Nikki Lapierre (Windsor Locks HS) had 4 points. The final was 49-31.
       The last game of the weekend was special as the girls played some very good basketball on both offense and defense. Playing the match proved to be very successful for us. Our defense was led by Ashley Petrarca (Taft School). She was very active in the match. It ws a very physical game from the start and we led 17-16 at the half. The second half was a free throw marathon, as we took 31 for the game. Rachel Karlins was 16-24 for the game from the charity stripe. We won by the score of 44-35. Emily Stetkiewicz scored 9 and Rachel was high scorer with 24 points.
       16 Blue Notes: We are now 13-16-1 on the year. We will prepare for our final tournament with two practices this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will be in Penn State starting July 4th thru the 8th. Thank you to the parents for welcoming Mrs C to the parents meeting on Saturday night. We will have a full squad for Penn State. Claire Laing (Rocky Hill HS) will be back with us after seeing her sister graduate. Also, Karly Turgeon (East Longmeadow HS) is coming back after a shoulder injury. Coach C is looking forward to a full squad for the final tourney. Til next time, Bobby lives by this creed- he doesn't get mad but gets even. Please keep that in mind 16 Blue Pranksters. You know who you are.

       School is out so that only means one thing...were at the University of New Hampshire. This is personally one of my favorite AAU trips of the season. We welcome back Megan Schuppe from injury but we lost Brittney Needham a week earlier for the season. As we prepare for the Jr. Nationals, we step up in competition and play against 15 yr olds for the weekend. Our first game of the weekend is against the Northeast Attack, we got off to a great start and jumped out to a 11-0 lead. Everything was clicking early on, our 2-2-1 press caused many turnovers which created transition points and our half court offense was very sharp. Our lead at the half was 28-14. In the second half, we never looked back and everyone scored in this one. Alex Marques (Newington HS) and Molly Jalbort (Cheshire HS) dominated the boards on both ends of the floor. Alex was the high scorer 12 Pt's. Sara Hubbard 9 Pt's, (Wethersfield HS) Carrie Polomsky (Wethersfield HS) Megan Schuppe (Northwest Catholic HS) and Molly chipped in with 6 Pt's apiece. Final Score CT Starters 55 NE Attack 44.
       Our second game of the weekend was against Peancook Pride. The Pride were very physical and it caused us lot of fits and we struggled on both sides of the floor. We got pushed around for the majority of the half, as we failed to step up the challenge and it showed by the score at the half, 22-14 Pride. In the second half, led by the spirited play of Paige Young 14 Pt's (Berlin HS) we battled back and matched their physical play for the remaining of the half. Carrie and Amanda Curvino (Canton HS) made some huge shots scoring 7 and 6 respectively to keep it close until the final seconds of the game. Unfortunately we ran out of time and lost, Pride 45 Starters 43.
       Sunday morning came and it was none other then Fathers Day, all of the girls wanted to make their Dad's proud. I don't think that there were two prouder dads then Alex and Molly's, as they stole the show on both ends of the floor; rebounding, defending, and scoring! The opposition was the Eastern Lakes and they were no match for us on this day as we won 56-39. Alex 15 Pt's, Molly 8 Pt's, Amanda 8 Pt's, and Sara 7 Pt's led the way.
       Our last game of the weekend was against the NE Silver Bullets, the same team who beat our 16s earlier in the morning. It was my goal to win this game for my friend Vinny as a little pay back. However, the Silver Bullets came out strong as their two best players were hitting the outside shot and getting to the basket. We trailed at the half, 26-22. Paige Young (7 Pt's) came up huge as she was assigned the team's best player on the defensive end and she more then answered the challenge. As Paige was leading us on the defensive end, Megan and Carrie put the team on their backs offensively as they scored 16 and 15 respectively. We started to pull away but our horrible free throw shooting (11-35) allowed them to hang around but we came out on top. Final Score CT Starters 53 NE Silver Bullets 49.
       **** This was a very encouraging weekend as we prepare for Hershey, we played some good basketball especially the last game against the Bullets. Our free throw shooting is something that we need to approve on, 52-116 which is a cool 44%. Our team dinner and ice cream was alot of fun...and hopefully our success here will translate into W's on our final trip of the season. Our record going into our final tourney is 21-10!

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