Rams Hoopsters Fall In FCIAC Semis

The New Canaan High School girls basketball team fought valiantly but couldn't overcome the top-seeded girls basketball team from St. Joseph High School of Trumbull, falling 45-37 in Wednesday night's FCIAC semi-final clash at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.
 
The Rams led for most of the first quarter and were only a point behind the Cadets at halftime 18-17.
 
The Cadets started the second half strong, going on an 8-0 run to pull ahead 26-17 with 5:33 left in the third quarter.
 
The Rams struggled back, and a 2-pointer by Christina Loop, a New Canaan junior, cut St. Joe's lead to 26-25 with 2:16 left in the third quarter.
 
That was the closest the Rams would come, as St. Joe's never relinquished the lead.
 
"In the second half, we shot the ball better; they had a little trouble shooting the ball," Joe Cavallaro, St. Joe's coach, said after the game. "We did a good job on free throws and didn't turn the ball over. They put a lot of pressure on us, and we handled the pressure well."
 
Cavallaro said both teams played hard, a sentiment that Kim Palmer, New Canaan's coach, agreed with.
 
"We played hard on defense. If three or four of the shots fell for us, it would have been a different story," Palmer said.
 
Palmer said she had hoped the Rams would win the FCIAC's, but said her team, now 16-6 on the year and which had the fourth seed in the county tournament, had a lot to be proud of. "We're moving in the right direction. The girls had team chemistry this year and worked hard together and gave 100 percent on the court," she said.
 
New Canaan's top scorer was Sarah Mannelly, a junior who had 12 points, including two three-pointers, as well as four assists and four steals. She was followed in the points department by Kacey Pippitt, a senior who had nine points, and Loop and Ali Warlich, a senior, who had six points each. Warlich led on rebounds with 11.
 
The Cadets scoring leader Wednesday night was Michele Gorman, a senior who had 15 points, and Natalie Lesko, a senior, had nine points, including two three-pointers. Jess Jowdy, a sophomore, added eight points, and Amia Gritsko pulled down seven rebounds for the Cadets.
 
New Canaan had cut St. Joe's lead to four points - 41-37 - with 1:21 left in the game, after Pippitt sank two free throws, and the Rams then went into a full-court press.
 
But the Cadets handled the pressure well, and Gorman and Jowdy sank crucial free throws to extend St. Joe's lead to 45-37 with 34 seconds left.
 
St. Joseph now faces Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford in the FCIAC finals, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Fairfield Ludlowe High School. Trinity Catholic defeated Ridgefield 51-43 in the game immediately before St. Joseph and New Canaan played Wednesday night.

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Watch the final minute of the game: http://patch.com/Ojal