Redcoats Dominate Indians, 49-27

The Berlin girls’ basketball team easily defeated a young Farmington team in the opening round of the Erica Garrett Memorial Tournament at the on Tuesday night, 49-27.

“Berlin dominated us,” said Farmington head coach Russ Crist. “They caused a lot of turnovers and I give them a lot of credit. They completely dominated us all game.”

Berlin got contributions from several players with junior Courtney Trzasko leading the way with 15 points. Junior Ashley Malloy added 10 points and Chelsea Vujs had eight points.

“Courtney has a nice outside shot and we have been waiting for that to come along. And she did a nice job tonight,” said Berlin Head Coach Sheila King. “Ashley is a gutsy player and she will find a way to score.”

King said “defensive intensity” lead Berlin to hold Farmington to only four points in the first quarter.

“We have been struggling for a bit and it was nice to get this win,” King stated

The Farmington team, which graduated four starters, was lead by junior Jamie Bartucca, who had seven points, and senior Ugne Vaiciulyte, who had six points. Crist stated that his team has played well all season, but Berlin “did everything a little bit better” on Tuesday night.

“They definitely wanted it more. They got all the rebounds and loose balls,” Crist stated. “Scoring overall was a problem for us.”

Berlin will play Portland in the championship game of the tournament at 7 p.m. on Thursday at . Rocky Hill will play Farmington in the consolation game at 5:30 p.m.

The tournament is played in honor of Erica Garrett who died from Cancer in 2000. All the money raised from the tournament goes toward a scholarship in her honor.

“Last year was disappointing,” King said. “It is always fun to come here to play and it is a nicely run tournament.”