TGBL MARCH MADNESS
TOURNAMENT
SEMI-FINAL ROUNDS
JR. LEAGUE
MONARCHS 15 LYNX 14
The
first game of the morning was exciting and entertaining from the tip-off until
the buzzer signaled at the end of the 24 minutes. The first half was a
low scoring affair and the Monarchs were on the board with six points thanks to
three quality perimeter shots from center Sidney Quinn. Guards Sarah Ciampa and Emily Amaral applied
heavy pressure to the Lynx while Erin Briley, Tayla Spezzano, Sarah Murray, and Alicia Moore fought for control
of the middle and pulled down much needed rebounds to keep the Lynx within
reach. In the fourth period with ten seconds left the Monarchs were down
by one point as they inbound the ball. Shaylee Puleo and Chelsea Pellegrino moved the ball over half court
and set up the offense. Kayla VonKahle slid
underneath on a cross and the pass was waiting for her. She sent her jump
shot into the air with two seconds left on the clock and it was nothing but
net. The Monarchs won at the buzzer and were moving onto the championship
game.
In the Lynx
final game of the season we lost by a buzzer beater 15-14. down
13 -12 with 28 seconds left Carolyn Verseckas hit a lay- up and was fouled to
put the Lynx ahead 14-13. After missing the free
throw The Monarchs got the ball back and (11 for Monarchs if you could insert
her name) hit a 12 footer as time expired for the win. With hard work and
steady improvement by each girl on the team the Lynx went from starting the
season 0-3, losing one of their 2 excellent centers Kylie Paulino.
The Lynx came 1 second away from the championship game. The leading scorers for
the Lynx were Katie Garcia who also played outstanding defense not just in this
contest but for the entire season, Carolyn Verseckas, and Amanda Mckinnis.
Outstanding guard play and defense by Sarah Larsen and finally relentless work
on rebounding by all the frontline Verseckas, Mckinnis, Miranda Hulme, Amanda
Ford and Rebecca Lewis. I would like to thank each and every girl for their
extreme hard work, practice and never quit attitude which got them this far
from such a slow start.
SPARKS 15 STARZZ 14
The Starzz fell by one point to the Sparks in the Final Four this past Saturday. The Starzz played well on both ends of the floor and hadtheir chances, but just couldn’t get the ball to drop in the hoop. Emily Sessa (2) and Kate McGlaughlin made some nice passes in the game leading to some great scoring chances. Rachel Figucia played great on the defensive end. Leading the offense for the Starzz were Isabelle Picher (4), Rachel Sessa (4), Samantha Surowiec (2) and Samantha Mercurio (2). The Starzz played some good team defense as well, with Haley Marchant, Jordyn Cavicchi, Holly Covel and
Samantha Schultz all contributing to the effort. Despite the disappointment in this one point
loss, the girls should be proud of their effort and their “never give up” attitude.
Scoring for the Sparks were Adrianna Favreau (9 pts.), Rebekah Politis (4 pts.) and Sarah Sullivan (2pts.).
INTERMEDIATE
LEAGUE
TERRIERS
27 CARDINALS 20
The Cardinals for the third time came out and controlled the
Terriers for the first half. This game was as tough and well
executed by the Cardinals as the previous two. The
Terriers played D as tough as could be and Melanie Fleury and Meredith Cahill were relentless on
the Cardinals and frustrated them into numerous
turnovers. Emily Duquette also came played a
strong defensive game causing lots of stopped balls. Erin Walsh
was on the Cardinal ball handlers like a cheap
suit keeping them from penetrating the paint. The Terriers
offense once again was slow to start. With only seven points in
the first half they had their work cut out for them in the second half.
They were able to pull twenty points out of their hat after the break. Shannon
Smith led the way with nine points. Marissa Conlin and Amanda Brown followed up with six points
each. Erin Walsh, Ashley Colarusso, and Michelle
Creedon put in two points each. This was
truly a great tournament game between two tough teams.
JAYHAWKS 25 WILDCATS 14
The Jayhawks swooped into the Semi-Finals this week against the swift
Wildcats. Lead scorer of the game was Ashley Colbert who scored three perfect jumpshots. Meghan Braciska and
Rebecca Keough followed up with excellent jumpshots as well. June Garcia was the lead rebounder
crashing the boards with every shot. Andrea Doran, Samantha Powers, and Kacie Ellegood kept the Wildcats
on their feet with their tight defensive skills. Loren Sullivan made several
key baskets under the hoop raising up the score.
