CCC Quarterfinal roundup: Doherty helps rally 14-seeded E.O. Smith past Glastonbury

GLASTONBURY – When the moment called for it, Courtney Doherty wanted the ball in her hands.

The senior drilled a corner 3-pointer with under two minutes to give No. 14-seeded E.O. Smith the lead for good in its 50-42 win over No. 6-seeded Glastonbury in the CCC quarterfinals Saturday afternoon.

“Absolutely I wanted the ball. I had confidence in the team,” Doherty said. “I was just excited to come back from that.”

EO Smith’s Courtney Doherty 3-pointer with under two mins left gave the Panthers the lead for good as they beat Glastonbury 50-42 to advance to the CCC semifinals #ctgb pic.twitter.com/iURinHWVzZ

— Pete Paguaga (@PetePaguaga) February 22, 2020

Doherty led the game with 21 points —  14 of them coming in the second half — as the Panthers mounted a big comeback in the third quarter.

CCC GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET

Trailing by eight at halftime, the Panthers switched it up and began to feed freshman center Maddie Hughes.

“We said we got a kid who is six foot and they don’t have a six footer,” E.O. Smith coach Mary Roickle said. “Let’s get the ball into Maddie and I think that woke the team up and we got six points right away when we went into the post.

EO Smith’s Courtney Doherty talks about her big 3-pointer to give the Panthers the lead for good. She also led all scorers with 21 #ctgb pic.twitter.com/EXzxE8hHAU

— Pete Paguaga (@PetePaguaga) February 22, 2020

Hughes scored six of her 12 points in the third quarter and the Panthers scored the first nine points of the second half to take the lead.

Glastonbury’s Charlotte Bassett knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Tomahawks the lead in the fourth, but Doherty countered with a three of her own to retake the lead.

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The Panthers entered the tournament as the defending champions. Despite its No. 14 seed, E.O. Smith has now knocked off No. 3-seeded Northwest Catholic and now Glastonbury.

“I think we all have confidence in ourselves, we know how good we came,” Doherty said. “Just from last year we can do the same thing.”

E.O. Smith will play Conard in the semifinals at 6 p.m. at Glastonbury. 

CCC GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

E.O. SMITH 50, GLASTONBURY 42

E.O. Smith (16-6)

Olivia Verboven 0 1-2 1, Allie Raynor 1 1-2 3, Courtney Doherty 7 5-6 21, Taylor Golmbrewski 3 4-5 11, Claire Green 0 0-0 0, Lilli Clark 0 2-2 2, Maddie Hughes 4 4-5 12. Totals: 14 17-21 50.

Glastonbury (16-7)
Jill Margaglione 3 2-4 10, Rachel Roman 4 2-3 11, Jaci Budaj 3 0-0 7, Olivia Lloyd 1 0-0 2, Hannah VanDyke 0 0-0 0, Charlotte Bassett 3 4-4 12, Sydney Kehl 0 0-0 0, Tiffany Jefferson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 8-11 42.

EO SMITH         7 11 18 14 – 50
GLASTONBURY  9 17 7 9 – 42

3-pointers – EO: Doherty 2, Golembrewski, G – Roman 3, Bassett 2, Budaj 2, Margalione, Lloyd

Bloomfield locks down Frazier to knock off top-seeded Newington

Facing the top seed and tournament favorite didn’t faze No. 8-seeded Bloomfield.

The No. 8 Warhawks stood toe-to-toe from the tip off and knocked off the No. 1 Newington Indians, 53-42, in the second game of the CCC quarterfinals.

Amani Levitan led the way with 20 points and Alexsia Rose added 15 in the victory. They advance to Tuesday’s semifinals vs. the winner of the 5 p.m. game between No. 4 East Catholic and No. 5 Bristol Eastern.

“We knew we could compete with the best teams out there,” Bloomfield coach Katie DaCosta said. “Coming into this tournament our saying was redemption.

“We just wanted to show everyone what we can do. We had nothing to lose and everything to prove and I think my girls stepped up to the challenge.”

Bloomfield coach Katie DaCosta after her team knocked off top seeded Newington in the CCC QFs #ctgb pic.twitter.com/js4q4ePgIV

— Pete Paguaga (@PetePaguaga) February 22, 2020

Bloomfield took control of the game right before half, holding Newington just two points in the second quarter. Bloomfield extended its lead to double digits in the third.

The Warhawks defense was able to shutdown Newington star Ashanti Frazier all game.

“To be honest, we didn’t focus on her,” DaCosta said. “We just focused on us and what we needed to do as a team.”

DaCosta said if Bloomfield could take away the other Newington sharpshooters, Fraizer would have to try and take over.

“We knew if we kept them from outside shooting that Ashanti was going to have to try to do it on her own, because she’s that good,” DaCosta said. “We wanted to make her have to try to do it by herself because her guards – the Zocco sisters – are tough at the shooting ends. If we could lock down the threes, we could lock down the rest of the game.”

