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The Fairfield Warde High School girls basketball team is still searching for its first win, despite playing an injury-plagued Stamford squad on Wednesday. Two seasons removed from winning the FCIAC championship, the Mustangs are in rebuilding mode, and it showed in their 45-39 loss to Stamford.
Warde held a six-point lead with five minutes to go in the first half when their shooting went cold. Stamford closed out the second quarter on a 10-2 run and came into the second half ready to rumble. The Black Knights turned up the physicality, outmuscling the Mustangs for the ball.
"We can't have breakdowns like that," Warde head coach Dave Danko said. "[Stamford] was undermanned and I give them credit. We let them hang around. They finished and we didn't."
Senior forward Kate Kerrigan did all she could to keep her team close with a game-high 16 points. Stamford's added pressure forced some bad shots from Warde and kept any of the other Mustangs from getting into double digits in scoring.
Stamford used the speed of their guard, Ebony Razor, and the height of their center, Kelsey Santagata, to create an effective two-pronged attack. Foul trouble for Warde did not help either as the Black Knights got 20 shots from the free throw line in the second half.
"The season is young, but we have girls that have logged a lot of minutes," Danko said. "We have to meet the intensity throughout the game, but it's my job to prepare them."
Warde has yet to score more than 40 points in a game this season. The Mustangs will try to get on the right track on Friday night when they host Norwalk at 7 p.m.
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