After Southington lost five starters to graduation from last year’s Class LL runner-up team, coach Howie Hewitt wasn’t sure what to expect from his team this year.
So far, he’s been pleased with his team, which is 12-4.
“The kids have responded very well,” Hewitt said. “We’ve lost to four good teams. We had a good discussion (Sunday) about how we have to take the next step. We talked about what that entails.”
Southington lost a close game to Woodstock Academy Saturday, 57-55. The Knights’ other losses are to unbeaten and three-time state champion Northwest Catholic, Enfield and Rocky Hill.
Two sophomores returned who played a big role in last year’s run to the Mohegan Sun – Nerea Maule (averaging 13 ppg) and Ariana Quick (19 ppg) – and other players such as juniors McKenna Crist and Katia Betros and seniors Alexa Poutouves and Addie Lasek have stepped up and freshman Abby Lockwood has been strong in the post.
“It’s tough because there are sophomores kind of carrying the load, but they’re up to the challenge,” Hewitt said. “The girls are capable but some of them aren’t confident scoring.”
But Hewitt said that confidence has grown as the season has progressed.
“They get after it, they’re unselfish and the two sophomores are really talented,” he said.
A couple of thrillers
Enfield (13-3) won a close game over East Catholic last week, 52-50. East Catholic’s only losses previously were to Northwest Catholic and Westerly, R.I.
“It was a great game – it was one point at the half and the lead kept going back and forth,” Enfield coach Jay Gaucher said. “The biggest lead – they probably had a 6-7 point lead.”
Enfield was trailing by five points with a minute and a half left when Kara Hosig hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two. East Catholic senior Urielle Afoakwa-Abrokwa hit one of two free throws but with 24 seconds left, Enfield’s Kendall Coffey hit a 3 to tie the score at 50. East Catholic had a turnover with 10 seconds left and Gaucher called timeout with four seconds left. Enfield’s Arabella Herron was fouled with 1.3 seconds left and her two free throws put the Eagles up for good.
In an SCC game that went very differently than the first meeting between the two teams, Mercy – which lost to last year’s Class LL champion Sacred Heart on Jan. 2, 50-25 – beat Sacred Heart 53-45 last Tuesday.
Asked how Mercy (14-2) did it, coach Tim Kohs said, “We scored more points than they did.”
He wasn’t really joking.
“Our defense has been good all year, we just haven’t scored enough to beat the good teams,” he said. “You hold a team to 40, you think you’re in good shape. We just haven’t scored.”
“They’re very good. We’ve got a really good defensive group. We gave up 50 points to them; that’s the only team that’s scored 50 points all year on us.”
Last week’s top performers
Kiley Bohn, St. Paul: Bohn posted nine points, six rebounds, five blocks and four steals in a 42-38 loss to Crosby Thursday.
Kendall Coffey, Enfield: Coffey scored 15 points in a 52-50 win over East Catholic Thursday.
Alyssa Diehl, Bolton: Diehl put up 20 points in a 45-38 loss to East Granby Tuesday and had 31 in a 51-35 win over Windham Tech.
Jaida Gonzalez, Weaver: Gonzalez had 18 points and 18 rebounds, both career highs, along with four steals, five blocks and two assists in a 51-37 win over International/Aerospace/Bloomfield Friday.
Kelsey LaMay, Rocky Hill: LaMay recorded a double-double (13 assists, 12 points) in a 77-27 win over Platt Tuesday.
Hailey Mayo, Coventry: Mayo had a double-double (25 points, 19 rebounds) in a 66-29 win over Somers Thursday and had 16 points and eight rebounds in a 60-32 win over Windsor Locks Tuesday.
Emma Tuener, Morgan: Tuener put up 15 rebounds and 11 points in a 56-42 win over North Branford.
Issys Vasquez, Plainville: Vasquez scored 23 points in a 64-42 win over Housatonic Monday.
Sadie Vernon, Wilcox Tech: Vernon scored her 1,000th career point and had 24 points along with the game-winning shot with eight seconds left in a 62-61 win over Kaynor Tech Tuesday.
Abi Weidman, Mercy: Weidman scored 16 points in a 53-45 win over Sacred Heart Tuesday.
Raina Young-Scott, International/Aerospace/Bloomfield: Young-Scott scored 19 points in a 63-29 win over Comp Sci Thursday.
Games to Watch
Sacred Heart (12-2) at Sheehan (14-2), Tuesday, 6 p.m.: Sheehan has won eight of its last nine games since a 44-32 loss to Sacred Heart on Jan. 9.
Bristol Central (13-3) at Northwest Catholic (14-1), Friday, 6:45 p.m.: Northwest Catholic has run through its in-state schedule, including a 71-26 thrashing of St. Joseph Saturday and now Bristol Central will take a crack at the No. 2 school in the Division I rankings.
Windsor (10-4) at East Catholic (11-3), Friday, 5:15 p.m.: East Catholic will be looking to bounce back from its loss to Enfield last week with a quality win over Windsor, but the Warriors have won seven of their last eight games.