Defending CCC Tournament champion Southington bounces Lewis Mills

Lewis Mills’ Layla Ljubuncic brings the ball up court against Southington’s Ariana Quick during Wednesday’s CCC tournament game. (Photo courtesy Steve Barlow)

By STEVE BARLOW
Special to The Collinsville Press
SOUTHINGTON – One of the hard realities of playing in the Central Connecticut Conference for the Lewis Mills High School girls basketball team is that winning a state championship is easier than winning the league crown.

Only one team in the CIAC’s Division III (No. 10 Coventry) can be found in the state top 10 poll with three more receiving votes, while four CCC teams, including No. 1 Northwest Catholic, crowd the Top 10 with yet another three receiving votes.

Playing the best, though, prepares you for the best. The Spartans will begin the Division III state tournament that starts next week well-tested by the CCC battles. Ranked sixth in Division III, Mills will most likely host No. 27 Wethersfield in a first-round game on Friday, March 6.

“The CCC is one of the hardest tournaments to win, so being able to compete in a tournament like this really prepares us for states,” said Mills guard Layla Ljubuncic. “I think we’re going to be prepared when it comes time. We’ve been waiting for the state tournament the whole season, and we’re going to take it one game at a time.”

The Spartans exited the CCC tournament in the first round Wednesday night in a hard-fought 52-44 loss at Southington, the defending league champion.

“They shot the ball really well. They play well as a team. You could see they know what they’re doing,” said Ljubuncic.

The seventh-seeded Blue Knights (16-5) got off to a fast start as guard Ariana Quick nailed a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter to lift Southington to a 16-8 lead. Tenth-seeded Mills (15-6) battled back and pulled within a basket, 23-21, in the closing minute of the first half, only to watch the Knights’ Katia Beros bury a dagger three at the buzzer.

In the third quarter, Mills only scored five points, allowing Southington to build a 10-point lead, 36-26. The Spartans kept battling and in the final period closed the gap to 46-40 on Ljubuncic’s 3-pointer with three minutes to play, but the Blue Knights held them off.

“I feel we missed a lot of easy shots. We all missed a bunch of layups, a bunch of floaters, free throws. If we make those, we win the game,” said Ljubuncic.

“Those layups, against a team like this, you can’t miss them,” said Mills coach Al Ciarlo. “They’re so hard to defend. Quick is such a great shooter. She averages like five 3-pointers a game. We went zone (on defense) a bit and that seemed to work some. We got some turnovers. But they’re a really good team.”

Quick led Southington with 19 points, including five 3-pointers, while Beros added 14, including four 3-pointers. For Mills, Ljubuncic made four treys en route to 19 points and Caitlyn Putnam had nine points. Liza Putnam latched onto a team-high 10 rebounds while Ljubuncic and Brooke Martineau each had seven.

Southington 52, Lewis Mills 44
At Southington
Lewis Mills (44) Jillian Tiso 5 1 11, Megan Jones 0 0 0, Caitlyn Putnam 3 2 9, Brooke Martineau 0 0 0, Kendall Buthe 1 0 2, Layla Ljubuncic 7 1 19, Liza Putnam 1 1 3. Totals 17 5 44.
Southington (52) Nerea Maule 2 3 8, Ariana Quick 6 2 19, Abigail Lockwood 2 4 8, Katia Beros 5 0 14, Kylie Savage 0 1 1, Addison Lasek 1 0 2. Totals 22 10 52.
Lewis Mills (15-6)        8  13    5  18 – 44
Southington (16-5)     16  10  10  16 – 52
Three-pointers: LM – C. Putnam 1, Ljubuncic 4. S – Maule 1, Quick 5, Beros 2.

2026 Central Connecticut Conference Tournament
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wednesday, February 25
First round at higher seeds
(1) NW Catholic 88, (16) E.O. Smith 45
(2) Rocky Hill 65, (15) Bristol Eastern 55
(3) Enfield 49, (14) Berlin 42
(4) East Catholic 51, (13) Avon 29
(12) Plainville 61, (5) New Britain 60
(6) Bristol Central 74, (11) Farmington 45
(7) Southington 52, (10) Lewis Mills 44
(9) Windsor 28, (8) South Windsor 26
Thursday, Feb. 26
Quarterfinals at higher seeds
NW Catholic 62, Windsor 43
Rocky Hill 48, Southington 32
Enfield 51, Bristol Central 50
East Catholic 79, Plainville 35
Saturday, Feb. 28
Semifinals at Bristol Central
East Catholic vs. NW Catholic, 4 p.m.
Enfield vs. Rocky Hill, 5:30 p.m.
Monday, March 2
Championship at University of Hartford