Second half surge propels NWC past Kolbe Cathedral for title

UNCASVILLE — The Northwest girls basketball team picked the perfect time to play its best quarter of the season, scoring 30 points in the third quarter of the CIAC Class S championship.

The No. 10-seeded Lions flipped a nine-point deficit to a nine-point lead and maintained that lead the rest of the way, beating No. 16 Kolbe Cathedral 74-65 to win the Class S championship Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

It is the fourth state title for Northwest and first since 1999.

“That was a good spot for our best quarter,” Northwest coach Alison Connors said. “I think the nerves got to us on the big stage in the first half but we went into the locker room, took a couple of deep breathes and came back out and got back to playing their game.

“We were a little out of sorts but they pulled it together and came back as a team.”

Three players had doubledoubles for the Lions, including two freshmen. Maeve Staunton scored 24 points with 10 assists and Abby Casper had 25 with 12 rebounds.

Maeve Rushin, a 6-foot-1 junior and daughter of UConn women’s basketball great Rebecca Lobo, had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

“I am super happy. This feels awesome,” Casper said. “The first half we were not playing well as a team. But at halftime we got together and the third quarter was huge for us. Maeve Rushin hit some big shots and so did Maeve Staunton. I am super excited.”

Playing in its 11th championship game, Kolbe Cathedral led by as many as 13 in the second quarter and were up 33-24 at the half.

Northwest closed the third quarter on a 21-2 run, leading 5445 after three. The Cougars could not match the intensity of the Lions in the second half.

“They raised their intensity and we backed off and our immaturity, which has been lurking all season, reared its head,” Kolbe coach Lisa Hodges said. “My whole bench is inexperienced with limited playing time. We put some things together and had a good first half but we were not able to in the second half.”

Kolbe was paced by 19 points each from juniors Skylar Miller and Amaris Timmons.

Player of the Game

Abby Casper, Northwest Catholic: The 5-foot-10 fresh

man had a double-double with 25 points and 12 rebounds, dominating inside in the second half.

Quotable

“In the third quarter, when the momentum got going, it was really helpful and we continued that into the fourth quarter. When we beat some big teams like Windsor and

Glastonbury I could picture us being here but winning? It’s super awesome.” — Northwest Catholic’s Abby Casper.