Morgan Girls’ Basketball Routs Westbrook for a 13-0 Mark
The Morgan girls’ basketball team is on another fast track for a “Run to the Sun” in playing for a state title at Mohegan Sun and has been using an aggressive style of hoops to ensure that trip reaches its destination.
After getting to the Shoreline Conference and Class M State Tournament finals last winter, the Huskies have raced out to a 12-0 start—to the tune of a 37.25-point average margin of victory in that span. On Jan. 29 at home versus Westbrook, Morgan made it 13-0 following another dominant victory by a 72-23 final over the Knights.
“We returned our whole starting five from last year, plus we are also getting good production from our bench,” said Head Coach Joe Grippo. “[Sophomore] Shannon Maher [1.7 assists per contest], [freshman] Courtney Viglione [1.3 rebounds per night], and [junior] Riley Thompson [3.5 boards per game] have been great sparks off the bench. We are still stunned by that loss in the state final last year and trying to get better, but the attitude of this team is great; it’s about us winning.”
Senior Jen Dawson (averaging 14.5 tallies a night) led off the Huskies with a tremendous double-double effort of 24 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow senior Kelsey Donaldson added 13 points, seven boards, and four assists, plus junior Josie Sullivan also joined the double-double ranks (10 points, 11 rebounds).
“We just get up and down on offense and are a fast-break team. [Junior] Sami Ashton [15.6 points per game] is a great worker and penetrator that has developed her shot,” said Grippo. “[Senior] Tori Hopkins [11.2 PPG] and Dawson just get to the basket. Donaldson and Sullivan just do all the dirty work. We are a difficult team to matchup to, because whatever you take from us, we have more kids that can score.”
The Huskies (11-0 in the Shoreline) came out at full speed right from the opening tip with the Knights (6-8; 5-7 in the Shoreline) by using an effective full-court press in the first period with Dawson notching 10 of Morgan’s opening dozen points on its way to a commanding 27-5 lead after the initial eight minutes.
It was much of the same in the second with the Huskies tacking on 24 more points to grab a wide 51-12 margin at intermission.
For the third, Morgan held the visiting Knights to just one bucket in a 13-2 period that went in the home side’s favor before the Huskies capped off the night by again limiting Westbrook to single digits (8) in the final frame, which marked the seventh time this campaign the Huskies’ defense has prevented an opponent from scoring 30 points or more.
“I almost sound like a broken record when I talk to the girls, but we have a good full-court press and they communicate good on defense out there,” said Grippo. “We play aggressive on defense, find matchups to lock people up, and really our defense is our offense.”
Additionally in the win, Hopkins scored eight while dishing out seven assists and two blocks. Ashton tacked on seven points, four assists, and two steals.
Grippo is well aware of how stacked both the Shoreline and Class M fields are—forcing him to emphasize the facts that Morgan’s work is far from done and the Huskies must stay on their toes from now until late March.
“We feel comfortable with who we are as a team. But in the Shoreline, [defending champion] Cromwell and East Hampton are great teams. For states it’s much of the same with St. Joseph’s and [reigning title holder] New London playing well,” said Grippo. “We feel that we can compete with anyone, yet we also know that if we don’t bring it, then we can get upset by someone.”