A few years between state championship wins for the Gallagher family

Amanda Gallagher, center, and teammates celebrate after Simsbury won the state championship on Saturday.,

There were plenty of stories around the Simsbury High girls basketball team that brought home the first state championship in basketball to the school in 72 years with their 55-40 win over Holy Cross on Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Amanda Gallagher scored 21 points in the championship game to help lead the Trojans (23-4) to their first title by the girls in school history.

The last basketball championship at Simsbury came in 1952 when Jim Gallagher, Amanda’s grandfather, was the star for the Trojans boys basketball team in a 56-38 win over East Hampton in the Class C championship game at the Teacher’s College of New Britain – now called Central Connecticut State.

Jim Gallagher had 15 points in the win over the Bellringers but Farmington Valley Herald writer Dick Merz said, “Jimmy Gallagher was probably the most outstanding player for the champions, scoring point after point and getting rebound after rebound.”

In the semifinals, Jim Gallagher had a team-high 23 points in a 56-47 win over Morgan. He also had 22 points in a 58-45 win over Suffield in the quarterfinals.

Simsbury’s 1952 boys basketball team beat East Hampton for the Class C title, the first state crown for the Trojans since 1924 (Photo courtesy Gallagher family)

Jim Gallagher (10) puts up a shot in a game against Canton in 1952. He scored 21 points. (Photo courtesy Gallagher family)

Jim Gallagher graduated in 1952 and was a three-sport athlete at Simsbury, also playing football and baseball, according to the Simsbury Athletic Hall of Fame. His Hall of Fame bio said he led the team in scoring and rebounding and earned first team All-State honors from the New Haven Register with teammate Jake Dennis.

Jim attended Fairfield for one year before transferring to Central Connecticut State where he played basketball for three seasons. He was good enough to get elected to Central Connecticut’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

Amanda Gallagher averaged 23.7 points in Simsbury’s four victories in the state tournament, with 26 points in a quarterfinal win over Windsor and 24 in the semifinal win over New Milford. Her sister, Alexa, averaged 4.5 points in four games with eight points and a pair of three-point shots in the win over Fitch.

* * * *

Olivia Jarvis averaged 16.0 points in four tournament games with 24 points in the 54-41 victory over Fitch. It was Jarvis’ second state championship in four months. She was the starting goalie on Simsbury’s girls soccer team that won the school’s first state title in the sport since 2000 with a 1-0 OT win over Brookfield.  Jarvis also scored her 1,000^th career point in the championship game.

* * * *

Olivia Jarvis, right, and Addison Girard put the pressure on in Saturday’s Class L championship game against Holy Cross.

Simsbury played some tough defense in the tournament, allowed four points to Holy Cross in the first quarter of the championship game. Simsbury led 16-4 after one period. Simsbury have up three points in the first quarter of their quarterfinal win over Windsor and led 10-3 after eight minutes.

Simsbury scored 30 points off 24 turnovers by Holy Cross in the championship game.

* * * *

Junior Charlotte Reitz sang the national anthem before the Simsbury and Holy Cross game began.

* * * *

It was a challenging winter for the family of head coach Sam Zullo. His mother, Linda, passed away in January after a long battle with cancer. Zullo spent as much time as he could with his mother, commuting from Simsbury to his parent’s home in upstate New York.

Zullo said his mother urged him to not miss a game with the Trojans. Linda Zullo also urged her husband, Jim, 80, a Hall of Fame boys basketball coach in New York state, to return to coaching. There was an opening for a girls basketball at Northville High and Linda urged Jim to take the job, coaching girls for the first time.

Northville won their Class D semifinal on the same day that Simsbury won their state championship. But Northville fell in the championship game on Sunday to top-seeded Hammond.

* * * *

Somers won their first girls basketball championship since 1977 with a 56-43 win over Thomaston on Sunday. The Spartans beat Canton twice this season – 29 points in the first game and a much closer six-point loss in the semifinals of the NCCC tournament, 51-45.

Somers led 30-19 after three quarters but saw Thomaston rally to tie the game at 37-37 with 7:45 remaining. But the Spartans’ Maya Skalski scored eight of Somers’ next 10 points to give her team some breathing room. Skalski, who scored 22 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, was the game MVP.

* * * *

Expectations for Northwest Catholic girls basketball team will probably be high again next season despite the loss of several seniors, including Avon’s Lily Pare and Susanna Schaub. The Lions won their second straight state championship with a 43-37 win over Sheehan in the Class MM title game. A year ago, they won the Class S crown.

But the Lions have a pair of outstanding sophomores on their roster – Maeve Staunton from Burlington and Abby Casper. Staunton, the game’s MVP, scored 16 points, had three steals and two assists while Casper had a game-high 19 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Northwest Catholic coach Allison Connors hinted that four consecutive championships could be the goal. It’s a lofty one but it’s one year at a time and the Lions got it done in year two on Saturday.

* * * *

A tough shooting night was too much for the Lewis Mills boys basketball team to absorb in a 45-40 loss to Bunnell-Stratford in the Division III championship game on Saturday. The Spartans were 20-of-51 from the field (39.2 percent) and hit only 1-of-11 from three point range (9.1 percent).

In Mills’ previous three tournament victories, the Spartans sank a combined 17 shots from three-point range including nine in a 68-50 win over Masuk in the first game of the tournament.

Freshman Tommy Dinunzio offers hope for the future. He had 17 points in the 59-48 quarterfinal win over Maloney and led Mills with 11 points against Bunnell.

* * * *

More than 16,000 fans attended the 10 games at the Mohegan Sun Arena over the two days, according to the CIAC. There were three teams winning championships for the first time – Simsbury girls (Class L), Lyme/Old Lyme boys (Div. V) and Notre Dame-West Haven boys (Div. I). UConn’s Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun began his coaching career at Lyme/Old Lyme in 1968-69. He went 3-16 and left after one season. He had much more success at Northeastern University and UConn.

* * * *
For the second straight year, Hamden was voted the No. 1 team in the state. Simsbury finished at No. 3 in the final top 10 poll.

The GameTime CT girls basketball top 10 poll as voted by state sportswriters.
FINAL, March 20, 2024