Simsbury’s Katie Perlitz drives to the basket in Thursday night’s win over Granby in the Tip Off Tournament.
SIMSBURY, Dec. 16, 2021 – The season is young and it takes time to put a team together.
After scoring just four points in the first quarter, the Simsbury High girls basketball team used a 13-2 run in the second quarter to grab control of game beat Granby, 46-26, in the nightcap of the 2021 Farmington Valley Tip Off Tournament.
In the opening contest, Avon won their first game of the season with a dominating 54-21 win over an undermanned Canton squad that dropped their second consecutive game.
The tournament concludes on Friday night at Simsbury High with Canton (0-2) facing Simsbury (2-0) at 7:15 p.m. and Avon (1-1) battling Granby (0-1) at 5:30 p.m.
The game was tied 4-4 after one period and Bears were within four points, 14-10, with 2:26 left in the first half. Baskets from Lauren Sabia and Olivia Jarvis in the final minute gave the Trojans an eight point lead at the half, 18-10.
Granby sophomore Alyssa Bordonaro drove between three Simsbury defenders to get to the basket and cut the Trojan lead to six, 20-14, with 5:22 remaining in the third quarter. But Simsbury ran away, outscoring Granby, 13-2 to close out the quarter with a 17-point lead.
“Granby is a well-coached team,” Simsbury coach Sam Zullo said. “We hadn’t seen switching yet (on defense) and it took us a while to get going. We got the ball where we wanted to but we didn’t make the moves with the physicality we needed to. And a lot had to do with the defense (Granby) was playing.”
In the second half, Zullo and his coaching staff instructed the Trojans to match Granby’s intensity.
“We told them to come out, take your time with moves and be as physical as they were and we were able to do that,” Zullo said. “It made their defense react differently and our shooters got going.”
Sabia had 13 points to lead all scorers while Amanda Gallagher scored nine points, including a pair of three-point shots and Faye Kaplinski added eight. Guard Katie Perlitz and Olivia Jarvis had six points each.
Bordonaro led the Bears with eight points while Femke Jansen, Savannah Riijkse and Kayla Davis had five points each.
Avon’s Sophiie Mango (5) drives through traffic to get to the basket in Thursday night’s win over Canton.
Avon (1-1) played with some intensity from the start and blew out the Warriors. Avon led 25-4 at one point in the first half.
The Falcons opened their season on Tuesday with a 33-29 loss at Southington with Sophie Mango scoring a team-high 12 points. Avon scored 23 of their 29 points in the second half, including 13 points in the third quarter.
“What I love most about this team is their fight,” second-year head coach Drew Faucher said. “On Tuesday night, they came out a little slow vs. Southington. We seemed a little tentative in the first half. Defensively, we were fantastic. The kids came back with a monster third quarter and made it a great game. If this is going to be our level of play this year, we will be fine.”
Avon picked up where they left off against Southington.
“When they came out tonight, you could tell they were hungry and they really wanted this one,” he said. “They played great from the start with great energy and good ball movement.”
Ali Standish led all scorers with 17 points while Gianna Godbout scored 11 points, including three from long-range. Mya Hall added eight points as Avon beat the Warriors for the third time in six meetings since Avon left the CCC.
Canton is struggling without two starters. All-State junior Sophia Mates is not able to play this week and should be back next week. Sophomore Sam Yanke missed the first two games but is expected to play against Simsbury on Friday.
The Warriors struggled to stop a strong Sheehan-Wallingford team in the season opener on Tuesday night in a 71-44 loss despite 26 points from Jenna Cuniowski. Avery Brown added 10 points. Against Avon, Cuniowski had eight points for the Warriors while Brown added five.
“We’re trying to find some continuity in what we are doing,” Canton coach Brian Medeiros said. “There are so many things we need to do. It’s tough to find a balance when you’re missing people. But to the kids credit they are trying. It’s not a matter of effort, its more of a matter of execution.”
Simsbury 46, Granby 26
At Simsbury
Granby (26) Femke Jansen 1-3-5, Savannah Rijkse 2-1-5, Maeve Dingley 0-0-0, Katelyn Murach 0-0-0, Alayla Bolduc 0-0-0, Elizabeth Squier 1-1-3, Kayla Davis 2-1-5, Alyssa Bordonaro 2-4-8. Totals 8-10-26
Simsbury (46) Lauren Sabia 5-2-13, Moira Hughes 2-0-4, Katie Perlitz 2-1-6, Elle Koff 0-0-0, Olivia Jarvis 2-2-6, Alex Peterson 0-0-0, Amelia Rogers 0-0-0, Faye Kaplinski 3-2-8, Amanda Gallagher 2-3-9, Totals 16-10-46
Granby (0-1) 4 6 6 10 – 26
Simsbury (2-0) 4 14 18 13 — 46
Three-point goals: Sabia (S), Perlitz (S), Gallagher (S) 2
Avon 54, Canton 21
At Simsbury
Canton (21) Gabby Delsanto 1-0-2, Jenna Cuniowski 2-4-8, Ashlyn Cebollero 0-1-1, Avery Miller 1-1-3, Julianna Cavanaugh 0-0-0, Avery Brown 1-2-5, Hannah Webb 0-0-0, Madison Reardon 1-0-2, Payton Nitzschje 0-0-0, Julia Lau 0-0-0. Totals 6-7-21
Avon (54) Mya Hall 3-1-8, Sophie Mango 1-0-2, Lindsay Arigoni 0-0-0, Erin Geary 3-0-7, Ali Standish 8-1-17, Gianna Godbout 4-0-11, Lindsay Snyder 2-0-5, Sophia Dibella 2-0-4, Claire Crowley 0-0-0, Ashley Blackmore 0-0-0. Totals 23-2-54
Canton (0-2) 4 7 3 7 — 21
Avon (1-1) 17 8 13 16 — 54
Three-point goals: Hall (A), Geary (A), Godbout (A) 3, Snyder (A), Brown (C)
2021 Farmington Valley Tip Off tournament
At Simsbury
Thursday, Dec. 16
Simsbury 46, Granby 26
Avon 54, Canton 21
Friday, Dec. 17
Avon vs. Granby, 5:15 p.m.
Canton vs. Simsbury, 7:15 p.m.
