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Simsbury wins Farmington Valley Tip Off tourney; Granby tops Avon in 2 OT

Simsbury’s Lauren Sabia (00) scored a game-high 17 points in Friday’s win over Canton and earned tournament MVP honors.

SIMSBURY, Dec. 17, 2021 – The Simsbury High girls basketball team felt strong Friday night in the final game of the first Farmington Valley Tip Off tournament.

The Trojans sank 23 shots from the floor, including six from long range as Simsbury finished undefeated (2-0) in the tournament with a 57-24 win over Canton.

Tournament MVP Lauren Sabia scored a game-high 17 points with three shots from the long range to lead the Trojans while Amanda Gallagher added 13, including three shots from three-point range, too.

Simsbury, 3-0, was in control from the start against a Canton team that is still learning to play with each other. The Warriors were missing All-State forward Sophia Mates but did have started Sam Yanke play for the first time this season.

Jenna Cuniowski led the Warriors with 11 points while Avery Brown had six points. The Warriors (0-3) were only able to sink four field goals in the contest.

“Playing games like this are good for us going forward,” Canton coach Brian Medeiros said on Thursday night. “We could have played lesser teams (to begin the season) but I’m not interested in that. I never have been, regardless of how good we are.”

Canton was dominated by Sheehan in a 30-point loss earlier this week and lost to Avon on Thursday night.

“We will have some growth from this and the game will slow down (for the Canton players) because the type of athletes we are playing (here) are not the type of athletes we see in the (North Central Connecticut) conference, for the most part.”

The opening game on Friday was more competitive as Granby earned their first win of the season with a 53-48 win over Avon in double overtime.

Alyssa Bordonaro led the way for the Bears (1-1) with a tournament rec0rd 19 points while Savannah Rijkse added 10.  Sophie Mango scored 16 points for the Falcons (1-2) while Erin Geary and Ali Standish each added 10.

Avon guard Sophie Mango had a team-high 16 points in Friday night’s loss to Granby in double OT.

Avon led by as many as seven points, 35-28 after Lindsey Arigoni hit a jumper with 4:48 left in regulation but the Falcons couldn’t pull away. Mango’s jumper with 3:29 remaining gave the Falcons a six-point lead, 39-33.

Avon led by four with 1:04 left after Cleary sank one of two foul shots but Bordonaro hit a three-point shot with 50 seconds left to cut the lead to one, 42-41. Rijkse hit a foul shot with 42 seconds left to tie the game at 42-42. Both teams missed shots in the final 35 seconds and the game went to overtime.

The Falcons led 46-44 with 20 seconds remaining after a foul shot from Mya Hall. The Falcons hit 4-of-6 from the free throw line. Rijkse hit a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left to tie the game at 46-46. Avon turned the ball over on a five-second violation when they couldn’t inbound the ball the Bears missed a shot and the game went into a second OT.

In the second OT, Granby sank 7-of-12 shots from the free throw line with Elizabeth Squier and Bordonaro each sinking three shots each. Neither team hit a field goal from the floor in OT.

It was the first overtime game for the Falcons since they beat Canton in three OT in the 2018 season.

The All-Tournament, as selected by the four coaches, included Bordonaro from Granby, Cuniowski from Canton, Standish from Avon and Katie Perlitz and Sabia from Simsbury.

Five players were named to the All-Tournament team. Standing with Simsbury High coach Sam Zullo is Canton’s Jenna Cuniowski, Simsbury’s Lauren Sabia (center) and Katie Perlitz (far right). Also on the All-Tournament team is Avon’s Adi Standish and Granby’s Alyssa Bordonaro. (Photos courtesy Sam Zullo)

Granby 53, Avon 48, 2 OT
At Simsbury
Granby (53)
Femke Jansen 2-3-9, Savannah Rijkse 1-8-10, Katelyn Murach 0-0-0, Layla Bolduc 2-2-6, Liz Squier 0-2-2, Kayla Davis 3-2-8, Alyssa Bordonaro 9-8-19. Totals 16-25-53
Avon (47) Mya Hall 0-3-3, Sophie Mango 5-6-16, Lindsay Arigoni 1-0-2, Erin Geary 4-2-10, Gianna Godbout 0-1-1, Ali Standish 3-4-10, Lindsay Snyder 1-0-2, Sophia DiBella 2-0-4. Totals 16-16-48
Granby (1-1)      10  4  9  19  4  7  — 53
Avon (1-2)          11  6  6  19  4  2  — 48
Three-point goals: Jansen (G) 2, Bordonaro (G)

Simsbury 57, Canton 24
At Simsbury

Canton (24) Gabby Delsanto 0-0-0, Sam Yanke 0-4-4, Jenna Cuniowski 1-8-11, Ashlyn Cebollero 1-0-2, Avery Miller 0-1-1, Julianna Cavanuagh 0-0-0, Avery Brown 2-2-6, Hannah Mundell-Webb 0-0-0, Madison Reardon 0-0-0. Totals 4-15-24
Simsbury (57) Lauren Sabia 7-0-17, Moira Hughes 1-0-3, Katie Perlitz 1-2-4, Elle Koff 1-0-2, Olivia Jarvis 2-0-4, Sarah Perlitz 1-0-3, Alex Peterson 0-0-0, Amelia Rogers 2-0-4, Faye Kaplinski 3-1-7, Amanda Gallaher 5-0-13. Totals 23-3-57
Canton (0-3)        9    5  2    8 – 24
Simsbury (3-0)   19  16  6  16  — 57
Three-point goals: Sabia (S) 3, Gallagher (S) 3

Farmington Valley Tip-Off Challenge
Friday’s results
Granby 53, Avon 48, 2 OT
Simsbury 57, Canton 24
Thursday’s results
Avon 54, Canton 21

Simsbury 46, Granby 26
Tournament results: Simsbury 2-0, Granby 1-1, Avon 1-1, Canton 0-2

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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