Dragons take down Tigers

RIDGEFIELD — After putting a fitting exclamation point at the end of the Middletown High School girls basketball team’s victory over Ridgefield with an electrifying steal, drive and layup in the final minute Monday night, Amanda Fudge crumpled awkwardly to the floor under the basket and grabbed the back of her leg in pain.

All night long, the feisty 5-foot-2 senior guard with the non-stop motor, had been zipping around the court at 100 miles per hour, providing constant energy and relentless defense in the Blue Dragons’ 51-43 victory in the first round of the Class LL state tournament. However, that final sprint up the floor did her in, as a

cramped-up calf sent her hobbling to the bench to watch the final 40 seconds.

It was a brief but welldeserved break after a hard night’s work.

Fudge scored 10 points, including seven in the pivotal fourth quarter, to help 19th-seeded Middletown advance past 14th-seeded Ridgefield. Dominique Highsmith led the Dragons with 11 points, and Silvana Barcomb chipped in with nine points, including a 3-point dagger in the fourth quarter.

“I feel like we’re the underdogs, so our main objective is to keep on going and let them know who we are,” Fudge said with a smile after limping through the hand-shake line with her leg wrapped in ice.

The Dragons (13-8) are set

to visit third-seeded Trumbull — the two-time defending FCIAC champion — in the second round on Thursday at 7 p.m.

“I think a lot of people doubted us,” said Middletown coach Rob Smernoff, whose team won its third straight divisional title in the Central Connecticut Conference this year. “They have a heck of a team, and when you can beat a really good team, it’s a great thing. We felt like, if we stuck to our game plan, we could come out with a win.”

For Ridgefield (14-7), Katie Flynn, Kate Wagner, Faith Arnold and Caroline Curnal led the way with eight points apiece. It was another solid season for the Tigers, whose roster was loaded with freshmen and sophomores, and who will only graduate one senior.

TURNING POINT

Ridgefield had led by as

many as six in the third quarter, and was still ahead by five in the final seconds of the quarter when Middletown’s Mackenzie Dunn sank a baseline jumper to trim the deficit to three.

Middletown then opened the fourth quarter with a 15-1 run to take a 42-31 lead with 2:56 remaining. That run included a conventional three-point play by DeZiar Rose-Daniels, the aforementioned 3-ball by Barcomb and another steal, drive and layup by Fudge.

The Dragons were not out of the woods yet, however, as a 9-2 Ridgefield run over the next 59 seconds — including a huge 3-pointer by Cameron McClellan from the corner, right in front of the Ridgefield High student section — trimmed the Tigers’ deficit to four with 1:57 to go.

Middletown shot 5-of-6 from the foul line down the stretch to preserve its lead,

and Fudge’s last-minute steal and bucket all but sealed the deal.

“The main thing was keeping control of the game and making sure we didn’t get down by too much,” Fudge said. “That’s happened in previous games where we were up by 10, and all of a sudden, we were down by 10.”