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SOUTHINGTON - The Southingtonâs girls basketball teamâs run in the Class LL state tournament was over much sooner than it had expected.
It was almost a repeat of the last time the Blue Knights took on Glastonbury with the same result.
Southington got little production outside of Janette Wadolowskiâs 36 points as the Blue Knights fell to the Tomahawks in the first round of the state tournament Monday night 61-54.
Alli Carr and Kelley Marshall were the teamâs second-leading scorers with six points each.
âWeâre a young team so this is something that we have to learn from,â Southington head coach Mike Forgione said. âWe knew what we needed to do, to finish and the nice thing was the kids were really disappointed. And I told them, donât be mad, be disappointed because you get mad when you donât give it everything you have, but be disappointed that we didnât do enough to win the game. Welcome to LL.â
The Blue Knights did keep it competitive, tying the game up 47-47 with 4:47 left to go.
âI honestly was thinking if we can keep it close, we could knock down a shot,â Forgione said.
But unfortunately for Southington, things did not go the way it had hoped.
Glastonbury went on to score 14 points in the last three minutes of the game.
âA coach came up to me this year and said, âSouthingtonâs going to have a rough yearâ and he goes, âitâs Janette and a bunch of JV players,ââ Forgione said. âAnd he was just being honest, just talking. He said they were just young and not really ready so we used that as a slogan all year, Janette and the JV team, weâll see.â
The Blue Knights were able to maintain a stable lead for the first eight minutes with Wadolowski able to put up the first four points of the game, but not before Glastonburyâs Aleigha Partee sank her first of many baskets.
Partee finished tied for a team-high 17 points along with Charlotte Bassett.
The Tomahawks, however, came out of the second quarter ready to play and took control of the game.
Glastonburyâs Allyson Haddad ignited a 7-2 run to take the lead. The Blue Knights managed to get within four points, but the Tomahawks continued to score, ending the half with Southington trailing by five.
âWe knew they had the two really good guards, (Bassett and Partee) and they both added a lot of Glastonbury,â Forgione said. âAt the end of the day we knew that them two and Janette would even out, and they kind of did.â
The third quarter was back-and-forth between the teams.
The Tomahawks, though, were able to keep a constant lead of four or more throughout the third period. With just five minutes left, Carr was able to make back-to-back baskets, bringing the Blue Knights within one (30-29), but that is as close as they would get.
âWe came in knowing it was going to be a battle. Itâs really do or die at this moment,â Carr said. âWe just came in with a mindset âwe can do thisâ, it was all in or nothing and I think some of us went in a little nervous. I really wasnât on my A game from the start and if I would have been it wouldâve helped. We just wanted to win, and sometimes you just donât, and thatâs how today went.â
Southington ended its season 16-7 overall and 15-5 during its regular season.