Rocky Hill’s Kelsey LaMay (1) makes a play on a drive to the basket from NW Catholic’s Lily Pare in Tuesday night’s Class MM quarterfinal. (Photo courtesy Jason Armistead)
WEST HARTFORD, March 5, 2024 – It doesn’t have to be pretty at this time of year just successful.
The Northwest Catholic girls basketball continued on their quest for a second consecutive state championship with a 68-49 win over No. 7 Rocky Hill in a Class MM quarterfinal contest in West Hartford on Tuesday night.
Abby Casper had a game-high 25 points for the No. 2 seeded Lions (22-5) , sinking nine shots from the floor and going 6-for-6 at the foul line. Maeve Staunton had 20 points for NW Catholic while Avon resident Lily Pare had 16 points, including four shots from three-point range.
The Lions sank eight three-point shots in the victory over the Terriers (18-7). Katherine Harding had 18 points for Rocky Hill with Kelsey LaMay chipping in with 16 points.
NW Catholic’s Maeve Staunton (5) tries to get past Rocky Hill’s Arianna Daly (10) and to the basket in Tuesday night’s Class MM quarterfinal game against Rocky Hill. (Photo courtesy Jason Armistead)
“I think the girls played well,” NW Catholic coach Alison Connors said. “We have to clean some stuff up going into the semifinals. It’s survive and advance at this point of the post-season.”
The Lions got off to a good start in the first quarter with five different players scoring and a five-point lead, 17-12. In the second quarter, NW Catholic extended their lead to 12 at the half thanks to a pressing defense that created some Terrier turnovers. A pair of three-point shots from Pare helped the Lions extend their lead in the third quarter.
Northwest Catholic, which won the Class S championship a year ago, advances to Saturday’s Class MM semifinal against No. 11 North Haven (18-8) at 6 p.m. at Plainville High. The Lions have won 15 of their last 17 games, including the postseason.
NW Catholic 68, Rocky Hill 49
At West Hartford
Rocky Hill (49) Kelsey Lamay 6-2-16, Angelin Daley 2-0-4, Arianna Daley 1-0-2, Madisyn Aurigemma 0-1-1, Jill Roddon 1-0-3, Faith Beliveau 1-0-3, Katherine Harding 6-4-18, Isabella Tucker 1-0-2. Totals 18-7
NW Catholic (68) Maeve Rushin 0-0-0, Lily Pare 6-0-16, Maeve Staunton 7-3-20, Liv Knarr 0-0-0, Zoey Canning 3-0-6, Susanna Schaub 0-1-1, Abby Casper 9-6-25. Totals 25-10
Rocky Hill (18-7) 12 9 12 15 — 49
NW Catholic (22-5) 17 16 23 12 — 68
Three-point goals: Pare (NW) 4, Staunton (NW) 3, Casper (NW); Lamay (RH) 2, Beliveau (RH), Rhoddon (RH), Harding (RH) 2
Jason Armistead contributed to this article.
