Season Ends For Ridgefield Girls Basketball At The Buzzer

A successful season for the Ridgefield girls basketball team ended abruptly Monday by only two points.

Riley Hasson of Cheshire followed in an offensive rebound as time expired, lifting the No. 25 team to a stunning 46-44 victory over the eighth-seeded Tigers in a CIAC Class LL first-round clash.

The Rams, who improved to 12-11, rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final quarter to advance to the second round Saturday against No. 9 seed  Career Magnet of New Haven.

With the contest tied, the Tigers (18-6) turned over the ball with 30 seconds remaining. The Rams then worked the clock down until Julia Stroble's eight-footer in the paint bounced off the rim with under five seconds remaining.

But Ridgefield failed to box out and Hasson had an easy follow-in for the winning basket. Just like that, the Tigers' season was over.

“Usually, the second half is ours, especially after we don’t get started early," Ridgefield coach Katie Smith said. "It is hard to rely on a third and fourth quarter against quality teams.

"I thought we underestimated them despite my warnings," Smith said. "Also, we had a lot of turnovers and I think we just rushed it against their press, even when we practiced dealing with it. It is a tough loss.”

The Tigers may have still been affected by their loss to Trumbull in the FCIAC championship on Thursday as they shoot poorly early in the game and trailed 12-7 after the first quarter.

Kathyrn Cholko scored eight of her team-high 15 points in the second quarter, pulling the Tigers within 23-22 at the intermission. Emily Favorite added nine, and Molly Welch chipped with seven for Ridgefield.

With three minutes left in the contest, the Tigers had opened a 42-34 lead and appeared to be in control.

Down the stretch, though, the Tigers were called for fouls on five straight possessions while no fouls were whistled against the Rams during the same span. Cheshire made nine of its final 10 free throws, helping the Rams erase their eight-point deficit.

For the game, Cheshire had 22 free throws attempts and Ridgefield just 12

The combination of Cheshire freshman Missy Bailey, who scored a game-high 19 points, and  Stroebel, who added 15, hurt the Tigers.

Bailey got the Rams going by hitting two 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with 11 points in the first half.

Cheshire coach Sara Mik acknowledged it was a strange game. 

“We couldn’t make our foul shots in the first half," Mik said. "I am glad we did at the end. Our senior leadership and freshman Missy Bailey were the keys to our win. Our league (Southern Connecticut Conference) is very competitive and it really prepared us for close games like this.”

After Cheshire ripped off an 8-0 run to tie the game at 42-42, Ridgefield's Gemma Howard scored on an offensive rebound to give the Tigers a 44-42 lead with 1:20 remaining.

But Stroebel hit two free throws to the tie game again with 1:03  left. Ridgefield turned the ball over in its next possession, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.