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NEW CANAAN, Conn. The New Canaan High girls basketball team used a big third quarter on Tuesday to sweep its season series against Darien. After narrowly escaping with a win against the Blue Wave in the LaVista Tournament, Sarah Mannelly and Courtney Rogers combined for 30 points to avoid any drama with a 48-35 victory.
We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game knowing what happened the first time we played them. But our girls showed up, New Canaan head coach Kim Palmer said. Im very proud of how they played tonight. Darien threw two different defenses at us to try to take away our scorers. So we called time out and made adjustments and our kids handled it very well.
Both teams came out shooting cold in the first half, as neither the Rams nor the Blue Wave could find the basket easily. Both teams struggled at first without their starting forwards, as New Canaans Kelly Armstrong and Dariens Meg Marren dealt with injuries.
New Canaan was able to adapt, coming alive with 19 points in the third quarter. Rogers hit her third three-pointer of the evening while Mannelly collected three the old-fashioned way - getting fouled and making the basket and ensuing free throw. But it was Ellie Wrights three-pointer that iced the game for the Rams, as New Canaans lead grew to 40-20 after three quarters.
Darien finished strong, outscoring the Rams 15-8 in the fourth. Kelly Karczewski hit a trio of three-pointers for the Blue Wave to cut into New Canaans lead, but the deficit was too great to overcome.
I think were getting better in the fourth quarter and keeping our composure and getting the ball upcourt when we need to, Mannelly said. I think we definitely stepped up without Kelly and everyone did a good job of getting rebounds and boxing out.
Mannelly led all scorers with 17 points while Rogers finished with 13. New Canaan (7-3) has now won six of its last seven games. The Rams travel to Staples on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game.
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