Hamden upsets Sheehan, will face Shelton in semis

WALLINGFORD — Hamden pulled off an upset over host Sheehan in the nightcap of the SCC girls basketball quarterfinals on Saturday, while Shelton fended off a similar bid from Amity.

Hamden, the defending champion and seeded seventh, closed out secondseeded Sheehan with a 10-2 run over the final 2 minutes, 16 seconds, in coasting to a 52-44 win.

“It’s one thing to have a game plan and it’s another thing for the kids to buy into it and execute,” Hamden coach Amanda Forcucci said. “No one is perfect, but, man, it sure was close in terms of what we wanted to do on defense and offense.”

In the third quarterfinal, sixth-seeded Shelton outlasted No. 14 seed Amity, 49-47.

Shelton, making its first league semifinal appearance since 2011, and Hamden will meet in the semis on Monday at 6 p.m. at Law in Milford.

“We haven’t played them so we’ll go into practice and game plan tomorrow,” Forcucci said.

Asya Brandon powered Hamden past Sheehan with 21 points, while Rebecca Oberman-Levin chipped in with 15. The senior duo combined for a pair of big plays down the stretch.

Brandon’s layup with 1:38 left and Oberman-Levin’s basket, off of a Brandon assist, at the 58-second mark helped to seal the Green Dragon victory.

“It’s a good spot to be up late because you’re in a position where all you have to do is take care of the basketball and make your free throws,” Forcucci said. “All year we struggled to take care of the basketball and close out games.

“No one is perfect, but, man, it sure was close in terms of what we wanted to do on defense and offense.”

— Hamden coach Amanda Forcucci on her team’s win over Sheehan in the SCC quarterfinals.

“When it counted, they showed a lot of maturity tonight, which I’m very proud of.”

Hamden (13-9) trailed just once, 8-6 early on, but Sheehan (18-4) battled back to tie the game at 38 with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter.

“We tied it at 38,” Sheehan coach Michael Busillo said. “We couldn’t get a stop and they went on a little run… We had defensive breakdowns and we turned the ball over way too many times… We got what we deserved.”

Maddie Larkin’s free throws forged another deadlock at 42-42 with 2:16 left, but Hamden dominated down the stretch. Sheehan’s only points in that span came via foul shots from Caitlyn Hunt, who scored 21 points.

“They (the Green Dragons) were better,” Busillo said. “There’s no secrets. If the other team plays better over the 32 minutes, they usually win.

“That’s what happened tonight. Hamden deserved to win the game, no doubt about it. When you don’t play your best, that’s what happens in a tournament situation.”

Shelton held off Amity in the opener 49-47.

Leya Vohra scored a game-high 19 points for the Gaelettes. The senior point guard converted consecutive one-and-ones over the final 30 seconds, after teammate Ashia Askew’s steal and layup gave Shelton the lead for good, 45-44 with 1:29 left to play.

“We made the big plays,” Shelton coach Joe Cavallaro said. “And Leya was clutch. She made the big free throws.”

With Shelton trailing by a point, Askew stepped in front of a pass at halfcourt and took it in for the goahead basket.

“I just wanted the ball. I just hustled,” Askew said. “I just looked at the ball, saw it and tipped it.”

After a pair of misses from the foul line by Abigail Eschweiler with 36.4 seconds left, Vohra countered with two foul shots to extend the Gaelette edge to 47-44.

A quick layup by Sarah Granados narrowed the Spartan gap to one, before an offensive foul on Shelton’s Alexis Resto gave Amity (11-11) a chance to take the lead.

The Gaelettes came up with the stop though, as Amity star guard Jill Martin (game-high 21 points) was called for traveling with 18.5 seconds left.

“I thought we played pretty good defense,” Cavallaro said. “The last few minutes, they started to hold the ball a little bit… We made her (Martin) work. She’s a great player, but we made her work. Especially in the second half.”

Vohra was fouled and made both free throws at the 9.8-second mark and Amity managed just one more free throw to provide the final score.

“They’re a very good team,” Amity coach Michelle Shoop said of Shelton. “They have a lot of threats. My girls played hard, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to put the ball in the hoop more than the other team.”