Trumbull Rallies From 11 Down To Win FCIAC Girls Basketball Championship

The girls basketball team showed the heart of a champion.

Overcoming some rare adversity, the top-seeded Eagles rallied from an 11-point deficit early in the third quarter to defeat No. 2 Ridgefield 48-38 Thursday night in the FCIAC championship game at Webster Bank Arena.

Alexa Pfohl, the tournament MVP,  scored 12 points to lead Trumbull, which won its second FCIAC title in school history. The Eagles' previous championship came in 2005.

"I think we had a great speech at halftime," said Trumbull forward Erin Moore, who contributed 10 points for the Eagles. "We were really pumped to show them that we weren't No. 1 for no reason. We had to prove it because they came out hard and we just fought back."

Victoria Pfohl's jumper put Trumbull (22-1) ahead to stay at 32-30 with 7:31 remaining in the contest and the Eagles put away the Tigers with some strong free-throw shooting down the stretch.

Trumbull made 11 of its first 14 foul shots in the fourth period and 12 of 18 overall in the quarter, including six in a row at one point to open a 46-36 lead on Victoria Pfohl's pair with 1:07 to play.

"One of the things on our scouting report was you're going to get knocked down," Trumbull Coach Steve Tobitsch said. "But the question is, will we get back up? That's what we said at halftime and the girls responded and we met our
goals in this game. That's why we're standing here at the end."

Ridgefield (18-5) fell short in its bid to avenge a loss for the second straight game. In the semifinals on Tuesday, the Tigers defeated New Canaan 51-33 after losing to the Rams 67-61 during the regular season.

In early February, Ridgefield fell at home to Trumbull 53-39 in a game that decided the top seed for the playoffs.

The Tigers were ready for the rematch, but the Eagles' defense was too much in the second half. Over the final 16 minutes, the Tigers made only four field goals and shot just 1-of-12 from the field in the fourth quarter.

Ridgefield also hurt its cause by shooting 6-of-14 from the line over the final five minutes.

Molly Welch paced Ridgefield with 13 points, but 12 came in the first half. Kathryn Cholko and Emily Favorite added nine apiece for the Tigers.

"They made their foul shots and we didn't," Ridgefield coach Katie Smith said. "That's what it really came down, basically. They did what they always do. I thought it was a good game until the end."

The Eagles were sluggish throughout most of the first half and looked out of sync trying to attack Ridgefield's zone defense.

The Tigers scored the final six points of the first half and the first four of the third quarter to open a 24-13 lead on Cholko's driving layup.

But Trumbull finally got its wakeup call and began playing with much more passion and urgency. The Eagles began trapping more and did a better job of boxing out on the boards.

"We tried to play our game - instead of theirs - and we ended up picking it up," said Alexa Pfohl."We did more offensive rebounding and got more physical."

Trumbull finished the third period with a 17-5 spurt, taking a 30-29 lead - its first of the game - on Moore's two free throws with 14 seconds left in the quarter.

"I knew they were going to make a run eventually," Smith said. "I knew that was going to happen. They're good at that. We fought for the rest of the game."

Over the game's final 14-plus minutes, the Eagles surrendered only 14 points and accomplished their goal of holding the opponent under 40 points. Eighteen of Trumbull's 22 opponents haven't cracked the 40-point barrier this season.

Ridgefield's only field goal in the fourth quarter was Cholko's 3-pointer that made it 34-33 with 6:47 to play. The Tigers' final five points came from the line.

"I think the girls were definitely a little nervous," Tobitsch said. "It's a championship game. In the second half, we kind of just let the defense start our offense, and we knocked down some shots."