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New Canaan 33, Norwalk 32
New Canaan 6th Grade Girls Basketball team, December 2014. Contributed
New Canaan 6th grade Girls Basketball team bested Norwalk 33-32 in overtime Saturday.
The team started off strong as Quinn McKiernan won the tipoff and dished the ball to Emma Gibbens underneath to take a 2-0 lead.
After Norwalk made a flurried attempt to score, McKiernan got a defensive rebound and did a long pass to a breaking Cameron Murphy, who brought the team to a 4-0 lead.
However, Norwalk went on a 10 point run, punctuated only by a Brynne Harris free-throw and a McKiernan jumper. New Canaan fought back, as Elizabeth St. George made an inside pass to Gibbens in the paint, who brought score to 12-9, followed by a St. George defensive rebound that was dished to Gibbens and then to Chloe Reidy, who brought the score to 12-11 at the half.
In the second half, the teams traded possessions and points. McKiernan made 3 baskets in the half, and defensive rebounds by Julia Bazata and Olivia West led to baskets by Murphy and Gibbens.
Later on in the half, a free throw by Tyler Towers and another Murphy jump shot kept New Canaan neck-and-neck with Norwalk, but in the final minute a foul shot by Gibbens helped New Canaan take a 27-26 lead. However, Norwalk converted one of two foul shots in the final second, and the teams ended the game tied at 27.
Both teams were in the bonus during overtime, and the period was an exchange of foul shots for both teams.
Gibbens and Bazata both converted on foul shots, and St. George converted two jump shots to finally bring New Canaan to lead in overtime. Norwalk had the ball for the last 10 second of the period, but were unable to capitalize, and New Canaan held on to win 33-32.
New Canaan 6th Grade Girls Basketball team, December 2014. Contributed
New Canaan 34, Hi Rise 16
New Cannan’s winning momentum continued on Sunday. Emma Gibbens won the tip off again and Elizabeth St. George converted the possession with an assist from Quinn McKiernan.
A steal from Gibbens would lead to another St. George basket and Gibbens would score herself on a nice layup shot off a defensive block from St. George. The girls were up 6-0 after just a few minutes in the game and they would never give up the lead.
Tyler Towers then scored two strong baskets under the hoop from perfectly placed in bound passes from Chloe Reidy. Great defensive pressure from Julia Bazata and Brynne Harris would hold Hi Rise to just 2 points in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, McKiernan and Cameron Murphy would both score baskets to secure New Canaan’s half time lead with a score of 14-8.
The girls proved to be a force to reckon with in the second half as well. Murphy came up with a steal and followed up with a layup shot.
Buckets by McKiernan and Olivia West as well as a free throw shot from St. George and another basket from Murphy would increase New Canaan’s lead to eleven by the end of the third quarter. Emma Gibbens and Quinn McKiernan played strong offensively in the fourth quarter.
Gibbens scored twice, McKiernan had a nice 3 pointer along with an outside jump shot and Brynne Harris made a basket from a nice back door pass from Bazata. The girls finished strong with a final score of 34-16.