New Canaan vs. Westport PAL
The New Canaan 6th Grade Girls basketball team took on a strong squad from Westport, Saturday afternoon, December 16th at St. Luke’s school.
The starting five for New Canaan was number 11 Elizabeth Tedford, number 15 Kendall Patten, number 13 KK Marcus,
Number 3 Lauren Bisceglia and number 22 Abby Carstensen.
Chloe Shorten and Lauren Bisceglia led New Canaan to a strong first quarter that ended NC 6, Westport 7. Strong defensive play by KK Marcus, Abby Carstensen, Ryan Mushkin and Maura Mullaney stymied Westport and good ball handling by Kendall Patten, and Libby Tedford kept the pressure on.
The 2nd quarter was all Westport as they added another seven points and New Canaan only scored 2. Score at the half was New Canaan 8, Westport 14.
New Canaan came out strong in the 2nd half, led by a strong drive to the basket for two points by Lauren Biscliglia. Libby Tedford, Abby Cartensen and Katelyn Sparks provided some stifling defense and some nice shooting by Olive Cosco and a steal by Kendall Patten helped erase the Westport lead with a 6 to 2 run to end the 3rd quarter: NC 14 Westport 16.
To begin the 4th quarter, NC started Maura Mullaney, Libby Tedford, Kendall Patten, Olivia Cosco and Chloe Shorten. In spite of tenacious defense by Abby Christensen, Katelyn Sparks and Emily Shizari, and some quality shooting by Olivia Cosco and Lauren Bisceglia, Westport pulled away as NC scored no points this quarter while Westport scored 6. Final score; New Canaan 14, Westport 24. Lauren Bisceglia and Olivia Cosco each had 4 points.
New Canaan vs. St. Mary’s -Ridgefield
The New Canaan 6th Grade girls basketball team hosted an indomitable St, Mary’s team Sunday afternoon at Saxe Middle School.
NC’s Abby Carstensen scored the first bucket of the game but it was the first and only time NC would have the lead. Despite tenacious defense by KK Marcus, Emily Shizari, Abby Carstensen, Maura Mullaney and Ryan Mushkin, St. Mary’s jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back. Chloe Shorten had several blocked shots and great rebounds but St. Mary’s tall front line dominated in the paint, leading 8-2 after the first quarter. Good ball handling and crisp passes by Katelyn Sparks, Libby Tedford and Kendall Patten and aggressive play by Olivia Cosco and Emily Shizari helped spark a rally in a very physical and scrappy 2nd quarter which closed the gap to NC 5 - St. Mary’s 10.
In the second half, St. Mary’s came out hot and NC could not buy a basket. NC had many good looks and quality shots but nothing went in. Score at end of 3rd was St. Mary’s 13 – NC 10. NC had a small rally in the 4th led by sharp shooting Lauren Bisceglia, but could never get closer than six points as the offense struggled against a much bigger team. Final score St. Mary’s 15, NC 8, with Abby Carstensen scoring 4 of the 8 points.
Next game is Saturday, January 5th vs. Westport PAL at Westport.