Nicole Petherbridge, Haley Pozzutto
and Cassandra Froio demonstrated their terrific
dribbling skills bringing the ball up the court and breaking the press. It was
an excellent game played by the Wildcats in the race to the finals, but when
the clock ran out, the Jayhawks took the win to advance to the Finals.
Wildcats gave it a go against the Jayhawks. They came out on
fire with some great defense and put up 10 points. Unfortunately that was
all for the Wildcats. After scoring another 2 points, many shots were put
up but the Wildcats were robbed time after time. They pushed hard with
their defense and kept the Jayhawks at bay for the second half but were unable
to catch up. Fantastic job to a great group of girls! Outstanding offense this year by Lindsey Cossar
and Katie Dunlevy, excellent passing by Corinne Doyle
and Audrey Casey, furious defense by Heather Doyle, Ally Kelly, and Colleen
Kelly - Awesome shot blocking and rebounding by Erica Dirk, Erin Davis, and Janina Kennedy. Jessica Guida,
although injured early in the season - was crazy under the boards and we really
missed her!
SENIOR LEAGUE
Blazers 41 Magic 34
In a tough semi final game
against a good Magic team, the Blazers started out slow but came on strong in
the second half. Ashley Kelly (8 points), Brooke Patterson (6 points),
and Tiffany Marsh (6 points), led the attack. Bridget Casey (4 points),
Ally Braciska (4 points), and Taylor Simas (4 points), came out big defensively to shut down the
Magic offense. Mikayla Hodgdon
(2 points) and Sam Madore (2 points) rounded out the
Blazers scoring. Sarah Minichello and Crystal Lemus also came up big for the Blazers to push them into
the finals. Aleska Pena was on the bench to
support her team but was a little under the weather. Great job Blazers !!!
The Magic played another hard fought game this Saturday, but
unfortunately the season came to a close. Every girl found a way to
contribute whether it was on offense or defense, and everyone showed tremendous
hustle. Scoring for the Magic was Nicole Hamel, Shanell
Nardone, Kelly Quigley, Britnee
Dell'Arciprete, Molly Tibbetts,
Kavita Shah, and Meaghan Blaisdell.
Great season Magic Girls!
Wizards 29 Pacers 17
The Wizards advanced to the Championship game with a 29-17
victory over a tough Pacers team. Scoring for the Wizards were Sam Laferriere (10 pts), Missy Cordwell
(8 pts), Jen Iannacci (5 pts), and Abby Donoghue, Jen Cobuccio and Mariah
Culwell with 2 pts each. Sarah Barnes showed
great hustle on defense. Julia Bodoni, Hannah Culwell, Jen Joyce and Jen Maddaleni
all had very strong games to help propel the Wizards on to the finals.
Sc oring for the Pacers were
Adrianna Brown (5 pts.), and Anna Piccolo, Haley Acconcia,
Michelle Hopkinson, Mackenzie Pierce, Danielle Newhall and Paige Walker, all
with 2 points each.
TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
JR. LEAGUE
MONARCHS 16 SPARKS 13
The Monarchs had been hoping for a chance to play in the
final game of the season and with a lot of hard work and a consistent team
effort they found a way to make it happen. In the three previous games
nine of the ten girls had contributed to the scoring and the message was
clear: It would take everything they had to overcome the high powered
offense of the Sparks.
The Sparks broke open early in the first period putting
points on the board and playing tenacious defense. The Monarchs were
patient and took advantage of the few quality scoring chances they saw.
When the whistle blew for the half the score was 11 to 6 in favor of the Sparks.
The second half was a very different story as the Monarchs came out and applied
incredible pressure on the Sparks shooters and ball
handlers. They slowly worked their way back into the game and by the
fourth period the Monarchs broke the game open thanks to the solid shooting of
Kayla VonKahle. She was 5/6 from the free throw
line and with two minutes left in the game the Monarchs were ahead 16-11.
The Sparks scored a late basket to bring the score to 16-13, but the game ended
with the Monarchs on top.The players and coaches
shook hands and the parents were showed tremendous pride in their girls and how
they turned their season around when it counted the most.The
Monarchs wish to extend their thanks to the parents and the volunteers of TGBL
for all of their hard work and support.
