Dramatic Win For Girls Basketball

girls basketball coach Mary Piccirillo needed to catch her breath after a dramatic 30-27 win over West Haven High at Vincent J. Murray Memorial Gym Friday night.

 The victory capped off a torrid run of four straight home games in five days for the Gaelettes (14-5). For good measure, the down-to-the-wire decision had the added emotion of Senior Night for senior co-captains Melissa Corraro and Molly Hanko and classmates Melissa Brouillette and Lauren Taylor.

Trailing 25-27 with 1:15 to go, Shelton sophomore Megan Burke came off a high screen by sophomore Alyssa Eannotti to bury a deep basket for the tie. Corraro hit a critical foul shot for the lead and Hanko forced a clutch five-second violation to give Shelton its fifth straight win.

“That was a perfect opportunity for my captains to step up,” Piccirillo said. “Molly Hanko is one of our best defenders so, of course, she is going to get that call. Melissa, who is one of the best shooters on our team, steps up when we need her and drills it. It was perfect for both captains because they played their key roles on our team perfectly.”

Both teams suffered a slow start with the Blue Devils (7-12) getting the upper hand in the first quarter for a 5-3 lead.

Eannotti sparked the Gaelettes back into the game with a put-back basket for two of her five points and one of her six rebounds. Burke (nine points) gave the home team its first lead with three minutes left in the half on a 3-pointer off a feed from Corraro for an 8-5 advantage. One minute later, Corraro corralled an offensive rebound and calmly stepped behind the arc for a 3-pointer and an 11-8 Gaelette lead.

Corraro added to her team-high 12 points with a break-out layup and another 3-pointer in the third quarter as Shelton increased grew its advantage to 18-14 at the end of the stanza. Senior Melissa Brouillette (8 rebounds) and  Kelsey Pendagast (five rebounds) contributed mightily under the hoop in the third quarter.

Hanko increased the Gaelette lead to start the final stanza with a steal and coast-to-coast layup, but West Haven stormed back into the game with a 7-0 run to take a 21-20 lead with 5:40 left. The Blue Devils extended the lead to three points and threatened to tack on more, but a stingy Shelton defense kept the locals within striking distance led by two Hanko steals. Corraro broke a more than two-minute scoring drought for Shelton and tied the game at 25-25 with 2:40 left on a 3-pointer off an inbound assist from Hanko.

West Haven countered with an inside basket before Burke's dagger and Hanko's great defensive play. Burke gave Shelton some breathing room with two free throws and the Shelton defense sealed the game, forcing a hurried 3-point attempt by Blue Devils' leading scorer McKenzie Faguharson (13 points).

“This is probably the first time in Shelton's history that there has been four home game, including Senior Night against some pretty tough opponents. It is pretty intense,” Piccirillo said. “There's also a lot of emotions on Senior Night and it took us a while to suppress those feelings. But defensively we were right there. Allowing just 27 points in a game is phenomenal. Offensively, it wasn't all together, but luckily we pulled it out. We didn't give up. We were down and then we just came out and held it together. That was nice to see.”