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02/17/2019 11:00 PMThe Valley Regional girls’ basketball team is coming off a busy week that included a convincing victory versus rival Westbrook in the play-in round of the Shoreline Conference Tournament. The Warriors went on to take a loss against Cromwell in a first-round matchup and now have an overall record of 10-12 as they get ready to compete in the Class M State Tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 26.
On Feb. 15, No. 8 seed Valley Regional hosted 9th-seeded Westbrook for a Shoreline Conference play-in game and prevailed by a 43-15 final in Deep River. Both teams were missing their go-to scorers—Valley’s Lexie Finnerty and Westbrook’s Savannah Marshall—but the Warriors’ depth helped power them to the one-sided win
“Westbrook was missing their top two guards [Marshall and Gabby Ehlert], but we were missing Lexie. We just have more depth. It obviously would have been a much different game if we were both full strength,” Head Coach Geoff Konstan said. “It was nice to see the young kids stepping up. It was nice to see us play such balanced basketball. The young kids didn’t succumb to the gravity of the moment in a playoff basketball game.”
Valley struggled early and was down 7-2 nearing the halfway point of the first quarter, but the Warriors got going and responded by scoring 15 consecutive points. The Warriors finished the first quarter with a 25-10 advantage and increased their lead throughout the game. Sophomore Addi Marchese led the Warriors in scoring with 12 points to go along with two assists.
Coach Konstan knew that this game could have slipped away in the early goings with Marchese getting into foul trouble and senior Sadie Konstan trying to find her sea legs after returning from an injury. However, Coach Konstan took the risk and made sure that Marchese was on the floor as Valley Regional stepped up on defense to turn the tide.
“I put Addi back in because I thought we had no choice,” said Konstan. “Luckily, she didn’t pick up any more fouls, and I think our defense switching over to a 2-3 zone really helped us get going.”
Valley’s post players came up big in its victory over Westbrook. Sophomore Libby Cap led the charge on the glass by hauling in eight rebounds to go with four points, two assists, and a steal. Fellow sophomore Reagan Brenneman had five points and seven rebounds, while freshman Salmi Miller grabbed six boards and scored four points.
Coach Konstan was hoping that his post players would come into the game with an aggressive mindset. Valley has depended on its guards to score the bulk of its points this season, but Konstan knew that strategy wasn’t sustainable against Westbrook.
“We can’t rely on so much scoring from our guards. So, when the post kept taking those shots, I was thrilled,” Konstan said. “Libby Cap was amazing, and Salmi Miller had a great night rebounding, too. Salmi’s working on transitioning from being a guard and, tonight, she was ripping rebounds down and scoring. Libby had offensive and defensive rebounds, and that’s what we’re looking for. Sometimes, when one of them gets that mindset going, everyone joins in, and I thought Libby was the one that started it.”
The next day, Valley headed to Cromwell to face top-seeded Panthers in the Shoreline quarterfinals and took a 56-21 defeat. Sophomore Alena Crosby had nine points and six rebounds, while freshman Ava Cunningham scored five points and had one steal.
Prior to Shorelines, the Warriors started off their week by taking a 35-21 home loss to Morgan in their regular season finale on Feb. 11. Valley finished with a mark of 9-11 for the regular season. Crosby scored six points to go with three steals, and senior captain Annie Cooper had six boards with one block for Valley Regional.
With the State Tournament on the way, Coach Konstan hopes that the Warriors’ big victory against Westbrook will give them a boost of confidence as they get ready for the next phase of the playoffs.
“Games like today build confidence for all these players. Games like these tell these kids that you never know what can happen on a given night,” said Konstan. “Whatever happens, all these kids have been great, and they’ve had a great season.”