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01/17/2014 11:00 PMAny Shoreline Conference girls’ basketball team that steps onto the court to face Morgan expects a solid contest and the night of Jan. 17 proved no different when Old Saybrook came to town. The Rams this year are boasting one of their strongest teams in a while with veteran experience across the starting lineup, while the Huskies are poised as usual to make some serious postseason noise. This combination made for an exciting midseason contest last week in which Morgan earned the 49-40 victory despite a gritty effort from Saybrook.
“I really believe we could beat Morgan. These fine starters have to do it all, but we believe in them—if they can stay out on the floor and stay out of foul trouble, they’re smart, they play together as a team, and we’re undersigns, but no one plays harder than these guys in the Shoreline,” said Saybrook Head Coach Steve Woods. “I never accept a loss—I’m disappointed we didn’t win, but am I proud of these kids? Absolutely. We came into Clinton to play here at Morgan, and I think we have the formula and heart and desire to beat really good, well-coached teams like Morgan. The fact that these kids executed, it’s a tribute to them. I wouldn’t trade any of them for anyone in the league; they’re tough, tough kids.”
Morgan Head Coach Joe Grippo cited the emotional atmosphere and Saybrook’s tough defense for being the reason his Huskies played sub-par.
“This was the worst we’ve played—stuff we were doing, mistakes we were making, defensively, we made mistakes in our press and none of that stuff’s been happening,” said Grippo. “We came out like we were going to play well, but after the first quarter, I felt like we were treading water. I give a lot of credit to Saybrook and Neas and how hard they played, but they brought it a lot harder tonight than we did and our decision-making was bad—we haven’t been turning the ball over at all, but tonight we were careless with the basketball all night long. It was a bad night other than the fact that we found a way to win the game.”
The Huskies jumped out to an early first-quarter lead despite giving up the toss and then turning over the ball as Kelsey Donaldson put Morgan on the board with two, something that was quickly answered by Elizabeth Marshall’s three-pointer for Saybrook. Jen Dawson for the Huskies and Paige Trabucchi (12 points) for the Rams traded baskets before Morgan rattled off 13 unanswered points from Josie Sullivan (4), Sami Ashton (2), Jen Dawson (4), and Tori Hopkins (3). Old Saybrook came back with a blocked shot by Trabucchi under Morgan’s basket that led to a Huskies’ turnover and two points from Mia Neas. The Rams then turned over the ball and Morgan notched two from Ashton to close out the first quarter with the Huskies up 19-9.
“I think we really wanted it and we worked really well together, unfortunately we couldn’t pull it out in the end,” said Trabucchi. “The beginning hurt us, too, because they were beating us in the press. Fouls were definitely an issue. But we’ve been playing together forever and I think we’re finally starting to click as a team.”
The Rams remained within reach in the second and never got too far behind their opponent. Neas led off the stanza with three points, followed by three from Lily Dawson. Morgan turned over the ball, which led to a Marshall three-pointer and after a free-throw point from the Huskies’ Riley Smith, Saybrook continued to lay down the pressure, specifically Neas whose defense was stellar throughout the contest. Ashton notched two and Smith showed her power with a blocked Saybrook shot at the net and following an Ashton free-throw point, Trabucchi and Ashton traded baskets before Neas ended the half with two points to put the score at 30-19 in favor of Morgan.
The second half is when Saybrook began to really close the gap. Trabucchi led off the third quarter with two points that were answered quickly by Jen Dawson. Marshall notched two and after a free-throw point from Sullivan, the Rams saw four points from both Marshall and Neas that led to Grippo calling a timeout with the score 33-27 and the Huskies holding a slim lead. The last two minutes of the third saw many whistles towards the Huskies, allowing Saybrook possession and Trabucchi took advantage, scoring four consecutive points to make the score 35-30 at the end of three.
“I thought we started off really well and beating their press easily,” said Ashton. “We like to run the floor and go up and down fast, so when they took it off it’s harder, and I thought Neas did a good job on defense and offense, so when they gauged back, it was a little harder to do what we normally do and run the ball. We just slowed down after that.”
The Rams ran into foul trouble in the fourth, which ultimately led to their demise. With both squads starting off the stanza with steals, Saybrook fouled and Ashton earned two free-throw points, followed by Neas’ single. Morgan turned over the ball again, which led to Trabucchi’s two points after her spiffy dribbling around the Huskies’ defense. With three minutes left, the score stood at 39-33 after Sullivan’s two points and Saybrook answered that after Neas took two from the charity stripe. After a Rams’ turnover, Morgan rattled off five points from Jen Dawson (2), Ashton (1), and Sullivan (2), the latter two being from the free-throw line. After Mary Kate Morrison for Saybrook and Lily Dawson for Morgan exchanged single free-throw points, Morrison and Neas earned two, but the Huskies gathered four points from Jen and Lily Dawson to close out the game at 49-40.
“I thought we broke their pressure pretty well, but unfortunately our offense didn’t finish as well as we have been,” said Neas. “I think we could’ve won, we just missed some key plays. It was definitely a closer match-up than it has been in years.”