Conard gets a key player back
The Conard girls basketball team is off to a 7-1 start, as of Sunday, and the Red Wolves played the first six games without Callie Cosgrove, who was out with a stress fracture in her ankle.
Cosgrove, a junior guard and one of the team’s leading scorers, returned Jan. 2 for Conard’s 68-43 win over Southington.
“We’re off to a really good start,” Conard coach Laurie Cersosimo said. “The first six games when we did not have Callie, it gave the other kids an opportunity to step up.”
Emily Knowles, another junior, picked up the scoring slack, with 32 points in Conard’s season opening win against Maloney and a career-high 38 points, including six 3-pointers, in Conard’s 68-43 victory over Southington Tuesday.
“She’s playing incredibly,” Cersosimo said. “She’s also helping with assists and rebounding, too.”
Knowles also hit a buzzer-beater to boost the Red Wolves over Northwest Catholic 51-49 on Dec. 22.
Conard’s only loss came to undefeated Ridgefield 62-53 on Dec. 19.
The Red Wolves faced Middletown Monday, Farmington Thursday and will play Immaculate Saturday, followed by last year’s Class L champions E.O. Smith on Jan. 16.
“This week’s going to be a really good test for us,” Cersosimo said.
Top performances
Leah Berey, Hall: Berey scored 25 points in a 61-50 victory over Plainville Friday.
Alyssa Bordonaro, Granby: Bordonaro had 16 points in a 52-11 win over Stafford and got her 1,000th career point and had 23 points in a 72-47 win over SMSA Wednesday.
Bela Cucuta, Newington: Cucuta scored 24 points and played lockdown defense on Glastonbury’s top player in a 47-34 victory over Glastonbury Friday and also had 24 points in a 55-19 win over New Britain Wednesday.
Jill Dingler, E.O. Smith: Dingler had 25 points in a 61-56 overtime win over Windsor Friday.
Katie Harding, Rocky Hill: Harding had a double double (21 points, 11 rebounds) in a 49-47 win over Bristol Central Thursday.
Emily Knowles, Conard: Knowles had a career high 38 points in a 68-43 win over Southington Tuesday and 23 points in a 71-38 win over Bristol Central Thursday.
Liana Salamone, East Hampton: Salamone scored 33 points in East Hampton’s 82-45 win over North Branford Friday.
Audrey Tice, St. Paul: Tice had 21 points and seven assists in a 58-40 win over WCA Wednesday and 19 points and five steals in a 56-26 victory over Torrington Friday.
Sequoia Turcotte-briggs, Classical: Turcotte-briggs had 34 points, four steals and three assists in a 46-31 victory over International/aerospace Wednesday.
Bailey Winner, East Windsor: Winner scored 30 points in a 51-18 victory over Stafford Wednesday.
Storylines
With a 65-52 win over Manchester Wednesday, East Catholic improved to 6-1. The Eagles are close to surpassing their win total last season when they went 8-12 in the regular season and advanced to the second round of the Class S tournament where they lost to Capital Prep.
Windsor may be the best 2-5 team in the state; the Warriors continue their difficult early season schedule this week with a game against unbeaten Holy Cross Wednesday. Windsor lost to last year’s Class L champion E.O. Smith in overtime Friday; the Warriors lost their first game by a point to Enfield, they lost to Newington by seven and also lost to last year’s Class LL champion Hamden.
Games to watch
Northwest Catholic (6-1) at Simsbury (7-0), Wednesday, 6:45 p.m.: Northwest’s only loss is to Conard by two points; the Lions will get another big CCC test against Simsbury.
East Windsor (6-1) at Somers (5-1), Tuesday, 6:45 p.m.: The two top teams in the NCCC face off Tuesday; Somers also has a game vs. Granby (6-2) Friday.
Old Saybrook (6-1) at Morgan (4-3), Tuesday, 7 p.m.: Old Saybrook’s only loss of the season came to Morgan on Dec. 16, 46-42 and the two Shoreline foes will play again Tuesday.