Trumbull Girls Earn Return Trip To FCIAC Finals

It was a big job for a freshman, but Amanda Pfohl was up to the task.

Pfohl shut down Stamford senior Kelsey Cognetta in the second half as defending champion Trumbull held off the upset-minded Black Knights 40-33 Tuesday night at Fairfield Ludlowe to earn a return trip to the FCIAC girls basketball title game.

"A lot of people talk about Amanda Pfohl's shooting ability," Trumbull coach Steve Tobitsch said. "She's a fantastic shooter and that is what she is known for, but what put her into the starting lineup from game one was her defense.

"She's tall, she's athletic, she's aggressive. Semifinal game, game No. 22, we went to a freshman to go guard a senior guard because we trusted her."

No. 3 seed Trumbull (19-3) earned another crack at undefeated Danbury (22-0), which advanced to Thursday's final with a 51-38 victory over No. 4 Wilton in the second semifinal. Last week, the Hatters posted a hard-fought 43-40 victory over the Eagles.

For awhile, especially in the first half, there was no guarantee Trumbull would make it back to the final. This was not the same Stamford that lost to the Eagles during the regular season, 52-33.

The seventh-seeded Black Knights surrendered only 25 points in Saturday's upset of No. 2 seed of St. Joseph and continued with the terrific defense against Trumbull.

Stamford also rode the hot shooting of Cognetta -- 11 points in the first half -- to only trail 20-19 at the  intermission after leading 13-10 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second half, Trumbull double-teammed Cognetta with Pfohl and older sister Alexa shadowing her at the top of the key. The strategy worked as the Stamford star was held to only two points the entire second half -- a pair of free throws in the third quarter -- and got no open looks.

"I think that press or little trap definitely rattled us a little bit," Stamford coach Todd Parness said. "But we made an adustment and I think once we made an adjustment, the girls figured out what they needed to do and they did a little better job of handling it."

Eric Moore led Trumbull with 10 points while Alexa and Victoria Pfohl added nine apiece. Kelsey Santagata also scored 13 points for Stamford, which will take a 12-10 record in the Class LL state tournament.

The Eagles were sloppy at times on offense, committing 12 turnovers in the second half and 17 for the game.

But the difference down the stretch was their suffocating defense. Trumbull surrendered just 20 points over the final three quarters and only 14 in the second half. Stamford was just 5-of-27 from the field over the final two periods.

"We kept them to 33 points overall, which is a tremendous accomplishment," said Victoria Pfohl, the only senior on the Trumbull roster. "That's what happens when our shots don't fall, we need to step up on our defense."

Stamford pulled into a 24-24 tie on Lauren Schapiro's layup with 4:21 left in the third quarter, but the Eagles' shut-down defense held the Black Knights scoreless for the remainder of the period. Victoria Pfohl hit a 3-pointer, then hit Katherine  O'Leary for a layup that gave Trumbull a 29-24 lead entering the final period.

"I really challenged this team throughout the season," Tobitsch said. "A young team, the only way you fight through it is being a little tougher. We had to toughen them up a little bit, but now the reward is definitely showing."

Santagata's jumper pulled Stamford within 29-28 with 5:04 remaining, but Trumbull responded with a 6-0 spurt, taking a 35-28 lead on Victoria Pfohl's back-breaking 3-pointer with 2:36 remaining. The Eagles then scored their final five points from the foul line.

"They're a tough team, but we felt like we were in it the entire game," Parness said. "We were confident and if a couple layups go in for us at the end, we could be talking about a different outcome."

Tobitsch isn't planning too many changes from the earlier meeting against Danbury. The Eagles had a chance to tie late, but a  3-pointer rattled out in the final minute.

"This (betting back to the FCIAC finals) was completely unexpected," he said. "I told the girls there was only one team that came back to the final four from last year and that was us. To come back and have on opportunity to defend our championship, you could ask for anything more."

Indeed, Victoria Pfohl pointed put the role reversal.

Last year, Trumbull was expected to win the title after rolling through the regular season unbeaten. Now that bullseye is on Danbury's back. The Hatters are seeking their first FCIAC championship in school while Trumbull won its first title last year.

This time, Trumbull is the underdog, a role that suits Victoria Pfohl just fine.

"Either way, there's pressure," she said, "but being the underdog is always good because you have everything to gain, nothing to lose, and we're ready."