Bloomfield 53, Newington 42

Bloomfield 18-4
Alexsia Rose 4 7-10 15, Amani Levitan 6 6-9 20, Allyah Robinson 1 1-2 3, Jayanna Whitt 2 4-5 8, Marcelle James 1 0-0 2, Gabriela Douglas 2 0-0 5. Totals: 16 18-26 53

Newington 18-4
Sabrina Soler 5 2-6 12, Karissa Zocco 4 0-1 12, Alexie Armour 2 2-4 6, Ashanti Frazier 3 0-0 6, Adriana Romano 0 0-0 0, Marliese Zocco 2 0-0 6. Totals: 16 4-11 42.

BLOOMFIELD  – 15 9 15 14 – 53
NEWINGTON – 15 2 9 16 – 42

3-pointers – B: Levitan 2, Douglas. N: K. Zocco 4, M. Zocco 2

Felder’s 19-point performance leads Conard past Berlin

GLASTONBURY – Another top seed in the CCC has fallen.

Behind a 19-point effort by Azayiah Felder, No. 10 Conard dominated No. 2 Berlin from start to finish 46-31 in the CCC quarterfinals.

“It’s awesome,” Conard coach Laure Cersosimo said. “What is really great about it is how great the other four chip in with that. When she does things, they feed off her. When they do things she feeds off them.

Conard’s Azayiah Felder did this all game, leading the way with 19 points in Conard’s 46-31 win over Berlin #ctgb pic.twitter.com/hQwpKqbE8e

— Pete Paguaga (@PetePaguaga) February 22, 2020

“It’s just so fun to watch her play. I’ve never seen a female play basketball like her before, it’s just fun.”

Felder got the scoring early as the Chieftains jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.

“Just trying to push the ball fast, get a lead and keep the game up,” Felder, a junior said.

Ella DiPippo added 16 points for Conard in the win, while both Lyzi Litwinko and Ashley Wenzel scored 10 points for Berlin in the loss.

Conard will face off against the defending CCC champions E.O. Smith in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night.

“These girls believe in themselves,” Cersosimo said. “It’s one of the most fun groups I have ever been with. They play together, when one is down they pick each other up. They fight. When we we’re good, we’re scary.”

Conard’s Azayiah Felder talks about her teams quick start against Berlin #ctgb pic.twitter.com/gj06A3e6EK

— Pete Paguaga (@PetePaguaga) February 22, 2020

Conard 46, Berlin 31

C – 18 14 7 7 – 46
B – 10 7 10 4 – 31

Conard 16-6

Ella DiPippo 5 3-4 16, Izzy Macaldo 1 0-0 2, Azayiah Felder 8 3-4 19, Tatiana Harrison 2 0-0 4, Sam Lee 0 0-0 0, Shea McCann 1 0-0 3, Morgan Dorsey 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 6-8 46.

Berlin 19-3

Lyzi Litwinko 5 0-1 10, Alivia Halkies 0 0-0 0, Ashley Wenzel 4 2-6 10, Wynter Yovan 1 0-0 2, Carly Grega 1 2-4 5, Clare McGeever 0 2-2 2, Jenna Wenzel 1 0-0 2, Callie Gendrom 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 6-13 31

3-pointers: C – DiPippo 3, McCann B — Grega

East Catholic pulls away from Bristol Eastern in CCC quarterfinals 

GLASTONBURY – For the second time in five days East Catholic and Bristol Eastern met on the court.

This time around it was the No. 4 Eagles who were victorious, beating the No. 5 Lancers 67-56 in the CCC quarterfinals.

“This is our chance to get them back, prove a point,” East Catholic senior Cami Pasqualoni said. “That was kind of fluke for us, it wasn’t our game, we didn’t play our game. We wanted to prove ourselves and that’s what we did.

Pasqualoni scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Eagles to victory, becoming the only high seed to win in the quarterfinals of the CCC tournament.

“There is no telling what is going to happen in this tournament and we knew that from the start,” East Catholic coach Jeremiah Brown said.

While a close game for three quarters the Lancers took the lead early in the third quarter, promoting Brown to call a timeout.

“Told them to relax, loosen up have fun and play the game,” he said. We’re not out of this game.”

The Eagles weren’t and a three-pointer by Emily Jeamel late in the third gave the Eagles the lead back for good.

East Catholic will play No. 8 Bloomfield in the CCC semifinals at Glastonbury at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

East Catholic 67, Bristol Eastern 56

E – 13 18 14 22 – 67
B – 6 21 15 14 – 56

East Catholic 17-5
Edisha Galan 2 2 9, Lilly Ferguson 2 6 11, Emily Jeamel 4 1 10, Lauren Trymbulak 1 3 5, Cami Pasqualoni 9 5 28, Nyasia Dogans 2 0 4. Totals 20 17 67.

Bristol Eastern 17-5
Ciara Collins 7 1 19, Cali Doyon 0 0 0, Sage Scarritt 4 1 11, Jordan Ouellette 6 0 12, Avery Arbuckle 4 1 9, Janessa Gonzalez 0 1 1, Alyssa Kehler 2 0 4. Totals 23 4 56

3-pointers: E – Pasqualoni 5, Jeamel, Ferguson, Galan. B – Collins 4, Scarritt 2.