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03/26/2016 12:00 AMThe Morgan girls’ basketball team concluded its 2015-’16 season with a record of 21-5 that included trips to the Shoreline Conference Tournament final and the Class M State Tournament quarterfinals. Unfortunately, the Huskies lost to eventual Shoreline Conference and Class M champion Cromwell in both of those games. However, even though Morgan didn’t make it to Mohegan Sun for the state final, Head Coach Joe Grippo’s squad had another stellar season in which it eclipsed the 20-win plateau yet another time.
The Huskies’ campaign featured two-time Shoreline Conference Player of the Year Sami Ashton setting the program’s all-time career scoring record with 1,732 points, surpassing Kara Fillion, who previously held the mark with 1,691. Ashton, who averaged 25.8 points and 4.5 assists per game, was named to the Connecticut High School Coaches Association All State Team and a unanimous First Team All-Shoreline Conference selection. Fellow senior captain Josie Sullivan, who posted an average of 14 points with 14 rebounds a night, also starred as a First Team All-Conference choice and finished her career at Morgan with 950 rebounds.
“At the beginning of the season, I was concerned when I looked at the numbers. We only had eleven players on the roster and really only six or seven who were varsity ready. But these kids gave it their all and worked extremely hard all season and I thought we had a tremendous year,” Coach Grippo said. “When you look at who we lost to, it was Cromwell four times and they won the tournament and finished second in the state and we lost early to Madison in overtime. We had that one, but they made a run and took the game. Those are pretty good teams. Cromwell is very deep and talented and Hand won its conference tournament and made a decent run in the Class L playoffs.”
Morgan opened the season with a 70-59 victory over North Branford on Dec. 15, then lost 76-70 in overtime to Hand. The Huskies won their next six contests before dropping one to Cromwell, which was the only team they’d lose to the rest of the year. Morgan followed by going on an amazing run in which it won 10-straight games—all by double figures with an average margin of victory of 33.2 points per contest. On Feb. 16, the Huskies went to Cromwell for their regular season finale and lost a tight battle late, 64-56.
In the Shoreline Conference Tournament, Morgan was the No. 3 seed and dispatched No. 6 Old Lyme 69-37. Next, the Huskies faced the No. 2 seed East Hampton in the semifinals and prevailed 49-43 to set up a date with their nemesis Cromwell in the final. On Feb. 25, the two Shoreline powers met in Cromwell and Morgan lost another close contest, 57-50.
“They are a very deep, versatile and experienced team. They can shoot it, pound it down low with two good bigs, they are well coached,” Grippo said of Cromwell. “It was really a play here or a play there, a breakdown in defense you can get away with against other teams, but not them.”
Morgan would move on to the Class M State Tournament, where it was seeded 8th and fought off a tough Suffield team, 55-38, in the first round. In the second round, No. 9 Waterford came to town and Morgan team defeated the Lancers 50-36 on March 3. In that game, Ashton scored 25 points and became the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer.
“What can be said about Sami that hasn’t already been said?” Grippo said. “She’s just an unbelievable athlete, fearless, a huge competitor, works extremely hard and has great work habits, a great leader, great attitude, and she’s the two-time league MVP, holds the school scoring record, and made the All-State Team. Just an incredible player and person and I can’t wait to watch her in college.”
On March 7, the Huskies played at top-seeded Cromwell in the quarterfinals of the Class M State Tournament and lost 50-38 to finish their season. It was the fourth time the squads met and Cromwell won all four games.
“I thought we got a tough draw to be honest. Suffield was a good team that gave us all we could handle early, Waterford was the only team to beat New London until they lost in the L final, and then to get Cromwell in the quarters at their house was tough,” Grippo said. “Besides that first game we played this year where they really popped us pretty good, all the other games came down to a few plays. I think we are really a two-man team on offense and it’s easier to shut us down because we run through Sami. They were five deep and that showed up, usually in the third quarter where they kind of began to wear us down. But I’m proud of my team. I thought we gave maximum effort and gave everything we had. We just came up a little short.”
The Huskies are losing four senior starters who were the heart and soul of a team that won the Shoreline Conference championship last season. Captains Ashton, Sullivan, and Riley Thompson (4.5 points, 5 rebounds a game) will all be moving on, as is Riley Smith (8.5 points, 7 rebounds), and filling those shoes will be difficult to say the least.
“Sami is amazing. Josie, when she came in as a freshman, she wasn’t much of a player, but she worked hard to make herself a great player. Just an unbelievable kid and may be the best rebounder ever at Morgan. Riley Thompson was an unsung hero who did all the dirty work, setting screens, and Riley [Smith] was our third option for scoring on the floor and did well for us offensively,” Grippo said. “As far as the future, we have a good incoming class from junior high school and the kids that are here, sophomore Brianna Navarra and junior Shannon Maher, were like our fifth starters, sixth man depending on the matchups. Besides those two, there isn’t a lot of varsity experience. The group has a bright future, but that also depends on how hard they work in the offseason, playing in summer leagues, so we’ll see how that goes.”
From the Sidelines
Head Coach Joe Grippo has led the Morgan girls’ basketball team to two state championships and three runner-up finishes throughout his tenure. The Huskies have also won six Shoreline Conference titles with Grippo on the bench. Coach Grippo’s overall record in his 30-plus years at the helm of the Huskies is 593 wins and 223 losses.