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03/14/2023 05:14 PMDespite not claiming its first state championship since 2017 this season, the Hand girls’ basketball squad held serve on the court with prolonging its proficient postseason pedigree, as the Tigers reached at least the Final Four in their states draw for the fifth consecutive season that the CIAC fielded state tournaments.
Following a 14-6 regular season, Hand earned a spot in the SCC Tournament as the No. 8 seed and defeated No. 9 Hillhouse 49-46 in the first round, before bowing out in the quarterfinals to eventual champion and top-seeded Hamden, 39-35.
Then, in the Class MM State Tournament, the Tigers entered the draw also as the No. 8 seed. Hand scored a pair of decisive home victories in the first two rounds, first by a 56-11 final over 25th-seeded Prince Tech in the opening contest on Feb. 27, before breezing past No. 24 Waterford, 63-25 on March 2.
Traveling to top-ranked Northwestern for a quarterfinal matchup on March 6, Hand outlasted the Highlanders for a 54-51, double-overtime triumph. This propelled Hand to the semifinals on March 10 against No. 4 Mercy in the rubber match between the two SCC schools this season.
Unfortunately for Hand, it would see its tremendous season come to a close with an overall record of 18-8, following a 50-27 loss to Mercy in the semifinal round at Guilford High School.
While Mercy held a 10-point command at the halftime break at 25-15, it was a tale of two quarters in the latter half of the contest. Hand’s defense clamped down in the third to allow only five points to be scored by its fellow SCC Tiger adversaries, and trailed 30-27 moving to the final frame. Yet in the fourth, Mercy shut out Hand, 20-0, to clinch its ticket to the state final. Senior Natalie Lucas led the scoring for Hand, netting 10 points while senior Coco Rourke added six points, six rebounds, and four steals. Senior Carson Miller netted five points and four boards.
“We knew we were in for a battle against SCC rival Mercy, a team we had already seen twice this season,” said Head Coach Tim Tredwell. “Mercy is incredibly physical and, if the refs are going to allow them to play their game, you could be in for a long night. We struggled early on, going down 10 at the half, but the kids showed a lot of fight getting the lead down to three going into the fourth. Unfortunately, we ran out of gas down the stretch and Mercy took full advantage.”
In the double-overtime thriller against Northwestern in the quarters, senior Annie Goodrich paced the Tigers’ offense with 16 points to go with her seven rebounds. Lucas netted 11 points and four boards, while Rourke added nine points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
“Heading up to Winsted to face the top seed in the tournament was definitely a challenge,” said Coach Tredwell. “Annie (Goodrich) was coming off missing a week with a virus, Maya (Blomberg) has struggled with an ankle injury, and we’re taking a 90-minute bus ride the night before exams start. Of course we’re going into two overtimes!”
About halfway through what would be the final frame of regulation in the fourth, Hand grasped an eight-point command, yet the Tigers were unable to hit from the free-throw line and the home side clawed back into the contest.
The Highlanders then held the ball with seven seconds to go, knocking down a game-tying three with 1.7 ticks left to send the game into an extra session with the score knotted at 41. For the first overtime, Northwestern again had the final look at the basket with the score even at 47-47, though it could not get the shot to fall this time.
For what would be the final period, Hand went to the charity stripe and knocked down some crucial free throws prior to maintaining possession of the ball, running out the clock, and clinching the Tigers’ state semifinal berth.
“Northwestern has an absolute stud sophomore guard in Maddie Topa, and she was every bit as good as advertised, going for 33 points, including the buzzer-beating three at the end of regulation,” Tredwell said. “Of course, we didn’t help ourselves, missing 11 foul shots down the stretch of the fourth quarter, but I was incredibly impressed with our ability to maintain our composure when it looked like it wasn’t going our way. The kids did a really nice job of keeping their heads up and staying focused late in the game and that was great to see. Moments like that show how well these kids are going to be able to deal with adversity when things go south in real life. All season long, this team has proven to be incredibly even-keeled and that shined through in this game. To win a game like that said a lot about our kids and their mental toughness.”
Tredwell completed his 14th season as the Tigers’ bench boss. He was assisted on the sidelines by Kristina Ciotto, who finished off her eighth campaign with Hand, along with Paul Ciotto (now through his fifth season).
The Tigers’ roster was comprised of seniors Goodrich, Lucas, Rourke, Aubrey Canth, Blomberg, Miller; juniors Ava Davies, Juliette Brenza, Lucy Schwarz, Abbey Richard; sophomores in Caroline Courtney, Morgan Mastrobattisto, Ella Helfrich; plus freshmen Kathryn Butler and Liza Jobson.
On the regular season, Hand defeated Norwich Free Academy (53-39), West Haven (55-40), Branford (67-38 and 75-30), Cromwell (65-41), Farmington (56-41), Shelton (61-12 and 63-12), Mercy (53-50), North Haven (58-40 and 68-60), Guilford (54-33 and 69-37), and Hall (50-20). The Tigers’ losses came versus Hamden (51-48 and 63-46), Sacred Heart Academy (51-38 and 56-38), West Haven (60-59), and Mercy (56-39).
In closing, Tredwell aspires to have the Tigers truly treasure what was unearthed this winter by their collective efforts and keeping an impressive postseason streak intact.
“While it’s disappointing to see your season come to an end, I hope these kids are able to enjoy and appreciate everything they’ve accomplished,” said Tredwell. “Our program has been in the state semifinals every year that they’ve had a full state tournament since 2017, and that’s not too shabby. These kids worked incredibly hard all season. They took pride in being great teammates, in being coachable, and in continuing to seek improvement. We wanted to get to Mohegan, but I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to coach this team and am happy we were able to get as far as we did. If you’re doing it right, basketball can be a very long season. Perhaps the only thing I’m upset about is that it wasn’t just a little longer.”