Lady Wreckers avenge last year's loss

eschickler@bcnnew.com

Payback always has a sweet taste. The Staples girls basketball team enjoyed this flavor on Tuesday when it avenged last year's 37-36 buzzer-beating home loss to Trumbull with a 51-41 win at Trumbull.

"The girls understand the history of losing to Trumbull the last two seasons [they lost by 30 points in Trumbull two years ago]," said Staples coach Ed Huydic. "We knew the importance of the game and wanted to exorcise the demons, which motivated us. Last year's loss was a definite part of our focus."

Lady Wreckers senior captain Suvi Puripattarapan said, "We wanted it so bad because last year's loss hurt us and we wanted revenge. It feels great to get the win."

Moreover, Staples raised its record to 8-2, 7-1 in the FCIAC, qualifying for the state tournament for the 26th straight year and putting itself in good position to qualify for the FCIAC tournament for the first time since 2007. The Eagles dropped to 6-3, 5-2.

"It's a reason to feel very good," said Huydic. "This is what a girl who puts on a uniform strives for and to qualify at the midway point is big. I don't remember the last time we clinched a berth at the midway point."

Trumbull opened the game with a 10-7 lead but the Lady Wreckers closed out the first quarter with an 11-0 run to take an 18-10 lead and didn't look back after that. Sophomore center Jessica Coelho (14 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steal, two blocked shots) had eight points in the first quarter to lead the rally.

"I was really aggressive down low," said Coelho. "The girl defending me was strong and muscular but I was able to get around her."

Puripattarapan (15 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals) drilled two 3-pointers in the first quarter, which contributed to the surge. She added nine points in the second quarter, including her third trey of the game and a perfect 4-4 from the foul line to keep Staples in front.

"During warmup, I knew I had to shoot and I practiced my shot," said Puripattarapan.

Junior Jaclyn Katz (six points, five rebounds, three assists, six steals, one blocked shot) was a defensive force with four steals in the first half. Katz set up a Puripattarapan trey and layup attempt which drew the foul.

"They had good outside shooting and I tried to force them to the corner, which gave me an opening to steal it," said Katz.

Staples' first half lead peaked at 12, 31-19 on Puripattarapan's reverse layup with 12.3 seconds left off a feed from senior Chelsea Salamone.

Eagle junior captain Kelly Coughlin (11 points) rimmed home a trifecta before the half to cut the lead to nine, 31-22.

A fire alarm malfunction during halftime forced the evacuation of the building and a 39-minute delay, which had the potential of affecting both teams. Huydic made sure it wasn't detrimental to his squad.

"We were able to get them focused and we had 10 minutes to warm up [before the start of the second half]," said Huydic.

The Lady Wreckers opened the second half with an 11-0 surge and increased their lead to 20, 42-22 with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter. Katz capped the run with a coast-to-coast layup off a steal.

"I was able to read the girl and go down the court and get the basket for my team," said Katz.

Junior Nicole Brill (eight points, one rebound, three assists, two steals, one blocked shot) continues to develop offensively, scoring on a putback off the offensive glass and nailing a bank shot in the third quarter.

"I've been doing something different every time I get the ball," said Brill. "I turn and face the basket, which is helping me."

Katz set a screen for Brill on the banker.

"All the little things help us win and it's everyone doing their job," said Katz.

Salamone (seven points, two rebounds, three assists) scored all her points after the break, including a 3-pointer in the pivotal run.

Coelho prevented the Eagles from feasting inside and denied them easy layups.

"I tried to be aggressive without committing fouls and tried to keep them from scoring inside," said Coelho.

Trumbull closed out the quarter with four points and trailed 42-26 after three. The Eagles cut the lead down to nine, 47-38 with 2:13 to go in the game but the Lady Wreckers stopped them when they had to. When sophomore Victoria Pfohl (nine points) swished a trey to make it 49-41, there were only 27.9 seconds to go, which was too little, too late, for Trumbull.

Juniors MaryKate Van Sant (one point, two rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot) and Julie Strickland (one rebound) and sophomore Remy Nolan (two rebounds, one steal) also contributed for Staples.

The Lady Wreckers have two tests coming up, tonight at Danbury and Tuesday at home against New Canaan.

"I'm happy with how we progressed but we have tough games coming up and we're now focused on Danbury," said Huydic.

Puripattarapan said, "We're not going to stop after qualifying for States. We're going to keep going and keep playing hard and set our goals. We want to play hard each game and we want to win FCIACs."