NAUGATUCK – Abby Casper, Maeve Staunton and Zoey Canning are all juniors on the Northwest Catholic girls basketball team. The team has no seniors; they are all captains.
And they will head back to the state championship game at Mohegan Sun this weekend for the third straight year. Northwest Catholic, which won the Class S championship two years ago and the Class MM title last year, will play for the Class L title against second-seeded Bethel either Saturday or Sunday at a time to be determined after beating Notre Dame Prep 70-38 Monday in a semifinal at Naugatuck High School.
Casper had 22 points and Staunton 20 in the win for top-seeded Northwest Catholic (24-2).
Clik here to view.
“A lot of the success comes from those juniors – they’ve led this thing since they walked in the door three years ago,” Northwest Catholic coach Alison Connors said. “They’ve been an integral part of the success. We don’t do this without those three. Abby and Maeve do Abby and Maeve things and Zoey is the backbone, she’s the glue.”
The goal for them is the Mohegan Sun but first the Lions had to get through the season, and they learned a lot along the way.
“It’s a young team – those three are the only ones with true varsity experience,” Connors said. “Three have played varsity and the rest have not, so a lot of it has been a big learning curve for those kids.”
They lost to Conard on Jan. 29, 64-45, and then again to eventual CCC champion Southington in the CCC tournament semifinals. 57-50.
Clik here to view.
“We were really frustrated with ourselves,” Casper said of the CCC tournament loss. “It was on us. We came out like, ‘We are not going to let this happen again.’ It made us stronger and made us come out wanting it more.
“Even though we wanted to be in the CCC championship, it did help us get to this point right now.”
Northwest took an early lead Monday and never let up. The Lions led 33-17 at halftime and kept up the intensity in the second half.
“We pushed the pace, ran our offense and made 3s,” said Canning, who had four points.
Sophomore Lilyan Johnson added 11 points for Northwest, hitting three 3-pointers and Abigail’s younger sister Samantha had 10 points.
Northwest lost in the CCC tournament finals last year to Windsor and ended up in the finals, beating Sheehan, 43-37, for the Class MM championship.
“Our team always takes losses when it’s needed most to turn the next page and get hungry for the state tournament,” Staunton said. “(Southington) was a helpful loss. It obviously stinks; we haven’t made it far in the CCCs, but I thought it was a good loss.”
Class L semifinal
at Naugatuck High
Northwest Catholic 70, Notre Dame Prep 38
Notre Dame Prep 9 8 11 10 – 38
Northwest Catholic 18 15 19 18 – 70
Notre Dame: Erin Croswell 2 0 4, Anbria Brown 5 1 13, Val Huynn 1 3 6, Kobe McCray 5 2 12, Nora Breen 1 0 3. Totals: 14 6 38.
Northwest Catholic: Maeve Staunton 7 4 20, Lilyan Johnson 4 0 11, Zoey Canning 2 0 4, Samantha Casper 4 0 10, Abigail Casper 9 2 22, Kennedy Thomas, 1 0 2, Azjah Lizotte 0 1 1. Totals: 26 7 70.
Records: Notre Dame Prep, 20-6; Northwest Catholic, 24-2.