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03/26/2018 12:00 AMThe Valley Regional girls’ basketball team didn’t see as much success as the Warriors were hoping for in the 2017-’18 campaign, although Head Coach Geoff Konstan said that he will still look back at this season fondly, because of the players he had on his squad. Despite being plagued by injury woes to its backcourt, Valley was still able to qualify for the Shoreline Conference and the Class M State tournaments this winter. The Warriors wound up finishing the year with an overall record of 9-14.
“We were missing our starting backcourt for almost half of the season. It was a bummer for the wins and losses. The fact that we still made states and played a play-in for Shorelines fulfilled a huge goal of ours,” Coach Konstan said. “It was a great year, because the kids are so great. I’m really lucky to have great kids. They make it easy to come in and coach—and my assistant coaches, Allison Pitney and Lauren Budney. They’re fantastic. We all work incredibly well together. Great coaches and great kids make for a great season.”
The Warriors’ signature win came when they faced Haddam-Killingworth in the qualifying round of the Class M State Tournament on Feb. 24. Valley grabbed a 48-37 victory versus the Cougars, who had eliminated the Warriors from Shorelines the week before. Konstan’s squad gave H-K some different looks for the teams’ meeting in states, and the result was a big win for Valley.
“They had beaten us twice in the previous three weeks. We had no answer for their center, Tara Murphy. We put in new offenses and defenses, and the girls bought in and believed,” Konstan said. “It was the eighth time we played against H-K [since Konstan became head coach], and that was the first time we held her to less than 20 points. Offensively. it was easily our best team game of the season.”
Junior guard Alexis Finnerty had a huge impact in the Warriors’ win against the Cougars. For the season, she averaged 16.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.3 steals, and 3.1 assists per game, leading the team in each statistical category. While dealing with injuries, Finnerty fought tooth and nail throughout the year and was presented with the Warrior Award for her performance.
“There’s a variety of things you can say about her on the court. It was an easy choice. She toughed it out through the whole season,” Konstan said. “She’s not playing for personal accolades. She loves basketball, her team, and her teammates.”
Valley’s strongest leader was senior captain forward Paige Atkinson, who shored up the Warriors’ interior defense, while wholeheartedly embracing her role as a captain. Atkinskon averaged 7.1 boards per game and received the Coach’s Award for her enthusiastic leadership.
“She had some great games and some tough games, but she never stopped giving 100-percent. There were times we went to five-guard lineups, and she would be on the bench jumping up on scores and congratulating kids during timeouts,” Konstan said. “She was an absolute leader on and off the court. When things were going well, she was a great leader and, when things were going bad, she was also a great leader.”
Senior captain forward Heidi Clark proved another defensive stalwart for Valley this season. Coach Konstan values defense, and he said that Clark showed a constant commitment to bothering the opposition’s offense. That’s why she was named the team’s Defensive Player of the Year.
“It means a lot to me to make sure the focus stays on defense,” said Konstan. “When we played Westbrook, she shut down their top player, Savannah Marshall. Then when we beat H-K, she was phenomenal on defense. Her defense was always fantastic.”
Carly Thompson was also a senior captain for the Warriors. Konstan said that Thompson was integral in helping the younger players who stepped into larger roles this year.
“She’s a good player, and she led by example. She was always great with the younger kids in practice,” Konstan said. “She’s great fundamentally, and she was able to teach the younger kids those fundamentals and help them improve in certain areas.”
Junior Sadie Konstan earned the starting point-guard position for the Warriors and averaged 2.4 assists per game. She was selected as Valley’s Most Improved Player Award at the end of the season.
“Last year, she started two games due to injury. She really had to bide her time behind great players,” Coach Konstan said. “This year, she slotted into the starting lineup and did a great job for the team. [Winning Most Improved] was pretty cut and dry since nobody had a big new role like she did.”
Another bright spot for Valley was freshman guard Addison Marchese, who also played her way into the starting lineup and came away with the Warriors’ Rookie of the Year Award.
“That was an easy one. As a freshman, she was just fantastic,” said Konstan. “Addy played so much more than I ever imagined. We’re so ready for next year. We’re farther along than I thought we would be.”
As for next season, Coach Konstan believes that his team will have a leg up in that there won’t be many adjustments in the Warriors’ playing style. Konstan said that should allow Valley to hit the ground running in his fourth campaign as head coach.
“It’ll be tough to replace all three of the captains, but I think we have a great chance to have our best record in my four years,” said Konstan. “We had to make a lot of adjustments losing the speed that we had last year. Next year, we won’t really have to make any adjustments. We won’t have to spend the amount of time this year teaching the plays and defenses coming back ready to go.”
From the Sidelines
The Valley Regional girls’ basketball team’s varsity roster included senior captains Paige Atkinson, Heidi Clark, and Carly Thompson; juniors Annie Cooper, Alexis Finnerty, Heather Jones, Sadie Konstan, and Tiffani Turpin; and freshmen Alena Crosby and Addison Marchese.
The Warriors’ notched wins against East Hampton (34-29), Old Saybrook (46-42 and 49-35), Hale-Ray (40-26), Haddam-Killingworth (46-41 and 48-37), Amistad (61-53), Creed (40-26), and Westbrook (59-35) this season.
Head Coach Geoff Konstan finished his third year as Valley’s head coach and was assisted by JV coach Lauren Budney and assistant coach Allyson Pitney.