Ellington Hands Granby Memorial Its First Loss, 63-56

Senior Kelly Conley scored 31 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out six assists to lift the Ellington High girls basketball team past 63-56 Thursday evening in a matchup between two previously undefeated North Central Connecticut Conference foes.

After leading just 28-26 going into halftime, the Purple Knights pulled away in the third quarter, courtesy of an 11-2 run, to take a 46-39 advantage going into the final period.

“I’m very pleased, because it was a physical game," Ellington High head coach Lauren Lovetere-Beeler said. “We held our heads high and got pushed around a bit. But we played really well.”

Savannah Kresge scored 15 points in the winning effort, while Karlee Alves had six, Jessica Malone had five, Kim McCoy chipped in four and Megan Milliken added two for Ellington, which improved its record to 7-0.

Lovetere-Beeler said that the victory was an important stepping stone for the team to reach its goal of winning the NCCC regular-season title.

Last year, the Purple Knights won the league tournament title, but finished second in the regular season behind Avon.

“This was a big hurdle,” Lovetere-Beeler said.

Haley Makuch led Granby Memorial (8-1) with 23 points, while Kristen Endorf added 12, Emily Stone seven, Ellie McDougall six, Sara Eckhardt and Michelle Guttermuth each had three, and Kylynn Kane two.

“It was a really good game,” said Granby Memorial head coach Dean Godin, who hardly sounded like a coach disappointed with his team’s effort. “It was the kind of game that could have gone either way.”

The Bears were playing without defensive specialist Gabby Dixon, who sat out with an arm injury. Godin, however, refused to use that as an excuse for why his team suffered its first defeat of the season.

“Gabby would have helped, but that wasn’t the end all be all,” said Godin, adding that the two girls he had guarding Conley did a good job of containing Ellington’s star player.

Instead, Godin pointed to the four minute stretch of time that Makuch went without touching the ball on the offensive end as a reason for his team’s loss.

“That’s something we have to work on,” Godin said. “We have a couple of options. Haley was the one working tonight. We played hard. It was a fun game to be involved in...It was one of those nights that the momentum was hanging on a thread and they got it.”

Godin said that he and his team were looking forward to the two teams' rematch in Ellington on Jan 17.

“That’s one of the toughest places to play in the league,” Godin said. “We’re definitely looking forward to that game.”

The Bears will be in action next Tuesday against Windsor Locks on the road, while Ellington plays at Holyoke, Mass. on Monday at 7 p.m.