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No. 9 Simsbury stops No. 3 Ridgefield; Granby takes down Canton

Simsbury’s Lauren Sabia (15) put the Trojans ahead with 15 seconds remaining as Simsbury beat No. 3 Ridgefield, 37-34 on Saturday night.

RIDGEFIELD, Jan. 22, 2022 – Simsbury junior Lauren Sabia hit the game-winning basket with 15 seconds left that put the Trojans up by one and Katie Perlitz sank a pair of free throwns to help No. 9 Simsbury upset No. 3 Ridgefield, 37-34, in a battle of top 10 schools on Saturday night.

Simsbury (11-1) gave up a season-low 34 points to earn the victory.

Sabia scored five of Simsbury’s final seven points. She hit a three-point shot that pulled the Trojans within a point and the next time Simsbury had the ball Sabia drove to the basket and laid the ball in off the glass with 15 seconds left for a 35-34 Trojan lead

Faye Kaplinski came up with a big play, blocking Ridgefield’s next shot and Perlitz was fouled grabbing the rebound. She sank the free throws for her only points of the game.

Olivia Jarvis scored 13 points for Simsbury while Sabia scored nine. Amanda Gallagher had seven points while Kaplinski had six. Anna Gillian led Ridgefield (9-2) with seven points.

(9) Simsbury 37, (3) Ridgefield 34
At Ridgefield
Simsbury (37) Lauren Sabia 3 2 9, Katie Perlitz 0 2 2, Olivia Jarvis 6 1 13, Alex Peterson 0 0 0, Amanda Gallagher 2 1 7, Faye Kaplinski 2 2 6. Totals 13 8 37.
Ridgefield (34) Maya Rubio 2 0 4, Kaya Waiskopf 2 0 5, Cara Sheafe 2 0 4, Harley Zins 2 0 6, Siovahn Moroney 2 0 5, Andrea Paz 1 1 3, Anna Gillan 2 3 7. Totals 13 4 34.
Simsbury (11-1)      5    7    9  16  — 37
Ridgefield (9-2)       6  11  11    6  — 34
Three-point goals: Sabia (S), Gallagher (S) 2, Waiskopf (R), Zins (R) 2, Moroney (R)

Granby 53, Canton 36
GRANBY, Jan. 22, 2022 – Playing their fourth game in five days, the Canton High girls basketball was a step behind all evening as Granby ran away from the Warriors in a 53-36 victory Saturday night in North Central Connecticut Conference action.

The Bears (6-3, 4-0 NCCC) led by nine points at halftime, 32-17. Fern Jensen led the way with 17 points and five 3-point field goals. Kayla Davis and Alyssa Bordanaro each added 12 points for Granby.

It was the first win for Granby over Canton since February 2014. The Warriors had won the last 14 games between the two league rivals.

“(Saturday night’s) game against Granby was a struggle from start to finish,” Canton High coach Brian Medeiros said. “The three-point shooting from (Granby’s) Fem Jensen and the mid-range shooting from the rest of their group kept us off balance all night defensively.

“We struggled as a unit to get consecutive stops on the defensive end and we were sluggish on the offensive end. Granby did a nice job of collapsing in the paint to limit the success of Jenna (Cuniowski)’s driving ability or Sophia (Mates)’ post up game,” he said.

Cuniowski and Mates led Canton (3-6, 3-1 NCCC) with 13 points each. The Warriors beat East Windsor on Tuesday night, lost to Sheehan on Wednesday and beat Coventry on Friday night. The heavy schedule is a result of games getting cancelled earlier in the season due to COVID infections or players have to quarantine due to contact tracing.

“I feel by the time we got tonight’s game we had some mental/physical fatigue as we weren’t as engaged as we were in the previous three games,” Medeiros said. “But to Granby’s credit they beat us and outplayed us for the majority of the game.”

Granby 53, Canton 36
At Granby
Canton (36) Sophia Mates 5 3-6 13, Jenna Cuniowski 4 5-6 13, Avery Brown 1 4-4 6, Ashelyn Cebollero 1-0-2, Rachel Renaud 1-0-2, Gabby DelSanto 0-0-0, Avery Miller 0-0-0, Totals: 12 12-16 36
Granby (53) Fem Jensen 5 2-2 17, Kayla Davis 6-0-12, Alyssa Bordonaro 4 4-5 12, Sav Rijkse 1-0-2, Kenzie Garleau 1-0-2, Katie Murach 2-0-4, Layla Bolduc 1-0-2, Liz Squier 1 0-2 2, Totals: 21 6-9 53
Canton (3-6)     9  8  8  9  — 36
Granby (6-3)     16  16  8  13 – 53
Three-point goals: Jensen (G) 5

E.O. Smith 48, Avon 24
AVON, Jan. 22, 2022 – Maddie Hughes had 10 points to lead E.O. Smith to a 48-24 win over Avon in Central Connecticut Conference play on Saturday afternoon. The visiting Panthers had a 28-10 lead at the half. Sophie Mango led Avon (2-7) with seven points.

E.O. Smith 48, Avon 24
At Avon
E.O. Smith (48) Jill Dingler 2-2-5, Olivia Verboven 1-0-3, Paige Raynor 2-0-5, Katie McAvoy 3-0-7, Jenna Boardman 1-1-3, Claire Green 3-0-6, Lilli Clark 2-2-6, Maddie Hughes 2-6-10, Bella Mallory 1-0-2.
Avon (24) Sophie Mango 3-1-7, Lindsey Arigoni 0-2-2, Erin Geary 0-0-0, Adi Standish 1-0-2, Sophia DiBella 2-0-4, Gianna Godbout 2-0-6, Lindsey Snyder 0-2-2, Ashley Blackmore 0-0-0. Claire Cawley 0-1-1, Lila Aquilar 0-0-0, Lucy Beval 0-0-0.
E.O. Smith          20  8  10  10  — 48
Avon (2-7)             4  6    4  10  — 24
Three-point goals: Godbout (A) 2, Raynor (E), McAvoy (E)

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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