INTERMEDIATE LEAGUE
TERRIERS 31 JAYHAWKS 21
This was an amazing game for the Intermediate league March Madness
tournament championship. It was tied at the end of the first. The
Terriers led by five going into the half. Then the Jayhawks were up by
five going into the final period. Then the Terriers defense
really kicked in and the offense exploded. The Terriers defense
was led by Meagan Timmins in the first and third quarters and Emily Duquette in second and fourth both players stopping
numerous drives and juts creating havoc in the Jayhawk offense. Adding to the defense and causing
some key turnovers were Melanie Fleury and Meredith Cahill.The Terriers offense continued to be the
slow starter it has been. The Jayhawks kept them to only 14 points
in the first three quarters and part of that was due to blanking the Dogs in
the third quarter. But in the fourth quarter the Dogs were unleashed and
Shannon Smith led the pack by scoring 14 points
in the fourth for a season high total of 18 points. Amanda Brown scored 5
points, Marissa Conlin sunk two for 4 points, Erin
Walsh was good for two points, and Michelle Creedon
and Ashley Colarusso both hit one from the foul
line. It was just another incredible comeback from a team that did
it all through the tournament and a number of times during the season.
Thanks to the Jayhawks for a great game and thank you Terriers for a great
season!
The Jayhawks went into the
contest planning to stymie the offense of the Terriers with great defense, and
for most of the game, they did just that. In the first quarter, the
Terriers were successful at slowing down the Jayhawks offense by collapsing the
middle, but Haley Pozzutto and Cassie Froio were able to dish off to the forwards (Ashley Colbert
and Becky Keough) who had hot hands for scores.
Both teams equalized each other out for a 6 - 6 at the end of the 1st
quarter. In the second, the Terriers were moving the ball well, and the
Jayhawks were hurt by some quick fouls, but kept fighting to keep it to only a
small deficit at the half of 14-9, At half time,
the Jayhawks regrouped, and had Haley Pozzuto
slashing to the middle with June Garcia, Becky Keough,
Kacie Ellegood and Ashley
Colbert took great shots and fought for rebounds, and giving the momentum to
the Jayhawks. They had the Terriers on the ropes, and were able to get up
by 5 going into the last quarter. The intensity cranked up even more,
with the Terriers frustrated by the Jayhawks defense (Megan Braciska,
Nicole Petherbridge, Andrea Doran, Sam Powers) on the
inbounds, and sealing off the passes (Loren Sullivan, Sam Powers) - but the
Jayhawks shots weren't falling as often, and the offensive rebounding of the
Terriers put them over the top in an exciting final game. The Jayhawks
played as a team the whole year, and this was another all around team effort,
and the coaches and parents couldn't have been prouder with the effort .
SENIOR LEAGUE
BLAZERS 40 WIZARDS 36
The final game for the Senior
Division March Madness Tournament Championship was not a disappointment for the
fans. The Blazers and Wizards left everything on the floor, with the
Blazers pulling off a victory against a determined Wizards squad. Tiffany
Marsh led the Blazers with 9 out of 10 free throws, many of which were down the
stretch to hold onto the lead. Ashley Kelly was terrific (10
points) with some great hustle. Brooke Patterson (6 points), Ally Braciska (4 points) with some super ball handling, and Bridget Casey (4 points) and great defense.
Taylor Simas (2 points), Mikayla Hodgdon (2 points), with
some big rebounds by Sarah Minichello.
Sam Madore and Crystal Lemus
were all over the floor to help push an incredible Blazers team to the winner's
circle. Super effort from a great bunch of girls who pulled together to
beat the # 1, # 2, and # 4 seeds to win
the Championship. Great year Blazers!
Despite a
furious comeback in the fourth quarter, the Wizards came up just short in the
Championship game falling to a very strong Blazers team 40-36. Missy Cordwell ended her TGBL career with an outstanding 19 pt
effort. Abby Donoghue added 6 pts to go along
with her stellar defense. Sam Laferriere
knocked home 5 pts while Jen Iannacci, Hannah Culwell and Mariah Culwell scored
2 pts each. Outstanding efforts were turned in by Jen Cobuccio,
Julia Bodoni, Jen Joyce, Jen Maddaleni
and Sarah Barnes. All of the Wizards played with class and determination
all year long and they had a season to remember. Congratulations to the
Blazers for a well-earned victory.