Stone Rocks in Leading Granby Memorial into Quarterfinals

The girls basketball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the state Class M tournament with a hard-fought 60-53 victory over No. 9 Plainfield in second round action on Wednesday night.

While Kristen Endorf scored a game-high 16 points and Gabby Dixon had 13, it was point guard Emily Stone who scored eight of her 12 points in the last four minutes from the free throw line to seal the game for the eighth-seeded Bears (20-5).

“I made the comment that I wouldn’t take any other point guard in our league over Emily,” Granby Memorial head coach Dean Godin said. “She just proved me right.”

Indeed, after Granby Memorial took a 14-point lead, 50-36, with 7:18 left in the game, Plainfield came roaring back to eventually close the gap to two at 53-31 with 2:54 left.

“They’re a team that scores in the mid- to high-60s, and they just absolutely bomb threes,” Godin said. “We knew they had another run in them. My concern was to stave it off and make a run of our own. … It was a battle of the defensive team against the offensive team. We were lucky enough to come through tonight.”

Stone, a junior, was called on to shoot 10 free throws in the last four minutes, and she made eight.

“We put the ball into her hands at the end of the game and she was ice,” Godin said. “She did a lot of really nice things. All of the girls did something in order for us to win, whether it was Kristen diving on a loose ball, it was just one of those games.”

Haley Makuch scored eight points, while Ellie McDougall and Kylynn Kane each had three and Julia Mazzotta had two in the winning effort.

The Bears built their lead gradually, leading 15-14 after the first quarter and 30-25 at the half. Granby Memorial led 48-36 after three quarters before Hailey Griffen (16 ponts), Kimberly Bouten (8 points) and Heather Evens (14 points) led the charge back.

The comeback, however, feel short, as Plainfield struggled to find its offensive rhythm all evening.

“We just played horrible; we played one of our worst games of the season,” Plainfield head coach Jason Greene said. “We beat ourselves tonight. [Granby] hustled. They’re well coached. They do get credit, but we didn’t play well at all.”

Granby Memorial, for its part, will have its work cut out for it on March 5 when it takes on No. 1 seed Weaver (22-2) in Hartford.

“It’s pretty exciting … but I say give us a chance in that one,” Godin said. “I want to play [Weaver]. That’s what you aspire to.”