STAMFORD — The Holiday season is a time for celebration.
The Kolbe Cathedral High School girls basketball team has an abundance of reasons to cheer as the Cougars topped host Stamford High, 53-37 Saturday night to capture the 2018 Paul Kuczo Memorial Holiday Classic title.
It was Kolbe Cathedral’s first championship in four tries at the Kuczo Classic at Stamford High. The Cougars head into 2019 with a gaudy 5-0 record.
“We look at our season in five-game increments. Part One of our season is done,” said Kolbe Cathedral coach Devin Parker. “This was a nice way to end it.”
Kolbe Cathedral broke the contest open with a 15-0 surge encompassing the last four minutes of the third quarter and the opening two minutes of the fourth period.
“We pride ourselves on our defense. We got good results from our 2-3 zone,” Parker said. “We did a lot of the dirty work.”
BALANCED ATTACK FOR KOLBE
Kolbe Cathedral senior guard Gracen Kerr was named as Tournament MVP after scoring 25 points last Thursday and a team-high 17 points Saturday night.
But all the Cougars played a part in earning the championship trophy to be displayed at school.
Sophomore Mishell Pringle had 12 points on offensive rebounds along with 4-for-4 from the line. Junior Brianna Meekins collected nine points. Senior center Shaniyah Stancil chipped in eight points along with double-digit rebounds and defense in the paint. Junior Aniyah Pettway had five points along with deft passing at guard.
“We’re all playing with a lot more confidence. We’ve proved we can win,” Kerr said. “Finally winning the tourney title here is nice. Our group’s chemistry will help so much going forward.”
The Cougars had a big edge at the foul line. They were 14 of 25 compared to 1 of 3 for Stamford.
GROWTH FOR STAMFORD
Stamford High (2-4) once again played without injured leading scorer Megan Landsiedel.
The good news is the experience and battle testing the Black Knights freshmen corps gain at the tourney will pay dividends in the FCIAC season.
Guard Charlie Karukas had eight points including a pair of 3-pointers. Madison Lockery knocked down a trio of 3-pointers on her way to a team-high 12 points. Breanna Jacobs and Leonora Lipson showed potential during their minutes.
Stamford couldn’t generate points in transition against a quick Kolbe squad. SHS didn’t get to the foul line to get some easy points either.
Stamford High’s veteran coach Diane Burns had a clear message during her lengthy post-game talk with her troops.
WESTHILL FALLS TO SCARSDALE
The Scarsdale (NY) Raiders won the third place contest, topping Westhill, 36-22.
Kayla Maroney had 11 points while Emmeline Berriose scored eight in the paint and Jessica Solodar added nine mostly in transition for Scarsdale (4-3).
Westhill (2-4) received nine points from Caroline Kollar and five from Peyton Hackett. The Vikings hurt themselves at the foul line again, making six of 17 free throws.
“We didn’t play well. We didn’t play hard. We didn’t do the simple things,” said Westhill coach Kat Begetis. “We didn’t have a sense of urgency tonight.”
KOLBE CATHEDRAL 53, STAMFORD 37
KOLBE CATHEDRAL (5-0)
Gracen Kerr 5 5-9 17 Aniyah Pettway 2 0-1 5 Shaniyah Stancil 3 2-2 8 Mishell Pringle 4 4-4 12 Brianna Meekins 3 3-9 9 Alyssa Felix 0 0-0 0 Beatriz Honorio 1 0-0 2 Majeta Moye 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 14-25 53.
STAMFORD (2-4)
Jessica Nelson 2 0-1 4 Charlie Karukas 3 0-0 8 Dina Merone 2 0-0 4 Emily Graham 1 0-0 2 Claudia Moses 1 0-0 2 Madison Lockery 4 1-2 12 Leonora Lipson 0 0-0 0 Breanna Jacobs 0 0-0 0 Widline Thomas 1 0-0 2 Bryanna Montalvo 1 0-0 3. Totals: 15 1-3 37.
KOLBE CATHEDRAL 13 12 17 11—53
STAMFORD 10 14 7 6—37
3-pointers: KC—Kerr 2, Pettway. S—Karukas 2, Lockery 3. All-Tourney team—Stam: Merone, Nelson. KC—Stancil. Tourney MVP—Kerr.
3rd Place Game
SCARSDALE (NY) 36, WESTHILL 22
SCARSDALE (NY) (4-3)
Kayla Maroney 3 4-6 11 Meghan Quirk 1 1-2 4 Emmeline Berriose 4 0-0 8 Jessica Solodar 4 1-2 9 Ava Morin 0 0-0 0 Abigail Talish 0 0-0 0 Marie Jacobson 0 0-0 0 Dani Hoyt 0 0-0 0 Sophia Salazar 1 0-0 2 Phoebe Shearer 0 0-0 0 Moira Conlan 1 0-0 2 Ava Lorda 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 6-10 36.
WESTHILL (2-4)
Peyton Hackett 2 1-5 5 Maddy Bautista 0 0-0 0 Grace Hansen 0 0-2 0 Jaedyn Carty 1 2-2 4 Kandese Osborne 0 0-2 0 Olivia Conte 0 2-2 2 Caroline Kollar 3 1-2 9 Dulce Llanos 0 0-0 0 Audra Hansen 0 0-2 0 Nayeli Juarez 1 0-0 2. Totals: 7 6-17 22.
SCARSDALE 9 6 14 7—36
WESTHILL 3 6 5 8—22
3-pointers: S—Maroney, Quirk. W—Kollar 2. All-Tourney team: S—Maroney. W—Jaedyn Carty
