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01/27/2019 11:00 PMThe Valley Regional girls’ basketball team qualified for both the Shoreline Conference Tournament and the Class M State Tournament by earning its eighth win of the season last week. The Warriors extended their win streak to five straight games and improved to 8-6 by defeating Westbrook and Old Saybrook, qualifying for postseason play with the latter victory. Head Coach Geoff Konstan’s squad has now earned a postseason berth during each of the last three campaigns.
On Jan. 21, Valley picked up a 52-47 win in a hard-fought contest at Westbrook. In a matchup that featured two of the Shoreline Conference’s top players—Valley’s Lexie Finnerty and Westbrook’s Savannah Marshall—both teams battled until the final horn. Finnerty showed there would be no letdown after she scored her 1,000th career point during the previous week. The senior captain poured in 20 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists in the win against Westbrook. Alena Crosby scored 13 points, while fellow sophomore guard Addi Marchese had nine assists and three steals for the Warriors.
While he didn’t characterize the victory as one of Valley’s best performances, Coach Konstan was encouraged with the end result and feels pleased with far his team has come this year.
“Early in the season, if we didn’t play well, we lost, or we depended on Lexie to have a great game. Now, we’ve turned the corner where, if we’re not playing our best basketball in a given game, we can still win those games,” said Konstan. “We have Lexie and Alena scoring for us consistently, but with Addi and [senior captain Annie Cooper] starting to give us some more scoring, that’s really nice.”
Valley Regional took a three-point lead into halftime, but was never able to pull away from the Knights. Westbrook hit big shots to keep it close until Valley ultimately triumphed by a five-point margin. The Warriors’ post players loomed large in the victory. Cooper had seven points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three blocks; sophomore Reagan Brenneman pulled down five boards, and freshman Salmi Miller added four points.
“Thankfully, our post players combined for 13 points, and we needed every one of them,” Coach Konstan said. “We were consistently leading by two to five points throughout the game and, every time we had a chance to pull away, Westbrook would stay with us. Savannah Marshall hit some big shots. We always led, but it was never comfortable.”
Four days later, the Warriors secured their spot in the postseason by notching a 54-44 victory at Old Saybrook. Valley held a 25-18 advantage at halftime and increased its lead during in the second half. Finnerty (20 points, 6 assists, 3 steals), Crosby (13 points), and Marchese (11 points, 6 assists, 2 steals) all reached double digits in scoring, marking the first time that three Warriors have done so in a game this season. Cooper turned in another solid performance in the post by scoring eight points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and blocking three shots. Coach Konstan believes that Cooper has hit a new gear, especially in these past two games.
“Annie Cooper [is] getting three or more blocked shots a game now, and we’re talking swatting the ball into next week,” said Konstan. “She’s not a big scorer, but she’s suddenly giving us some points and blocks shots and is passing well from the post. This is the perfect time in the season for that.”
Konstan also felt happy to see a quick turnaround for Marchese, who had struggled with her shot for a brief time. The sophomore put in some extra work between games, and her efforts showed up in the box score versus Old Saybrook.
“In the Westbrook game, Addi got nine assists and was making it happen, but her shot was a bit off. Then, she really worked on her shot with some open gym time,” Konstan said. “She had her last day of exams, a two-hour practice, and then did extra work on her shot after that. She put up 200 shots that day and she met with us early before the Old Saybrook game. There were immediate dividends with those 11 points she scored.”
With everyone settling into their roles, Konstan thinks the Warriors can be a dangerous opponent against any team on a given night, including in the postseason. There is still room for improvement, but Konstan feels confident that Valley has the potential to turn some heads come tournament time.
“I think we will be a tough matchup in the postseason. We made both tourneys, so the big thing now is getting seeding,” said Konstan. “There are areas where we can improve. We need to work on boxing out, rebounding, and handling full-court pressure if we want to beat teams that are a little better than us. On our best day, we’re capable of challenging anybody.”
From the Sidelines
The Valley Regional girls’ basketball team’s varsity roster includes senior captains Annie Cooper, Lexie Finnerty, Heather Jones, and Sadie Konstan; sophomores Reagan Brennaman, Elizabeth Cap, Alena Crosby, Hanah Jenkins, Addi Marchese, and Olivia Porcaro; and freshmen Ava Cunningham, Elizabeth Klomp, Salmi Miller, Madison Sheehan, Hannah Tejedor, and Campbell Toth.
The Warriors have earned wins against Amistad (60-35), Old Lyme (42-34), Hale-Ray (38-8), Haddam-Killingworth (54-34), Portland (45-31), Old Saybrook (44-36 and 54-44), and Westbrook (52-47) this year. Valley has lost contests against Coginchaug (52-49), Morgan (55-39), East Windsor (38-29), East Hampton (38-25), North Branford (48-36), and Cromwell (52-31).
Geoff Konstan is in his fourth season as the Warriors’ head coach. Konstan’s coaching staff includes JV Head Coach Lauren Budney and varsity assistant Allyson Pitney.
For the rest of the year, the Warriors will face Haddam-Killingworth, Coginchaug, and Morgan in home games. They also have road games coming up against North Branford, Cromwell, and Somers.