After Southington lost to Conard – the Knights’ only loss of the season – coach Howie Hewitt was thinking about ways to improve on the bus ride home.
He had a solid core of returning seniors, including Lily Cooper, who has played since her freshman year and averages almost 14 points per game. But he didn’t know how the newcomers – freshmen and senior Isabella Leggett, who had played with his seniors growing up but left for St. Paul, then moved to Florida, before returning to Southington her senior year – would fit in.
Turns out, they fit in perfectly and his team was much deeper than he expected so Hewitt decided to press. And it’s worked – as of Sunday, the Knights were 12-1 and ranked third in Class LL.
“I started the year, we said, ‘We have to play half court man to man and we’ll be really good at it. That’s how we’ll play,’” he said. “After a few games, I said to my assistant coach, ‘We’ve got to play full court.’ I wanted to press. I’ve pressed my whole life. coaching the boys and the girls.
“This team lends itself to that. It took me a few games to figure it out. I didn’t expect the (younger players) to make the contributions they have.”
Cooper scored her 1,000th point earlier in the season. Hannah Blanchard, a 5-10 post player, and Leggett are averaging over 10 points per game. They get help off the bench from players like Ariana Quick, a freshman who is the daughter of Southington boys basketball coach Ed Quick, and sophomore McKenna Crist, the daughter of former Farmington girls coach Russ Crist. Freshman Nerea Maule is another contributor off the bench.
“Those three are 6-7-8 and when they come in, they wreak havoc defensively and they can score as well,” Hewitt said.
Top Performers
Peyton Burrell, Maloney: Burrell scored 28 points in a 56-40 loss to Platt
Zola Cudjoe, St. Paul: Cudjoe had 18 points in a 58-36 win over Brookfield Saturday, 20 points in a 42-27 win over Seymour Tuesday and 14 points in a loss to East Catholic Thursday.
Alexa Gallagher, Simsbury: Gallagher had 19 points and five rebounds in a win over Bristol Central and 19 points, including four 3-pointers, in a loss to Newington.
Maddy Handrahan, Glastonbury: Handrahan scored 15 points and had nine assists and five steals in a 47-17 win over E.O. Smith Friday and 24 points, six assists and six steals in a 47-44 double-overtime win over Acton-Boxboro in the Hoophall Classic Jan. 20 in Springfield.
Peyton Kelleher, Cromwell: Kelleher posted 18 points, six rebounds and four steals in a 43-37 win over Old Lyme Thursday and 30 points, 10 rebounds and five steals in a 69-38 win over Portland Tuesday.
Kylie Lake, Old Saybrook: Lake recorded 18 points and 14 rebounds in a 36-33 overtime win over East Hampton Tuesday and 10 points and 14 rebounds in a loss to Morgan Friday.
Solana Ortiz, Platt: Ortiz scored 52 points in three games and Platt went 3-0 this week, with a 22-point, 12-rebound effort in a 56-40 win over Maloney Friday night.
Sadie Passante, Morgan: Passante scored 21 points in a 70-23 win over Old Saybrook Friday night and 19 points in a 70-40 win over Hale Ray Tuesday.
Kalani Rivera, Innovation: Rivera, a freshman, had 40 points and nine steals in a 73-28 win over Comp Sci Thursday.
Kyelah Smith, East Windsor/Bloomfield: Smith scored 19 points in a 41-29 win over Lyman Memorial Tuesday.
Storylines
On Jan. 20, Northwest Catholic traveled to Waterbury for a battle of unbeatens against Holy Cross. Northwest Catholic won 64-53 behind 20 points from Abby Casper and 15 from her freshman sister Samantha. “A lot of it stemmed from our defensive effort,” Northwest Catholic coach Alison Connors said. “They like to run so if we can get into transition, good things happen.”
St. Paul hung around against East Catholic (11-2) despite not having two of its post players (one is out with an ACL tear, the other could only play sparingly due to back issues) but the Falcons, who won the Class M state championship last year, ended up losing 51-38 last Thursday. Zola Cudjoe, the main returning player from last year’s state title team, did what she could for St. Paul, but she couldn’t be everywhere. “She handles the ball, she’s in the middle, she’s outside,” coach Joe Mone said. “We’re kind of in a quandary; I have to move her around to where I can get her shots.” Cudjoe, a junior, led the Falcons (6-4) with 14 points. “For the most part we handled the trapping well until the second half, then we turned the ball over 15-16 times,” Mone said. “I’m playing 5-6 kids, we get to the fourth quarter, everybody’s exhausted. “I thought we did OK for who we are. This was a good game for us to play that kind of competition If we were healthy, we’d be a much better team.”
Games to watch
Conard (11-2) at Northwest Catholic (13-0), Wednesday, 6:45 p.m.: Conard lost to East Catholic last week but bounced back with a 38-36 win over Windsor and now will face its biggest test against unbeaten and two-time state champion Northwest Catholic.
Berlin (10-3) at Southington (12-1), Thursday, 6 p.m.: Berlin opened the season at 1-2 but has won nine of its last 10, with its only loss in the stretch coming to Northwest Catholic. Southington is on a roll as well, with its only loss to Conard on Dec. 28.
Coventry (12-1) at Windham (11-1), Thursday, 6 p.m.: An excellent non-conference matchup which will be a good mid-season test for each team. Windham was the Class M runner-up last year and has kept on rolling.