New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Wilbur Cross defense shuts down Amity
NEW HAVEN — It’s pretty easy to sum up the Wilbur Cross performance Friday night in seven letters. Defense. The Governors allowed just three points in the final 17:03 and none in the fourth quarter en route to a 52-21 triumph over Amity in the quarterfinals of the Southern Connecticut Conference Division I girls’ basketball tournament at the Floyd Little Athletic Center.
Third-seeded Wilbur Cross (11-2) will travel to Madison to face secondseeded Hand (12-1) in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Monday night.
“I’ve been telling the girls all week that at tournament time defense wins championships,” Wilbur Cross coach Tyrees Thomas said. “The press affected them, and as the game went on, they got tired legs. We didn’t want them to get more than 30 points.”
Despite the lopsided final score, sixth-seeded Amity played well in the first nine
minutes as the Spartans took a 14-11 lead when Jayne Whitman hit a 3-pointer and was fouled. She made the free throw to give Amity its largest lead of the night with 7:28 to play in the opening half.
“They hit some early threes, but we tightened up our defense,” Thomas said. “Our athleticism and quickness helped us.”
Wilbur Cross took the lead for good, 16-14, on a layup by Jaylice Rosario (14 points) and the Governors were off to the races. They continued to bang the ball down low in the paint and got outside shooting from April Artis (16 points). On the other side of the ball, the Wilbur Cross press began to dominate the game.
“I’m proud of how our girls broke the press better than last time (a 64-45 loss
to Wilbur Cross on March 2),” Amity coach Michelle Shoop said. “But at the end of the day, you have to put the ball in the hoop more than them and we couldn’t do that.”
And Amity really struggled from that point in the game. The Spartans went scoreless for 5:04 in the second quarter and were down, 26-18, at the half. From there, only a free throw by Skylar Burzynski to open the third quarter and a bucket by Burzynski to close the third were the lone Amity points.
“We’ve had lot of growing pains this season,” Shoop said. “We lost one of our best players to a torn ACL (Mya Manzione), so we’ve been trying to rework things. Cross is a great team and we knew they’d be a tough matchup.”
And the Governors are looking forward to play Hand in the semifinals.
“I want to take this route,” Thomas said. “Hand is a good team and we’re ready for the challenge. We’ve been overlooked all year and we want to play those top of the league teams.”
Meanwhile, Amity finished its season at 7-6.
“This season was about more than wins and losses,” Shoop said. “We had seven seniors and no matter what they’ve been amazing together. We’re happy we had a season and I’m sad to see these girls go.”