Pomperaug Lady Panthers no. 11, Caly Farina, tries to drive past the New Milford defense last Thursday. Pomperaug beat New Milford 71-19. (Ken Morse photo)
By KEN MORSE Special to the Middlebury Bee Intelligencer
The Pomperaug girls’ basketball team has taken their game to new heights since securing a spot in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference state tournament. Before Tuesday night’s game against the New Fairfield Redcoats, the Lady Panthers were 9-2 and had won six in a row with last week’s 71-19 victory over New Milford on Thursday and a convincing 70-21 win over Bunnell on Friday.
Tuesday, however, the team saw how far they have come and how far they need to go. They saw their six-game winning streak come to an end in a 62-49 loss to the undefeated 12-0 New Fairfield Redcoats who went 19-1 last season and reached the semifinals of the Class L state tournament. The loss dropped the Panthers to 9-3 on the season.
Karli Opalka led the Panthers, scoring 16 points, and Lauren Rubinstein scored nine points. Megan Todhunter, Katy Rafferty and Caly Farina added six points each.
The Lady Panthers were all business as they were against New Milford last Thursday, when they overwhelmed the Green Wave by busting out to an 18-4 first-quarter advantage. Caly Farina was in a zone as she scored six of her 11 points in the opening quarter.
Lauren Rubinstein (10 points, six assists) hit a 3-pointer to get the party started at the 5:35 mark and followed up with two drives to the basket on assists from Karli Opalka and Katy Rafferty.
Ten players recorded assists for the Panthers as they passed the ball around to find the open shooter, and the Pomperaug offense was clicking on all cylinders. When it came to defense, the Panthers were on top of their game, coming away with 20 steals, and that kind of pressure led to 29 turnovers for New Milford.
Not that Pomperaug missed a whole lot of shots, but when they did misfire, the rebounding efforts of Opalka (15 rebounds, eight points), Claudine Legato (seven rebounds, seven points) and Rachel Bonnanzio (five rebounds, three points) offered second and third chances at the basket for the Panthers.
“These seniors have been playing together for a long time, so we knew coming into the season that we would have a pretty good team,” said Pomperaug head coach Joe Fortier.
“What is making us a complete team is the outstanding efforts of our bench players,” he said. “They are coming in, and we are not losing a step. They are all producing, and that makes us an even better team as we head down the stretch of the season.”
Megan Todhunter is one of those sophomore bench players the coach was talking about as she came on and scored nine of her game-high 13 points in the second quarter. Todhunter fired in a 3-pointer at the start of the quarter, and Legato put down another 3-pointer as New Milford staggered to a timeout, trailing 28-4 with 4:52 left in the first half.
Coach Fortier went to the bench again and brought on Leah Rubinstein to run the point of attack and freshman Maggie Lee to add a little more rebounding power. Moments later, Rubinstein threaded a pass to Lee in the corner and the 3-pointer was on target as Pomperaug headed to the locker room at the half with a commanding 39-6 advantage.
“The younger girls are really coming together for us and making solid contributions,” said Fortier. “They have been putting up 60-plus points in our JV games and they are gaining valuable experience.
“That confidence is showing up on the court when they get into the varsity games. We’ve had to go to the bench in some tight spots already this season, and they have produced some quality minutes each time. That is going to make us a much stronger team as we head into tournament time.”
New Milford managed to put up a stronger effort, scoring eight points in the third quarter, but trailed 55-14 heading into the final quarter. By that time, coach Fortier had already turned the game over to his younger players, and the Panthers hardly missed a beat.
Allison McCormick (eight points, three assists) knocked down a 3-pointer and then fed a pass to Alexis Flood for a bucket in the paint. Freshman Kelly Powers made an immediate impact, blocking a shot and then taking it down the other end for a running one-hander in the lane.
Pomperaug broke the 70-point mark for the first time this season when Olivia Farina sank a pair of foul shots for the final points in the game with the Panthers coming away with the 71-19 victory.
The following night, the red-hot Panthers were at it again as they came out and ran Bunnell out of its own gym by building an overwhelming 33-7 lead after the first quarter of play.
Pomperaug eased its foot off the accelerator and took a 43-11 lead into the locker room at the half. A 19-4 third-quarter advantage had the Panthers on track to record their second straight 70-point performance coming away with a 70-21 win over the Bulldogs.
Opalka led the way, scoring 18 points and 17 rebounds with Lauren Rubinstein scoring nine points with seven assists and seven steals. Maggie Lee added eight points with Bonnanzio and Legato chipping in six points each.
Pomperaug is set to take on Brookfield Friday, Jan. 22, and Joel Barlow Tuesday, Jan. 26, with both contests on the road for 7 p.m. starts.
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