December 21, 2004

     WALLINGFORD's Stephanie Hiriak was sick to start the season. So was the Sheehan girls basketball team. It was no coincidence.
     With Hiriak weakened by the flu, the Titans were no match for SCC power Hillhouse in their season opener. They lost by 25 pts., an inauspicious start for a team heralded as the one to beat in the Housatonic Division.
     But as their senior point guard returned to health, the Titans likewise recovered. They shook off a loss to Hamden that turned on two technical fouls in the final minute to beat Branford 59-45 on Friday.
     Hiriak had just three points in the win. What the stats don't show is the full-court pressure of Branford that Hiriak dribbled through all night.
     "If it wasn't for her, we would have lost," said assistant coach Steve Madancy. "She basically beat the press and gave the ball to someone else to score."
     Hiriak is the area's most experienced hand. She's been running the point for Sheehan since her freshman year. She's played in national AAU tournaments in Washington D.C., Kansas and Oklahoma that drew hundreds of college coaches.
     The exposure paid off. Next year, the 5-foot-5 Hiriak continues her career at Division II Southern Connecticut State.
     "That was my ultimate goal," said the point guard, who also attracted interest from Assumption, New Haven and Akron, Ohio. "I wanted to play in college since I could remember. Anywhere, really. I just wanted to play."
     Madancy and his wife Christine, the head coach, knew back in the 2001-2002 season they had a player, when Hiriak started all 22 games for the Titans as a freshman and averaged six points.
     Her value went beyond the numbers, though. During one practice Christine rode Hiriak pretty hard while going easy on others. The next day, when the coach tried to make some amends, the rookie player cut her short.
     "Coach, don't worry about it. If you need to yell at me, I can handle it. I wasn't doing what I was supposed to."
     "She's just so calm, and she's a leader," said Steve Madancy. "It's hard to rattle her."
     Hiriak hasn't missed a game in her four years at Sheehan. Heading into tonight's game in West Haven, she has 536 career points. Three of the biggest came in her sophomore year, when a trey from the top of the key with nine seconds left lifted Sheehan past Shelton and to a share of the Housatonic title.
     Next year at SCSU Hiriak will be behind point guard Anabel Perdomo, now in her junior season. Hiriak, who speaks with the same poise with which she plays, has no problem with that.
     "It'd always be nice to start, but being under someone who's been there for four years, I can learn from her."