Norwich Free Academy's magical girls basketball run ends in Class LL quarterfinals
After knocking off No. 2 seed St. Joseph last week in a stunning Class LL second-round upset, a game Norwich Free Academy girls basketball coach Courtney Gomez called the program’s best win during her coaching tenure, the Wildcats waded into uncharted waters on Monday night.
“This is the longest they’ve played into March and they didn't really want to see it end,” Gomez said.
The No. 15 Wildcats traveled to Newington just two wins away from their first appearance in the state finals since 2010, while the seventh-seeded Nor’Easters were trying to reach the semifinal round for the third straight year.
NFA’s magical ‘Run to the Sun’ came to end as Newington got off to a quick start and rolled past the Wildcats, 58-40, in the Class LL quarterfinals at Newington High School’s Rogalski Gymnasium.
“We made a good run,” NFA senior Nevaeh Yorke said. “I’m very proud of how far we came. We did what we had to do in the first two games. Today, the other team was just better than us and we couldn't come up with the win.”
NFA fell to Newington, 44-32, in a non-league contest on Feb. 1.
“They’re one of the biggest teams we’ve seen all season,” Newington coach Marc Tancredi said. “We played them earlier and it was a tight game. Courtney just does a phenomenal job with them. But we executed the way we wanted too and that’s why we got the result that we did tonight.”
Bela Cucuta poured in a game-high 21 points, Kendall Miller added 17 points, while Haylie Sanchez chipped in 10 points for the Nor’Easters (20-5).
“Every time we tried to make a run Newington hit a big shot and that’s what championship level teams do,” Gomez said. “They just had scorers from a lot of different angles. You take away one and another kid makes a shot.”
The Nor’Easters, who lost to Notre Dame-Fairfield in the 2022 Class LL finals, made four 3-pointer sin the first half while building leads of 15-8 after one quarter and 30-15 at intermission.
“We’re typically not built for a 15 point deficit,” Gomez said. “I was hoping that we started off a little bit better defensively. We couldn’t get into a flow offensively. We were rushing in the beginning and trying to make up a five point deficit in one possession.”
Yorke opened the second half with a 3-pointer and a fastbreak bucket to close the gap to 33-20 but that’s as close as the Wildcats could get.
More: Zanor column: It's 'Run to the Sun' time for boys basketball
“It was harder tonight playing catch up with them,” Yorke said. “We just needed to come out a little stronger.”
NFA junior forward Emily Orcutt scored a team-high 12 points. Junior guard Brooke Stringer and freshman guard Sese Atchinson each had nine points, while Yorke finished with seven points for the Wildcats (14-10).
“I’m proud of them,” Gomez said. “We didn’t have the year we wanted in the ECC tournament but to come back and be resilient and get to the quarterfinals, it’s a good thing for our program. And it’s a great thing for the seniors leaving the program in a better place than they started. And for our returning kids, it's a great starting point for where we can go.”
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Norwich Free Academy falls to Newington in CIAC girls tournament
