'It’s like I never left': Daughter-father duo leading Killingly girls basketball again

Killingly girls basketball coach Gina Lindberg is back on the sidelines this season.

Lindberg’s father, former Killingly boys basketball coach Scott Derosier, changed titles from assistant coach to head coach a year ago and guided Killingly to a 12-8 mark while Gina earned a master’s degree and took care of her 2-year-old son, Charlie.

Lindberg is now the head coach again and there was Charlie, along with family and friends, making their way over to the bench to congratulate Gina following Killingly’s 62-42 win over Stonington.

“I’m back and it’s like I never left,” Lindberg said. “It tugs on my heart a little bit not being home every second but he’s (Charlie) in good hands.”

Scott Derosier, who is still his daughter’s trusty assistant coach, and Lindberg, who guided Killingly to Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament championships in 2020 and 2021, have high expectations again this season.

An early season four-game winning streak, highlighted by a thrilling two-point victory over Norwich Free Academy and the sparkling home performance against Stonington, has given Killingly a confidence boost.

“We’ve just been playing with so much more intensity and our defense has been looking phenomenal,” Killingly senior Molly Crabtree said.

Crabtree, along with her twin sister, Molly, and seniors Laura Farquhar and Grace Sumner, have played AAU basketball together since the sixth grade.

“We just work well together,” Molly Crabtree said. “We’re best friends off the court, so it really shows on the court.”

Crabtree displayed her sharp-shooting prowess against Stonington by draining four 3-pointers in the first half, lifting Killingly to a 44-31 lead at intermission.

“I haven’t been shooting the ball too well but tonight was a good night,” said Crabtree, who finished with a game-high 22 points.

Farquhar added 15 points, while junior forward Arianha Headen chipped in 10 points as Killingly improved to 4-2. (Killingly has since dropped close games against Fitch and Ledyard.)

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Killingly lost just one starter, point guard Aila Gutierrez, to graduation, and Lindberg had some big shoes to fill this winter.

“Absolutely,” Lindberg said. “Aila was a huge part of our success. She did everything that didn't show up in the stat column.”

Lindberg handed the point guard duties to Farquhar, a power forward and soccer star, and Farquhar has looked terrific in the season’s first half.

“Laura is a tremendous athlete,” Lindberg said. “Her court vision is phenomenal. She’s right where she’s supposed to be.”

Farquhar poured in a game-high 21 points in Killingly’s big 51-39 ECC Division II win against Waterford. She also buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give Killingly the lead in their 32-30 win against NFA.

“She’s so nifty, it’s great,” said Molly Crabtree, who made 6-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes against NFA. “That was a huge win. It was intense, lots of pressure.”

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Defense has been Killingly’s forte under Lindberg and this year is no exception.

“Playing defense is their favorite thing,” Lindberg said. “Our girls are competitors. They’re tough. It was a 2-2 defensive showdown against NFA after the first quarter. When they put their mind to it they’re hard to get by. Our defense is really good.”

The improvement of Killingly’s formidable frontline - Headen, Sumner, and sophomore Amaya Spadola - has also paid early dividends.

“I think it’s the first time in years that Killingly has size,” Lindberg said. “I tell our guards ‘get it inside’ because your life is going to be so much easier when our bigs start hitting from the inside.”

Killingly junior Lila Beaudreault has also provided some good minutes off the bench.

“Our girls are always chomping at the bit and ready to go,” Lindberg said.

“Our first goal is to make the state tournament and then we hope to win games in the ECC tournament,” Molly Crabtree said. “We always want to go as far as we can.”

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: With Lindberg back as coach, Killingly girls basketball has high hopes