Fourth quarter surge lifts Lewis Mills past Avon girls on Senior Night

Lewis Mills girls basketball coach Al Ciarlo gives his team instructions in Tuesday night’s CCC Central game in Burlington. (Photo courtesy Steve Barlow)

By STEVE BARLOW
Special to The Collinsville Press
BURLINGTON, Feb. 3, 2026  – Lewis Mills High School girls basketball coach Al Ciarlo admits that the team’s postgame Senior Night ceremonies are more fun when the Spartans win.

“I don’t like giving speeches on Senior Night when we lose. My enthusiasm goes down,” he remarked.

On Tuesday night, senior forward Brooke Martineau made sure Ciarlo would be in a festive mood by swishing two clutch three-pointers midway through the final period to shake off a pesky Avon team, 55-44, at the Thunderdome in Burlington in a Central Connecticut Conference Central Division matchup.

One of two seniors on the team, along with guard Jillian Tiso, Martineau’s normal duties are to grab rebounds and score inside. While she has been known to shoot from long range, her three 3-pointers and 15 points against Avon were both season highs.

“I shot it the most in this game, I would say. A couple of them were deep, and I was just like, I’m just going to shoot it and see if it goes in – and they did,” she explained. “My shot felt good, so why not shoot?”

Avon (7-7) had won three of their last four games coming into Tuesday night’s matchup. Freshman Colleen Mahoney had 14 points to lead the Falcons, including a pair of three-point shots. Avon needs one more win in their last five starts to secure a berth in the CIAC Division III tournament.

With the score knotted at 39-39 and five minutes left in the game, Martineau grabbed a defensive rebound at one end and drilled a tiebreaking trey at the other for a lead Mills never relinquished.

A three-point play by Layla Ljubuncic gave Mills a six-point edge, but Avon’s Lia Bosanac scored on a back-door cut to pull the Falcons within 45-41. With the shot clock running down, though, Martineau drained another 3-pointer with 3:19 on the clock for a 48-41 lead.

“I kept saying to the girls, if you get it to seven, you win this game,” Ciarlo said.

Avon’s Anna Kelley and Ljubuncic traded 3-pointers, and then Mills’ Liza Putnam grabbed a defensive rebound and fed Martineau for a layup and a 53-44 score with 1:33 left.

“Brooke was huge in the fourth quarter. She’s a good shooter. I tell her, ‘You’re going to be open when they double-team Layla. You’re in that corner, so spot up,’” Ciarlo said.

Ljubuncic led the Spartans with 23 points, hitting four 3-pointers, and Caitlyn Putnam added 10 points. Martineau, Ljubuncic and Cailtyn Putnam all had six rebounds for Mills, which tied Avon on the boards, 29-29.

Freshman Colleen Mahoney had a team-high 14 points for the Falcons, who hit seven 3-pointers. Eleanor Aguilar and Candace Graves hauled in six rebounds apiece.

Avon scored all of its nine points in the first quarter from beyond the 3-point arc while trailing 12-9. In the second period, Mills built a 21-13 lead on a Ljubuncic long-range trey. But then Avon scored the final nine points of the half for a 22-21 lead at the break. The final basket was a layup at the buzzer by Mahoney off her point-blank steal in the backcourt.

Mills regained momentum in the third period and, with Caitlyn Putnam scoring eight points, took a 35-32 lead into the fourth quarter.

“Coming in, we knew they were a good team because they beat teams we’ve had close games with, so we knew it was going to be a fight,” said Martineau.

Lewis Mills (12-3) travels to Bristol Eastern on Friday for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff, while Avon (7-7) hosts Conard at 6:45.

Lewis Mills 55, Avon 44
At Burlington
Avon (44) Eleanor Aguilar 0 0 0, Haley Chisholm 4 0 9, Anna Garza 0 0 0, Samantha Srb 2 1 5, Colleen Mahoney 6 0 14, Candace Graves 0 0 0, Anna Kelley 3 0 8, Lia Bosanac 3 0 8. Totals 18 1 44
Lewis Mills (55) Jillian Tiso 1 2 5, Caitlyn Putnam 5 0 10, Brooke Martineau 6 0 15, Kendall Buthe 0 0 0, Liza Putnam 1 0 2, Layla Ljubuncic 7 5 23, Sophie Valigorsky 0 0 0. Totals 20 7 55
Avon  (7-7)                     9  13  10  12   – 44
Lewis Mills (12-3)       12   9  14  20   – 55
Three-point goals: A – Chisholm 1, Mahoney 2, Kelley 2, Bosanac 2. LM – Tiso 1, Martineau 3, Ljubuncic 4.