The New Canaan 6th grade girls travel basketball team opened the season this weekend with solid performances against some very tough teams at the Joe Coppo Tournament in New Canaan.
The first opponent was an experienced team from Darien. The starting five was Lauren Bisceglia, Abby Carstensen, Olivia Cosco and Katherine Marcus and Chloe Shorten. Good solid defense and strong perimeter shooting powered New Canaan to an early lead. Halftime score was New Canaan 12, Darien 6. Darien did make one run and pulled within 4 point at one point, but then New Canaan stepped on the gas and won this one going away. Final score was New Canaan 18, Darien 12. Abby Carstensen led all scorers with 6 points. Chloe Shorten was dominant in the paint and Olivia Cosco, Katherine Marcus, Libby Tedford and Lauren Bisceglia all had strong performances.
The next opponent was a very aggressive team from Scarsdale. NC 6th grade started with Abby Carstensen, Katherine Marcus, Lauren Bisceglia, Chloe Shorten and Olivia Cosco. Scarsdale brought a full court press that NC couldn’t quite solve. Scarsdale quickly jumped out to a lead of 13 to 4. But NC answered in the end of the second period bringing the game to within 5 points, halftime score was Scarsdale 13, New Canaan 8. However, during the 2nd half of the game, Scarsdale kept up their aggressive play and won the game easily, 28 to 12.
The final day, NC faced a gritty team from Ridgefield at 9:00am. The starting five was: Olivia Cosco, Katherine Marcus, Abby Carstensen, Chloe Shorten and Lauren Bisceglia. Both teams could have used a cup of coffee as they had trouble finding the basket in the first quarter, as the score was just New Canaan 4, Ridgefield 1. Halftime score was a little bit better as both teams found their stride. NC really turned it on in the 2nd half and developed a lead it would never relinquish. NC handedly won the game, 16 to 5.
Late Sunday afternoon, NC had its hands full in its final game with a tall, scrappy team from Mamaroneck. The starting five was: Maura Mullaney, Sadie Seelert, Abby Carstensen, Chloe Shorten and Katherine Marcus. The game was fairly close for the first half with each team trading baskets. But Mamaroneck pulled away in the second half, and the final score was 22 to 4.
With two wins and two losses, NC 6th grade girls had plenty to be proud of and plenty to focus on. “I am excited to see what we can do this season, “ said NC 6th grade girls coach Jonathan Nieves. “ We have the talent, the experience and the size to do very well this year. What I am looking for is the intensity and the fire in the belly. I saw glimpses of that this weekend and I can’t wait to see this team come together and show what it can do.”
The NC 6th grade girl’s team is deep with talent. They have excellent shooting guards led by Abby Carstensen, Libby Tedford and Katherine Marcus. They have both power and shooting forwards including Olivia Cosco, Lauren Bisceglia, Katelyn Sparks and Ryann Mushkin. And under the basket, they have a dominant center in Chloe Shorten and a new center/forward Maura Mullaney who is just hitting her stride. Rounding out the team is an exceptional roster that includes Sadie Seelert, Emily Shizari and Kendall Patten.
All in all, the Coppo Tournament it was a great debut in which the team showed flashes of brilliance, grit and considerable potential. Time will tell. Next game is Saturday, December 8th against Redding-Easton at Saxe.
