The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Mercy’s magic runs out
New London holds off Tigers to win Class MM title
UNCASVILLE — There were plenty of joyful tears for the players and coach of the New London girls basketball team following its win in the CIAC Class MM championship game Sunday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Whalers pulled away in the fourth quarter, defeating Mercy 57-47 for the school’s third state title and first since 2017.
They did it all without substituting any players until the final minute of the game.
“Even though I had an off game, I knew my teammates would come through and pull off the win as a team,” Sacred Heart University-bound senior Nalyce Dudley said.
“So many different emotions are running through my head right now. Everyone adds something to this team and it’s not always the me and Serenity (Lancaster) show. There are so many factors to our team that makes us so good together.”
The Whalers (21-6) were led by 6-foot-2 sophomore Serenity Lancaster, who scored a gamehigh 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Freshman Nyarah Dudley scored 14 points and older sister Nalyce Dudley added 13 points.
Mercy (20-7) was led by Ava Giansiracusa, who scored 17 points with Sophie Hedge adding 16.
New London led 38-33 after three quarters and Mercy had chances to cut into the lead but never could overtake the Whalers who pulled away in the final minutes.
“It was disappointing but the New London kids are different level athletes and they played well tonight,” Mercy coach Tim Kohs said.
“I thought we did a good job on (Nalyce) Dudley but she still ended up with 13. Lancaster was laying it in every time I turned around. We lost her rebounding, weak side stuff but that is so hard when we are trying to front her and the shot goes up
and we mentally couldn’t figure out we had to get to the other side to rebound. That was the key to the game, not getting weak-side rebounds.”
New London coach Tammy Millsaps is no stranger to state championships, having led Capital Prep to the Class S championship in 2013 and three Class L championships from 2014-16, finishing ranked No. 1 in the GameTimeCT poll for fourstraight seasons.
Being back on the court at Mohegan Sun with the state championship trophy was a surreal experience for the coach, but not one that was unexpected.
“Heck yeah I thought we could win here but I didn’t know it would be this soon,” Millsaps said. “We are in great shape. You can be in great shape but if you don’ have the heart, grit and determination, being in great shape doesn’t mean anything. With seven kids people might think you lessen your expectations but we did the same thing we did when I had 10 kids. We did it just the same.”
New London has played in four state finals, all since 2014, winning Class M in 2014 and LL in 2017 and last making a final in
2019 when it lost to Norwalk in the Class LL title game.
Player of the Game
Serenity Lancaster, New London: Lancaster had 20 points and 12 rebounds, dominating inside all night.
Quotable
“Nalyce struggled a little bit in the first half but we made some adjustments. We had Serenity flash to the high post and we were able to get it to her and then we got some transition points,
which is what we do best.” — New London coach Tammy Millsaps
New London 57, Mercy 47
MERCY ................................... 6 10 17 14 — 47 NEW LONDON ....................... 12 8 18 19 — 57 MERCY (47)
Avery Kohs 1-3 0-0 2; Ava Giansiracusa 5-11 6-7 17; Sophie Hedge 7-16 0-1 16; Melina Ford 0-4 1-2 1; Mercedes Artaiz 1-4 2-2 4; Woynitu Ciccarello 2-6 0-0 4; Kate Donlan 0-0 0-0 0; Madison Benigni 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 17-47 9-12 47
NEW LONDON (57)
Nyarah Dudley 5-10 1-2 14; Ky-Ani Allgood 3-6 0-0 6; Nalyce Dudley 2-8 9-15 13; Serentiy Lancaster 10-18 4-5 24; Italia Salls 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 20-44 14-22 57 3-pointers: M—Hedge (2), Benigni, Giansiracusa; NL— Dudley (3). Fouled Out: None