New Canaan's Olivia Cosco drives to the net during her team's game against Southbury on Sunday.
On Saturday, the New Canaan sixth grade girls basketball team fell 24-23 against a very physical team from Monroe. A potential game-tying 3-pointer by Abby Carstensen was ruled a two-pointer, causing New Canaan to fall a single point shy.
With veteran starters Chloe Shorten, Carstensen, Olivia Cosco, Lauren Bisceglia and KK Marcus, New Canaan jumped out to a quick lead. Strong defense by Bisceglia, Marcus and Shorten shut down Monroe’s high scorers as the first quarter ended with the teams tied 5-5.
Carstensen had a hot hand in the second quarter as she poured in six points, and New Canaan built a slight 12-9 halftime lead. Monroe came out red hot in the second half and took the lead.
New Canaan came back with great shooting by Bisceglia, Cosco and Carstensen. Carstensen almost tied the game on a shot that brought the crowd to its feet, but the referee ruled that her shot was a 2-pointer and not a 3-pointer.
On Sunday, New Canaan lost a close game 21-14 to a very physical team from Southbury.
Marcus started off the scoring with a pretty basket, but Southbury immediately answered. New Canaan had trouble decoding Southbury’s full court press but made up for it with extra hustle. The game was tied 6-6 until a late spurt in the first quarter gave Southbury a 10-6 lead.
Coming off the bench, Libby Tedford, Maura Mullaney, Kendall Patten and Ryan Mushkin gave their team an extra spark as things got quite physical. There were a lot of whistles and not many baskets as Southbury extended its lead to 14-6 at halftime.
In the second half, Shorten fought off double and triple teams, and Cosco and Marcus made some nice shots. Katelyn Sparks, Sadie Seelert, Emily Shizari, Mushkin and Mullaney went toe-to-toe with the sluggers from Southbury. Neither teams could buy a basket and Southbury led 18-10 at quarter’s end.
In the fourth quarter, New Canaan got strong defense from Sparks, Patten and Shizari. Seelert and Mushkin pulled down several rebounds, and Tedford made several fearless drives to go to the line for some crucial free throws.
With only six points in the second half, however, New Canaan couldn’t get close and the clock ran out on Southbury’s 21-14 win.
