E.O. Smith Girls Headed to Semi-Finals

The Panthers knocked their namesakes from Orville H. Platt High School out of the Class L girls basketball tournament on Monday night, sending the Panthers from Meriden home with a 49-27 loss in a quarterfinal matchup.

Neither team could generate much offense in the first quarter. Two and a half minutes went by before Damika Martinez got on the scoreboard for Platt.

Morgan Olander finally got E.O. Smith started with a baseline jumper and later dropped in a 3-pointer. Another 3-pointer from Murphy Murad contributed to a 13-8 lead for E.O. Smith at the end of the quarter.

E.O. Smith began the second quarter with a full-court press that discombobulated Platt. The Meriden team repeatedly turned the ball over and couldn’t buy a bucket, going scoreless for all eight minutes of the second.

Murad sparked the offense with her distinctive two-handed set shot from the corner, notching another 3 points on the way to an 8-point quarter. The score was 34-8 at halftime.

Platt pulled itself together somewhat in the third, slimly outscoring E.O. Smith 12-9. Martinez again led the way with a pair of scores, but Elisa Plaza, Platt's big body in the middle, picked her fourth foul and went to the bench.

Platt won the fourth quarter by the slimmest of margins, 7-6, but the scoreless second quarter and a 5-point disadvantage in the first were just too much to overcome.

Olander led E.O. Smith with 20 points on the night while Murad added 13. Platt was led by Martinez who scored 14.

“We were just stone cold,” Platt coach Tom Johnson said, “and the turnovers just killed us.”

E.O. Smith now moves on to the semi-finals to face Torrington on March 11. Both teams are 21-1 this season. E.O. Smith's overall No. 2 seed in the tournament is one higher than Torrington's No. 3. The winner of that game will play in the tournament finals at Mohegan Sun Arena.

“It’s going to be a tough challenge either way,” said E.O. Smith coach Kirk Murad. “We beat RHAM [who lost to Torrington tonight] twice but that last game was real close, and Torrington has one of the best players in the state in Sarah Royals.”