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Overcoming injury, brother’s recent death, Garcia hits buzzer-beater to lift Bullard-Havens into CTC final

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In the postseason, it becomes evident which players thrive under pressure and one thing is for certain, Ariana Garcia is clutch.

With the Bullard Havens girls’ basketball team on the brink of elimination trailing by one point with 7.7 seconds left, Garcia knew it would be on her to bring her team to the CTC final once again.

Her long, almost off-balanced 3-pointer splashed as the buzzer sounded,, commencing a Bullard-Havens celebration after a 49-47 victory and heartbreak for Abbott Tech.

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“What I was thinking was that my brother had recently passed away and I knew he was watching over me,” Garcia said. “He knew that I wanted this, he knew that my team wanted this and I was praying to him to help me make that final shot. That is what happened and we ended up taking it home.”

Bullard-Havens entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed and knew that it would have to be on top of its game to pull off the upset.

“We are feeling really good right now,” Bullard-Havens Tech coach Dirk Rozarie said. “We knew way back in preseason that it would come to this. They had a rough time with us at our place and we had a rough time with them here, but I told the girls that if they wanted to be champions again that they would have to win on the road and in a hostile environment. That’s what they did.”

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The teams had split in two regular-season contests with the home team winning both times, but behind a crowd of two buses full of Bullard-Havens Tech students it may as well have been a home game.

“I have been with this team since my freshmen year,” Garcia said. “I had recently got a knee injury and it destroyed me, but coming back is a really great experience. I love all my seniors; I love this team in general. We do a great job, we have to keep taking it home and taking the trophy back to where it belongs. It has one home and one home only.”

On top of the clinching shot, Garcia led her team with 20 points, 14 of which came in the second half.

“What most people don’t realize is (Garcia) started off the year with a knee injury,” said. “She was out until the sixth game of the season so for her to finish that way is pretty special. With six seniors it could have been anybody and it was her, I’ll take it every day.”

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Bullard-Havens will look to three-peat as CTC champions on Thursday with plenty of momentum when it faces Prince Tech at Grasso Tech in Groton at 6 p.m.

“It was exactly what we needed,” said. “If we didn’t bring our fans to this game then who knows. The energy here is huge, this used to be a dead gym but it’s not anymore. I’m glad our kids were here to boost us and I hope they do it for the next game because we are going to need it again.”

Abbott Tech ended the regular season with a 19-1 record, with that one loss coming from the hands of Bullard-Havens.

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“They are heartbroken,” Abbott Tech coach Chris Pace said. “All credit to Bullard-Havens, they played extremely well and they made the big shot at the end of the game. You know we work so hard for it and that’s why it is so hard to face something like that.”

Despite the disappointing end to the CTC Tournament for Abbot Tech, the team will look to rebound in the Class M state tournament as one of, if not the top seed.

“We will see what type of team we are and bounce back when we start competing in states,” Pace said. “We’ll go out, give it our best effort. We’re going to focus on the things we can control and whatever happens happens. We’ll bounce back from it and go into states with a new attitude and a new goal.”

“I have been with this team since my freshmen year,” Garcia said. “I had recently got a knee injury and it destroyed me, but coming back is a really great experience. I love all my seniors; I love this team in general. We do a great job, we have to keep taking it home and taking the trophy back to where it belongs. It has one home and one home only.”

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BULLARD HAVENS 49,

ABBOTT TECH 47

BULLARD HAVENS 13 9 10 17—49

ABBOTT TECH 9 18 6 12—47

BULLARD HAVENS

Kristin Edwards 1 0-0 2; Tiajah Coles 2 0-0 4; Aaliyah Gilliam 3 4-5 10; Annabella Simon 5 3-6 13; Ariana Garcia 7 4-4 20; Alyssa Fox 2 1-3 7. Totals: 15 15-31 49

ABBOTT TECH

Emily Sierra 1 0-0 2; Marcia Mitchell 2 2-9 4; Samora Merchant 0 1-2 1; T Sok 2 1-2 7; Estef Casteneda 4 1-2 9; Iyana Barnes 6 10-12 22. Totals 15 15-27 47

3-pointers : K—Garcia 2; AT—Sok 2

|Updated
Will Aldam has been a sports reporter with Hearst Connecticut Media since 2018.