History tells us not to speak in absolutes in high school sports, but after watching the Fairfield Warde girls basketball team’s 81-44 rout of Westhill last night, it is hard to see the Mustangs not winning the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference title. They have the best 1-2 combo in the league and have a relentless press that forces turnovers and leads to easy baskets.
Last night they limited the Vikings to just one shot during a nearly three-minute span in the first quarter, forced seven turnovers and went on a 17-2 run. Westhill turned the ball over 25 times in the first half.
Daphne Elliott, who is averaging 23 points a game and put up 17 last night, is clearly the conference’s best player. Her outside shot is much more accurate and she is stronger than a year ago. Most people don’t know her cousins include current UConn guard A.J. Price and Jamelle Elliott, a former star and now assistant coach with the UConn women.
Complementing Elliott is 6-foot center Sabrina Siciliano, who equalled her season average with 17 points last night and is the point person to the Mustangs’ press. Most of her baskets came off of turnovers.
What will make Warde even more formidable is if other players step up, as Alex Aufiero did last night when she scored a career-high 19 points.
In a year in which the FCIAC is weaker than at any time in recent memory, it is hard to see the Mustangs not cutting down the nets next month. They are prone to struggle a little with their half-court defense, but opponents have had difficulty beating the press and having the chance to set up.
Take Warde out of the equation and you could have one heck of a playoff race, with teams like Danbury and Stamford, among others, battling in what would make a compelling tournament of fairly equal teams.
But as last night proved, unless someone catches them on an off night, the Mustangs most dangerous opponent might be themselves.
