Trumbull Girls Basketball Ousted In State Tournament

For a team that seemed to have its cruise control set on “win,”  's magical season came to a screeching halt on Thursday evening.

The top-seeded Golden Eagles were eliminated at home by New Haven's Career Magnet 64-52 in the quarterfinals of the CIAC Class LL girls basketball tournament.

The 64 points were by far a season high allowed by the reigning FCIAC champions who finished the year at 23-2.

All season, Trumbull was known for its formidable defense.  However, the ninth-seeded Panthers (20-5) found a way to methodically dismantle it.

Additionally, the Eagles’ velvet scoring touch deserted them at times as missed free throws and errant layups choked off any potential momentum surge.

The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair ending with the score knotted at 13.  Trumbull’s Erin Moore dominated inside, sinking three deuces in the first frame alone. 

Trumbull’s Mookie Kennedy drained three buckets in the beginning of the second to get the Eagles off on the right foot.  Halfway through the quarter, though, as Trumbull was sitting on a 23-20 lead, the tide turned for the Eagles.

The Panthers settled into a scoring groove that saw them go on a 12-point run, which clearly knocked the wind out of Trumbull’s sails.  The Eagles never regained the lead.

At the intermission, Career Magnet owned a 32-23 advantage.

Trumbull’s intensity jumped several orders of magnitude as the second half got underway.  Alexa Pfohl shined,  hitting a pair of 3-pointers,  which brought the Eagles to within four points of the Panthers. Career Magnet, however, never let up.

Kennedy led Trumbull’s scoring with 15 points,  followed by Moore, who put up 14.  Pfohl chipped in 10.

Bria Moore of Career Magnet was the game's leading scorer with 23 points.  Nicole Anderson sank 16 points for the Panthers and Jasmine Claxton added 11

 Trumbull’s Head Coach Steve Tobitsch talked about their season in a positive light.

“This was an incredible experience and I'm proud of all that they accomplished as a team,” he said.

On Monday evening,  Career Magnet faces No. 5 number seed Hall High School in the semifinal game.  Hall upset fourth-seeded Holy Cross 62-54 on Thursday.

The other semifinal matchup, also taking place on Monday, has No. 2 seed Mercy facing No. 6 seed Glastonbury.