Nicole Hiller scores two of her 11 points over Bloomfield’s Yaisha Perez. Photo: Dave Burnha, www.esnapsport.wordpress.com.
Rocky Hill Girls Hoops Off to Strong Start
ROCKY HILL - â€"Every team we face this year is going to come ready to play us. We’re one of the teams they want to beat. I’m excited to have that bulls eye on our back,” an animated Rocky Hill girls basketball head coach Allyson Toulouse said as she stood on McCabe Court following her team’s 59-37 CCC divisional and home-opening win over Bloomfield last Friday.

       â€"December is about identifying who you are as a team. I think we started transitioning last year. Over the past few years, Rocky Hill has gotten some notice in regard to ‘Hey they’re pretty good.’ We had set a tough schedule and we had gotten some huge wins. We made it to the second round of the states last year.

       â€"It’s exciting to get off to a 2-0 start. We have a core group [of players] back and we have almost all returning players because we lost just three seniors. What I’m noticing from early last season to now is that we’re understanding how to play poised, control the tempo and win games. We’re still defensively focused but now we’re starting to mature offensively. We want to be a force to be reckoned with,” according to Toulouse, whose squad opened the season with a 38-33 CCC crossover victory over host Manchester.

       â€"Tonight we started off slow. We were a little lackadaisical but we made adjustments and the players did what they had to do so we got a good win.”

       Solid play by the Terriers’ core group propelled Rocky Hill to a 35-15 advantage at the break and allowed some of the team’s younger members to get game experience in the second half.

       Junior guard Jenna Chipkin tied for game-high honors with 13 points, followed by 11 from Nicole Hiller (Jr., F), eight from Jessica Carducci, who earned All-CCC accolades last season as a sophomore, and six from the squad’s captain and lone senior, Morgaynn Gorski (G).

       â€"Jessica’s speed is probably her greatest asset. Defensively, she has a knack for the ball and her tenacity on defense creates her offense. She really vibes off that and gets her confidence from defensive stops. Jessica also knows how to get into the passing lanes and make that judgment call. I rely on her to set the tempo for the team as our point guard and she sets the tempo very well,” stated Toulouse.

       â€"Morgan is a great jump shooter. When she hits those, good things happen for us. Jenna is probably our most improved player. Though she started all last season, we’re now seeing her maturity on the court in her third varsity season. It was Jenna’s maturity that really won the game on Wednesday when we beat Manchester,” Toulouse continued.

       â€"We were down by seven in the second half at Manchester and we came back to win. Our offense worked well together. We crashed the boards. We got a lot of lay ups. We didn’t give up,” added Carducci.

       â€"With Jenna and Jessica and Nicole and [junior] Madison Stabile, we have athletes on the floor with good basketball knowledge and leadership skills, which makes me very excited for this season. Grace Moore is athletic and she’ll be right off the bench all year. She’s aggressive like Jessica, but as a post.” Moore, who popped in nine points against Bloomfield, is another reason for Toulouse’s building excitement.

       â€"I think we played well together tonight. Our offense looked good. I liked our passing. We had a lot of assists from a variety of people, which is good,” added Carducci, another of the team’s three-year varsity members.

       â€"In our conference division, E.O. Smith and Tolland are our toughest competition. E.O. lost some seniors but has a good point guard in sophomore McKenna Dale who’s going to be a special player. E.O will be a good test for us. Tolland has a solid group of players so that will be a good game as well.

       â€"Every game is going to be a good game as far as I’m concerned. I want to be up there with E.O. Smith and Tolland in our division. I want to beat RHAM. I want to beat Tolland. I want to beat E.O. Smith. If we get a couple of those wins, I think we’re contenders for sure,” stated the second-year head coach.

       E.O. Smith improved to 2-0 with a 54-30 win over Rockville Dec. 12 behind a game-high 18 points from McKenna Dale. Sarah Allen’s 19 points propelled Tolland (1-1) to a 63-20 victory at Fermi last Friday.

       â€"I’m a big defense minded coach. I want to limit our opponents to fewer than 40 points every game. We want a strong defense and that will create our best offense,” Toulouse said. â€"I’m looking for consistency every time we walk on the floor. If we have that consistency and every player knows her role, it’s going to be a great season.”
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