No. 1 Northwest Catholic too much for Lewis Mills in regular season finale

Lewis Mills’ Jillian Tiso, right, looks to pass while guarded by Northwest Catholic’s Maeve Staunton during Friday’s Central Connecticut Conference game in Burlington. (Photo courtesy Steve Barlow)

By STEVE BARLOW
Special to The Collinsville Press

BURLINGTON, Feb. 20, 2026 – The best part of Friday’s game against Northwest Catholic for the Lewis Mills High School girls basketball team may be that the Spartans don’t need to worry about facing the Lions in the state tournament.

The No. 1-ranked team in the state was simply too powerful in a 78-41 victory at the Thunderdome. Mills closed out its regular season with a 15-5 record, the Spartans’ best mark in seven years in the Central Connecticut Conference.

“We had two or three things we wanted to do on defense, and none of it worked. It’s that simple,” said Mills coach Al Ciarlo. “We tried to deny (Maeve) Staunton and (Abigail) Casper, and they’re just too good. Then you have those other players – Zoey (Canning), No. 11 (Lilyan Johnson) and the complementary players. They have such balance.”

Staunton led the Lions (19-1, with no in-state losses) with 17 points, while Casper added 16 points and seven rebounds, and Canning had 16 points and nine rebounds. Northwest Catholic, which has won 11 straight games, outrebounded the home team, 35-18.

For Mills, which saw a three-game win streak snapped, freshman Caitlyn Putnam led with 15 points and seven rebounds. Layla Ljubuncic was held to 13 points and four rebounds by the Lions’ smothering defense.

An old proverb says that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Mills survived and will advance to the CCC tournament with its highest seeding yet at 10^th in the league. The Spartans will travel to No. 7 Southington for a first-round game Monday, weather permitting.

The Division III state tournament beckons after the league tournament. Mills was ranked fifth before Friday’s loss and figures to be around seventh when the final seedings are determined.

“We won our big game against Hall (67-58 on Tuesday). That was big,” said Ciarlo. “If we’d lost to them, we could’ve dropped from fifth to 12^th. Right now, it looks like we’ll be seventh.”

The CCC is probably the toughest league in the state with four teams in the Game Time CT top 10 poll, including the top seeds in the CIAC’s Division I (Northwest Catholic) and Division II (Rocky Hill) tournaments. Mills, which bowed out in the second round of the Class M tournament last year, is currently the highest ranked CCC team in Division III.

“I haven’t seen (No. 1) Ansonia. We can play with Seymour and Coventry. Those (along with Suffield) are the top four teams,” Ciarlo said. “We move on. We tried to do our best in this game. Now we get ready for Monday.”

Northwest Catholic 78, Lewis Mills 41
At Burlington
Northwest Catholic (78) Casandra Ruiz-Quinones 0 0 0, Maeve Staunton 7 0 17, Lilyah Johnson 2 0 4, Zoey Canning 7 1 16, Samantha Casper 4 0 10, Victoria Levinskas 0 0 0, Rose Rushin 1 0 2, Azjah Lizotte 2 1 6, Lyla Diaz 2 3 7, Abigail Casper 5 4 16, Mikartny Hart 0 0 0. Totals 30 9 78.
Lewis Mills (41) Jillian Tiso 1 0 3, Megan Jones 1 0 2, Caitlyn Putnam 6 1 15, Brooke Martineau 2 0 6, Kendall Buthe 0 0 0, Olivia Brunetti 0 0 0, Liza Putnam 1 0 2, Layla Ljubuncic 2 8 13, Sophie Valigorsky 0 0 0, Maddie Day 0 0 0. Totals 13 9 41.
NW Catholic (19-1)    22  15  18  23  — 78
Lewis Mills (15-5)        9    8  12  12  — 41 
Three-point goals: NWC – Staunton 3, Canning 1, S. Casper 2, Lizotte 1, A. Casper 2. LM – Tiso 1, C. Putnam 2, Martineau 2, Ljubuncic 1