Newington’s Kaila Lozada shoots while Rocky Hill’s Jenna Chipkin looks on.
Rocky Hill Girls Basketball Defends Home Court
ROCKY HILL - Rocky Hill used an incredible defensive effort in the second half to hold off Newington, 44-38, last Tuesday night, improving to 12-3 and maintaining a perfect home record.

       â€"We’re unbeaten on this floor,” Rocky Hill head coach Allyson Toulouse said proudly. â€"Every single game there is some serious pride with these girls and our focus is to protect our home floor.”

       The hosts needed a second-half rally to secure their seventh home victory of the season. They trailed 27-24 at the half and a bucket by Newington captain Kaila Lozada gave the Indians a five-point lead early in the third, but Rocky Hill responded with a 14-3, with nine of those points provided by Jenna Chipkin.

       â€"It was arguably the best first half that we’ve played all year, but I think we lost our composure in the second half,” said Newington head coach Rick Bangs. â€"I can’t question our fight, that’s a very good team over there. We had a team meeting yesterday talking about accountability, playing hard and playing with effort and the girls stepped up. We fought and we played hard, but we just lost our composure in the third quarter. We’re better than that, but it happens.”

       Newington bottled-up Chipkin during the first half, but the senior flipped a switch coming out of the locker room, scoring 13 of her game-high 15 points over the final 16 minutes.

       The home team needed Chipkin’s production, because they were coming off a pair of energy-draining victories over Middletown and Platt. The game against Newington was the team’s third game in five days.

       â€"We had a game last night, so naturally we were a step slow,” added Toulouse. â€"We always get our offense from our defense, but tonight it was more about slowing their pace down because they were breaking our pressure too easily. I changed up the type of pressure that we were doing and I really started to see us getting back and securing the rebounds.”

       Toulouse’s squad polished off the game playing smothering defense, limiting the Indians to a mere five points in the final quarter. All told, the Terriers held the Indians to 11 points in the second half.

       â€"The game got messy and a little iffy at times, but I saw such composure after the tough and physical week we had,” added the third-year head coach. â€"I’m so proud of how we navigated each possession, each minute and each quarter.”

       Rocky Hill’s deep rotation allowed the weary team to keep fresh legs on the court and run their aggressive press defense.

       â€"It’s nice to have a rotation. I love having the seniors out there for a leadership role, but I feel that there’s no momentum loss when I send the subs out,” Toulouse said about her young bench. â€"Or if we need a lift, I know I can put them in there. I’m comfortable with all the players on the court.”

       Eight Terrier players broke into the scoring column in the six-point victory. One of the standouts was sophomore Melanie Holmes, who tallied two points, but was impactful on both ends of the court.

       Holmes made the play of the night in the second quarter when she was covering the inbounds pass, but still managed to hustle back and block what would have been an uncontested layup.

       â€"Melanie is such a good athlete,” said Toulouse. â€"She’s actually a pretty good scorer, but she gives us such a lift in games like this by jumping in passing lanes and getting that extra rebound. She can score, but I don’t always need her to score and tonight she understood her role. She did all the little things.”

       Fellow sophomore Grace Moore led all bench players with 10 points, including six straight Terrier points to close out the opening quarter.

       Despite playing limited minutes in the second half due to foul trouble, Newington sophomore Giovanna Rivera led the Indians with 12 points. The hard-charging guard opened the game scoring the Indians’ first seven points.

       Rivera and Lozada, who finished with seven points and eight assists, make up Newington’s backcourt.

       â€"Kaila is very confident and strong with the ball. She’s good at finding her teammates and I like when she dictates things,” Bangs stated. â€"It always helps too when Gio has a good roll going offensively.”

       Senior Alyssa Bellizzi chipped in seven points and eight rebounds in defeat.

       â€"We continue to prove that we are right there. We’re knocking on the door and close to crossing the threshold to becoming a team that wins games like this,” added Bangs. â€"I honestly can’t fault their effort tonight and I can’t fault their heart tonight. We were able to settle down and do more of what we wanted in the fourth quarter, but the shots didn’t go in and we didn’t shoot free throws well in the second half. But I’d rather have that than to say we didn’t play hard enough. I’m still waiting for that four-quarter performance out of us, but I’m proud of the way we played tonight.”

       The competitive game was the cherry on top of an eventful evening at Rocky Hill High School. The boy’s tipped-off the festivities by earning their third victory of the season, defeating Achievement First 83-55. Nick Casiano poured in 34 points, including 23 in the first half.

       Rocky Hill’s elementary-aged travel teams also entertained the crowd during halftime. It was all part of Coaches vs Cancer night, with all the proceeds collected benefitting the American Cancer Society.

       The teams now turn their attention to the final month of the regular season, which will determine seeding in their respective tournaments.

       â€"I’m going to really fine tune some things. It’s great that we are winning, but I’m starting to see us fall apart in some areas that we’ll need to improve on for the postseason,” added Toulouse. â€"It’s great that we’re finding a way to win, but we want more.”

       With four regular season games remaining, the Terriers have already surpassed the win-totals from each of Toulouse’s first two years on the bench. But now the challenge is earning a top seed in the state tournament to secure home games come March.

       â€"This program has never had this type of opportunity. While that’s amazing, I’m still hungry for more,” Toulouse added. â€"I’m taking it day by day. The kids are holding their heads up high and feeling good. It’s great to feel that way, but we still have to get after it every day and that’s a challenge.”

       Newington returned home last Thursday and lost a 36-31 heartbreaker to Berlin, dropping their record to 7-8.

       Bangs and his girls also have four more regular season games remaining in their attempt to earn a spot in the tournament. The veteran coach sees a few areas for improvement in order for his team to make a potential postseason run.

       â€"We still could rebound better, especially defensively. We need to make the makeable shots and make free throws a little more consistently,” added Bangs. â€"But all in all, I challenged them yesterday to play with everything that they have for the final games of the season. We’ll see how things shake out.”

       Questions or comments? Email josh@rarereminder.com or follow on Twitter @RareReminderJH.
MORE ROCKY HILL NEWS  |  STORY BY JOSH HOWARD  |  Feb 03 2016  |  COMMENTS?