WATERTOWN – After beginning January with a 3-0 run, the Watertown High School girls’ basketball team settled back down to earth with consecutive losses to St. Paul Catholic and Ansonia High Schools, leaving them with a week to ponder their 5-7 record before taking the court on Friday, January 27 at Oxford High School at 7 p.m.
The loss to St. Paul hurt for several reasons: first it was the Warriors’ fourth straight against an NVL Iron Division rival; second, it was a decisive loss; third and fourth, it snapped their winning streak an also put them in serious need of a charge down the stretch in order to qualify for the NVL and CIAC post-season tournaments.
Armed with that knowledge, the Warriors, after jumping out to a 12-7 first quarter in front of an appreciative Cook Gym crowd on January 20, were outscored 29-19 over th course of the second and third quarters of a tough-to-take52-47 loss to an Anaonis team which posted only it’s fourth win in 12 games.
Brighton Ahearn lit up WHS with four three-point hoops as part of her 24-point night for the Chargers, who connected six times from downtown, shots which proved to be the difference.
For Watertown, Ariellys Velez was the scoring leader with 16 points while Alana Johnson contributed nine points.
1 2 3 4 T
Ansonia 7 16 13 16 52
Watertown 12 8 11 16 47
WHS SCORING (5-7): Ariellys Velez 6-2-16; Nikki Forte 1-0-2; Casey OToole 3-0-6; Alana Johnson 3-3-9; Kobe Young 0-0-0; Sarah Krayeske 1-0-2; Francesca Guerrera 3-0-6; Isabella Beauty 1-3-5; Tianna Williams 0-1-1. TOTALS: 18-9-47.
3-pt. FG: Velez (2).
A home game against St. Paul Catholic High School on January 17 offered the Warriors an opportunity to climb out of fifth place in the NVL’s Iron Division.
Riding a three-game winning streak, the Warriors, who came in with a 5-4 NVL mark, were still in search of their first divisional win, so there was a chance that good things could happen.
Through the third quarter, there was still a chance that something good would happen, but the Warriors were unable to come back and close the deal, as the Falcons closed out with an 18-8 run to win going away, 57-40, Watertown’s first loss since December 30.
Nonetheless, it was a disappointing loss as WHS fell to 0-4 in divisional play and began the second half of the season on a down note after getting to .500 at 5-5.
For Watertown, Casey O’Toole led the way with 16 points while Ariellys Velez finished with 11 points, nine of which came on three-point field goals.
1 2 3 4 T
ST. P 16 8 15 18 57
WHS 10 10 12 8 40
WHS SCORING (5-6): Ariellys Velez 4-0-11; Casey OToole 5-6-16; Sarah Krayeske 2-0-5; Isabella Beauty 1-0-2; Tianna Williams 2-0-4; Nikki Forte 1-0-2. TOTALS: 15-6-40.
3-pt. FG: Velez (3), Krayeske.
Credit: Source link
