Hungry Hall Girls Basketball Rolling

Left+to+right%3A+Madison+Mandyck%2C+Liv+Deslauriers%2C+Jenna+Zydanowicz%2C+Amber+Rainser.++%0AConard+vs.+Hall+Girls+Basketball.+Feb.+13%2C+2017.+Photo+credit%3A+Ronni+Newton

Ronni Newton

Left to right: Madison Mandyck, Liv Deslauriers, Jenna Zydanowicz, Amber Rainser. Conard vs. Hall Girls Basketball. Feb. 13, 2017. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Finishing at 17-3, the Hall High School girls basketball team ended this year with the best regular season record since the 2013 season.Over winter break, the girls won the Canton Holiday Tournament, defeating Suffield 54-40. Entering postseason play, the Warriors drew a 3 seed in the CCC tournament, and a 7 seed in the Class LL Girls Basketball State Tournament.

When asked how this season differs from the past, Captain Caroline O’Keefe responded, “We have a whole new coaching staff, practices are a lot harder, but that makes the games easier, and we’re winning a lot more.”

Brittany Huggins had a big year planned out since she got the job. She began as the JV coach in the previous year, then took over for longtime Coach Kaplowitz. Huggins, a former Windsor Basketball player, also has college experience at Pace University.

The Hall girls faced their cross-town rival, Conard, in a final battle for the league championship. Both teams held a 16-3 record coming into the game on Feb. 13, with Conard winning their previous five meetings with the Hall girls. It was a close fought game, and junior Amber Raisner had a game high 22 points. Hall pulled out a 49-43 victory.

“We just played disciplined and stuck to the game plan,” Hall head coach Huggins said after the game.

“More disciplined definitely.” O’Keefe replied when asked about the coaching change.

Following the rivalry game, against Conard, the Warriors entered the CCC Tournament after securing the 3 seed by beating Avon with ease 60-24 in their final game. The girls came out hungry for a conference championship. They defeated their first two opponents, Rocky Hill 52-42 and Bristol Eastern 59-34, to secure a spot in semifinals against Middletown.

In a hard fought game, Middletown seeded second, took down the fighting Warriors 62-47. Hall’s Madison Mandyck led the Warriors with 17 points and 22 rebounds. Later in the week, Mandyck was named by the Hartford Courant to the “Fab 15” for the top 15 players in the area that week. Along with the loss, Hall’s Raisner, suffered a broken toe giving worry to the staff heading into the state tournament.

With Raisner playing on a broken toe, the girls faced Danbury in the first round of the Class LL Girls State Basketball Tournament. After a long game, Hall pulled away in the fourth quarter and finished with a 49-30 victory.

On Friday March 3rd, the Women Warriors faced the Southington Blue Knights in a primetime game at 7:00 pm on their home court. Everything looked good for Hall, as the girls built a 16 point lead going into halftime. Yet, the game was not over. The Blue Knights battled all second half cutting the score closer and closer. In the final seconds Southington was up two with 6 seconds left in the game, with Raisner shooting foul shots. Raisner sinks the first, but the second rims out ending a great season for the Warriors.

The Warriors return all player besides their two seniors, O’Keefe and Marie Cotter, hoping to make another run in the state tournament next season.