Coach Kirk Murad and the No. 2 seed girls basketball team knew that they had their hands full when No. 15 seed Brookfield came to Storrs. But Murad may have not known it was going to take that much to send the Bobcats home.
Maggie Sundberg had 21 points and the Panthers held off Brookfield 54-50 at E.O. Smith in the second round of the Class L tournament Thursday night.
“We knew coming in they’re a very good, well-coached team,” Murad said. “They played very good defense and the kid [Julia] DePoi killed us.”
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DePoi had 24 points for Brookfield but it was not enough for the Bobcats to pull off the upset in the back and forth game. For the Panthers, Holly Worski added 12 points and Morgan Olander had nine.
With E.O. Smith down 44-42, Sundberg took over. On back-to-back possessions with over two minutes left, the senior point guard hit two floaters to give the Panthers the lead. DePoi tied the game for the Bobcats on a put back and after Olander got a rebound on Brookfield’s next possession, she was fouled. Olander hit both free throws to give E.O. Smith a 48-46 lead.
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After DePoi missed a jumper, Sundberg was fouled but missed the front end of a one and one. With 40 seconds left, Olander got a piece of a Melchione shot and Sundberg redeemed herself by making both free throws to give the Panthers a 4-point lead. Brookfield answered back with a 3-pointer from Maureen Vetter to make it 50-49. With 11 seconds left Murphy Murad made one of two free throws for E.O Smith and the Bobcats got the ball back with a chance to win or tie the game. With Murad guarding DePoi, the freshman forced DePoi to step out of bounds giving the Panthers the ball with seven seconds left.
Worski hit one free throw and E.O. Smith fouled DePoi who couldn’t hit the rim on the second free throw after she tried to miss on purpose. Worski made two more free throws to make the final score 54-50.
Brookfield gave E.O. Smith all it could handle and the Panthers may be better for it as they try to continue their run deeper in the Class L playoffs.
“I’m going to bring the defibrillator next time,” Murad said. “A little too close that regard. We did just barely enough to hold on tonight.”
E.O. Smith will face CCC foe Platt in the third round of the Class L tournament. The game will be played Monday at 7 p.m. at E.O. Smith.
