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03/01/2020 11:00 PMThe Morgan girls’ basketball team’s Shoreline Conference Tournament run came to an end last week with a defeat against East Hampton in conference final. The No.3 seed Huskies took on the top-seeded Bellringers and took a 32-16 defeat in the ultimate conference contest at Old Saybrook High School. To reach the final, Morgan grabbed a narrow 41-40 win over Cromwell in the semis. With last week’s results Head Coach Caitlin Woods’s squad moved its record to 17-6 on the year.
On Feb. 28, the Huskies took a 32-16 defeat against East Hampton in the Shoreline Conference final at Old Saybrook High School. Both teams had trouble finding the bottom of the bucket at the beginning of the game. Morgan came out of the first quarter with a 4-0 lead over East Hampton, but after the Huskies went up 6-0 in the second quarter, the Bellringers went on long run to take a 17-9 lead at halftime. Morgan was outscored in the second half 15-7 and took the 32-16 loss.
Coach Woods thought that her squad gave a great defensive effort, but the Huskies’ offense could never get going. After East Hampton pulled ahead, Morgan hard a difficult time slowing the game down.
“Defensively, we started out well, and both teams let the nerves get to them. Unfortunately our nerves never went away,” Coach Woods said. “We missed some shots, and it rattled us. Offensively, we could not put it together. We couldn’t execute. We were trying to look for fast breaks, but it never came together.”
Junior captain Catie Donadio led the Huskies in scoring with 12 points to her credit. Rachel Lehn and Katie Martin had two points apiece.
On Feb. 25, Morgan defeated the Panthers by a score of 41-40 in the Shoreline semis at Coginchaug Regional High School to punch their ticket to the final. As the narrow margin of victory suggests, both team proved evenly matched, and the game was back and forth. Cromwell took the early lead at 7-6 after the first quarter, but Morgan took a two-point lead into halftime with an 11-8 second quarter. The Huskies extended their 17-15 advantage with a 10-8 third quarter. The Panthers closed the gap and took the lead in the fourth, but Donadio had a clutch play where she stole the ball and made the game-winning shot.
“It was a really great girls’ high school basketball game. I loved the intensity from both teams. We both fought extremely hard. I was proud to see that we held the lead throughout the game until the end,” said Woods. “We were able to pull it out in the end. Cromwell started hitting 3-pointers at just the right time, but Catie stole the ball and made the game winning basket. It would have been a heart-breaking game to lose. We were thrilled at the end. Maintaining the lead for most of the game was a credit to how far we’ve come this season.”
The Huskies were bolstered by a 21-point game from junior Catie Donadio, Donadio also added six steals, four rebounds, three assists, and a block. Even though she’s seen the impact Donadio has every night, Coach Woods can still be surprised by what her junior captain can do.
“Catie is just everywhere all the time, and I think she’s the best guard in the league,” Coach Woods said. “She does everything for our team, and she really showed that.”
McComiskey had a strong game on the glass collecting 12 boards to go with five blocks, five points, three steals, and two assists.
“Leah’s the type of kid where her scoring is the icing on the cake. Her rebounding and battling against the biggest kids,” said Woods. “It’s rare that she doesn’t have five blocks in a game. When she scores too, then teams really struggle to beat us.”
Freshman guard Caeley Ayer provided 10 points, five steals, five rebounds, and three assists. Junior Alex Kelly added five points, five rebounds, four blocks, two steals, and an assist.
Alex was blocking shots on the inside against Cromwell. She’s been so critical in big games with a blocked shot or a defensive rebound at the end,’ Woods said. “Caeley’s 10 points were huge for us. She was also outstanding defensively. She’s really hard to play against. She looks out of position sometimes, but she reads the ball so well and can get her hands on anything. She’s a big reason we’ve got the wins we have.”
The Huskies look forward to the Class M State Tournament now, where they will enter the bracket as the No. 6 seed. Morgan hosts No. 27 seed Immaculate on Monday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m. Coach Woods wants the Huskies to put the Shorelines behind them and focus on states, because she knows her team is capable of big things.
“The kids needed a break and a day to basically mourn the loss a little. I emphasized that we need to do everything we need to do to get a clean slate and move forward,” said Woods. “The next game is the most important game. If we can play well, then this team can do anything.”
From the Sidelines
The Morgan girls’ basketball team’s roster features senior captain Leah McComiskey; seniors Rachel Lehn and Alyse Olcott; junior captain Catie Donadio; juniors Madeline Dunham and Alex Kelly; sophomores Kasandra Gutierrez, Sydney Scanlon, and Ava Zirlis; and freshmen Caeley Ayer, Bailey Brown, Iris Dunham, Kacey Edwards, Alyssa Maikowski, Katie Martin, Eva O’Sullivan, Maddie O’Sullivan, and Sophie Passante.
This is Caitlin Woods’s fourth season as head coach of the Huskies, and Morgan’s assistant coach is Jessica Lynch.
Morgan’s wins during the regular season came against Old Lyme (34-32 and 38-32), Old Saybrook (37-17 and 47-29), Haddam-Killingworth (44-40 and 55-31), North Branford (50-38 and 47-25), Portland (53-26), Coginchaug (43-41), Old Saybrook (47-29), Hale-Ray (67-32), Westbrook (49-27), Cromwell (49-45), Guilford (42-39), and Valley Regional (61-36). The Huskies’ losses came against Valley Regional (44-32), East Hampton (34-23), Cromwell (48-29), Amistad (42-39), and Coginchaug (48-39).
Morgan earned the No. 3 seed in the Shoreline Conference Tournament and defeated No. 6 seed Portland (52-25) in the quarterfinal. In the Shoreline semifinal, the Huskies defeated No. 2 seed Cromwell (41-40). In the final, Morgan lost to top-seeded East Hampton (32-16).