UNCASVILLE – Three juniors. Three years. Three state titles.
Top-seeded Northwest Catholic, with its core of juniors Abby Casper, Maeve Staunton and Zoey Canning, won its third straight state championship Saturday night, this time in Class L, with a 56-40 victory over Bethel.
Two years ago, they won the Class S championship. Last year it was Class MM.
“It’s an amazing feeling, especially with this team,” Casper said. “I’m super happy to be back here, playing with my sister and all my other teammates.”
Casper had 19 points and a career-high 19 rebounds for the Lions (25-2). Staunton had 18 points and scored her 1,000th point in the third quarter (she needed 10 coming in). Canning had six points and five rebounds.
All three are captains. There are no seniors on the team.
“I actually turned to the bench at one point and said, ‘When I was playing at Northwest, we couldn’t even smell this,’” said coach Alison Connors, who graduated from Northwest in 2013. “We were a really, really good team. But for whatever reason, we were always stuck at the quarterfinals.
“To be able to do this with Northwest, three times, at my alma mater – you just want the best for your program.”
Vivan Stewart led second-seeded Bethel (23-4) with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Emma Huedepohl , who had 10 points, scored her 1,000th point in the fourth quarter.
Bethel crept back into the game and trailed 36-33 at the end of the third quarter but Northwest Catholic went on an 11-0 run to open the fourth quarter and pull away from the Wildcats.
“They’ve been in this position the last two years, we’ve either gone in tied or only within a few points, to have to come in in the fourth quarter and pull away – we’ve done it before,” Connors said. “We were able to rely on those three. They don’t worry. They play buzzer to buzzer. They mean business. It starts with the three captains.”
Casper said despite the Lions’ experience at the state finals, she still got nervous Saturday.
“I think the experience helps but every time we come back I get the same nerves, the same excitement – it’s the same feeling every time,” she said. “Maybe the experience helps. The preparation is what gets us here.”
Casper had 15 defensive rebounds and four offensive rebounds. She also had five assists and three blocks.
“OK, so the whole goal for me tonight was to crash the boards offensively and defensively,” she said. “When I was watching film, I thought I could get in and get the rebounds. I made that part of my goal for today and that helped us get the win in the end.”
Class L championship
Northwest Catholic 56, Bethel 40
Bethel 6 13 14 7 – 40
Northwest Catholic 11 13 12 20 – 56
Bethel: Emma Huedepohl 4 0 10, Amelia Warde 0 1 1, Summer Wish 1 0 2, Aiden Gill 3 0 6, Mia Marschner 3 0 7, Vivan Stewart 3 8 14, Sienna Troetti 0 0 0. Totals: 14 9 40.
Northwest Catholic: Maeve Staunton 8 0 18, Lilyan Johnson 0 2 2, Zoey Canning 2 2 6, Samantha Casper 2 0 5, Abby Casper 7 5 19, Lyla Diaz 2 2 6, Kennedy Thames 0 0 0. Totals: 21 11 56.
Records: Bethel, 23-4; Northwest, 25-2.