With the game tied through three quarters, East Hampton outscored Seymour 13-2 in the first five minutes of the fourth to break out of a tie game and bury the Wildcats 57-44 for a berth in the CIAC Class M girls basketball tournament semifinals.
The third-seeded Bellringers’ win at home Tuesday night set up a final-four showdown with neighboring Bacon Academy of Colchester at a neutral site on Monday. The No. 2 seed Bobcats ousted No. 7 Cromwell 45-29.
Seymour tried to contain East Hampton guard Liana Salamone by sending her to the free-line line, but the freshman made a difference there with 15 of her game-high 27 points scored from the stripe.
Sophomore Jackie Russell shook off a quiet first half to finish with 14 points for the Bellringers.
Mackenzie Sirowich led Seymour with 20 points and Skylar Barton contributed 10. The Wildcats took a huge hit when Sirowich fouled out with 6 minutes remaining in the game.
Using its size and strength, No. 6 Seymour led 10-9 after one quarter and opened up a 25-20 at halftime. The Wildcats amassed their largest lead of the night when Jillian Keough put back an offensive rebound for a 29-22 edge with 3 minutes to go in the third quarter.
East Hampton began to chip away though, before scoring six straight points to tie it at 31. The lead exchanged hands three times over the final two minutes of the quarter, but the Bellringers again tied it when Salamone drove the lane and was fouled at the buzzer. She made both free throws to tie it at 37.
The Bellringers hit Seymour with five quick points in the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer from Russell. They kept the lead from there, and East Hampton’s defense allowed just two field goals while the outcome was still in question.
The Bellringers were 10 of 12 from the foul line during a 5-minute stretch when they grew the lead from five to 11 points with 1:08 remaining.
SEYMOUR (21-5)
Mackenzie Sirowich 7 3 20, Jillian Keough 2 0 4, Jackie Okula 2 0 4, Jayla Ortiz 2 0 4, Lauren Golebieski 0 0 0, Skylar Barton 4 2 10, Devin Cronin 1 0 2, Payton McDaniel 0 0 0, Lilliana Criscio 0 0 0. Totals: 18 5 44.
EAST HAMPTON (23-2)
Amber Murphy 1 0 2, Olivia DeMartino 0 4 4, Liana Salamone 6 15 27, Delaney Russell 2 4 8, Jackie Russell 3 5 14, Jordan Murphy 0 1 1, Katie Ireland 0 1 1, Madison Yorker 0 0 0. Totals: 12 30 57.
Score By Quarters
Seymour………..10 15 12 7–44
East Hampton….9 11 17 20–57
3-pointers: Seymour–Sirowich 3; East Hampton–J. Russell 3.
In other Class M girls quarterfinals Tuesday:
No. 5 Valley Regional 75, No. 20 Montville 33
Jada Cheung 3 8 14, Faith Terni 0 0 0, Alanis Michon 0 0 0, Ava Collins 2 0 4, Christyna Winstead 2 0 4, Nicole Hudson 0 0 0, Maya Hillman 2 7 11, Geneieve Johnston 0 0 0, Kayleigh Browne 0 0 0, Emily Treat 0 0 0, Allie Kondash 0 0 0, Katelyn Koning 0 0 0, Ariana Seldon 0 0 0, Grace Sanford 0 0 0: Totals: 9 15 33.
Ava Cunningham 2 2 7, Abby Bradbury 6 0 14, Bitzy Klomp 2 1 7, Liz Allen 4 2 12, Olivia Cunningham 5 2 12, Lily Grow 6 0 12, Sharmel Rivera 0 0 0, Siena Schaller 1 1 3, Regan Grow 4 0 8, Rubee Cecchini 0 0 0. Totals 30 8 75.
Montville…..14 4 11 4–33
Valley Reg..27 21 12 15–75
No. 7 Bacon Academy 45, No. 7 Cromwell 29
CROMWELL (19-6)
Grace Mikan 1 0-0 3, Cameryn Hickey 2 0-2 4, Jessica Grodzicki 3 0-0 7, Nevaeh Clark 1 0-0 3, Adela Cecunjanin 3 4-7 10, Kayla Nappi 0 0-0 0, Brynn Kovac 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 4-9 29.
BACON ACADEMY (20-2)
Emily Ferrigno 3 0-0 6, Valeri Luizzi 4 4-6 14, Katelyn Novak 0 0-0 0, Marissa Nudd 6 6-7 18, Emma Mancuso 0 2-2 2, Olivia Teller 0 0-0 0, Grace Saldana 1 0-0 3, Ariel Nair 0 0-0 0, Cara Shea 0 2-2 2, Elizabeth Glover 0 0-2 0, Veronica Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 14-19 45.
Score By Quarters
Cromwell…………….6 8 6 9–29
Bacon Academy…17 10 9 9–45
3-pointers: Cromwell–Mikan 1, Clark 1, Grodzicki 1; Bacon–Luizzi 2, Saldana 1.
Girls Class L Quarterfinals: No. 5 E.O. Smith 38, No. 4 Mercy 32
E.O. SMITH (19-6)
Olivia Verboven 0 2-2 2, Claire Greene 5 2-2 17, Lilli Clark 0 2-4 2, Maddie Hughes 3 2-2 11, Bella Mallory 2 0-0 4, Jill Dingler 1 0-0 2, Madeline Greene 0 0-2 0 Totals: 11 8-12 38.
MERCY (20-5)
Avery Kohs 0 0-0 0, Sophia Hedge 5 0-1 12, Kate Donlan 2 0-0 4, Ava Giansiracusa 4 4-4 14, Winnie Ciccarello 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 4-5 32.
Score By Quarters
E.O. Smith..7 7 11 13–38
Mercy………10 3 15 4–32
3-pointers: E.O. Smith–Greene 5, Hughes 3; Mercy–Hedge 2, Giansiracusa 2.
In CIAC Division V boys tournament play:
No. 16 Portland 58, No. 17 Coventry 38
COVENTRY (10-11)
Owen Dieterle 1 0-0 3, Aiden Jeamel 3 5-8 11, Aidan Hecht 1 0-0 3, AJ Rooks 2 0-0 5, Wyatt Wendry 1 0-0 3, Nate Cordner 1 0-0 2, Gavin Covell 4 3-6 11. Totals: 13 8-14 38.
PORTLAND (13-10)
Joe Rusczyk 1 0-0 2, Harrison Collins 2 4-8 8, Jake Thompson 5 3-4 16, Evan Johnson 1 1-2 3, Tyler Wydo 0 2-2 2, Ben Fecteau 1 1-2 3, Eli Evison 10 1-3 22, Jack Larson 0 1-2 1, Teddy Williams 0 1-2 1. Totals: 20 14-25 58.
Score By Quarters
Coventry….9 5 7 17–38
Portland…11 18 9 20–58
3-pointers: Coventry–Dieterle 1, Hecht 1, Rooks 1, Wendry 1; Portland–Thompson 3, Evison 1.
No. 7 Old Saybrook 48, No. 26 East Granby 39
EAST GRANBY (8-13)
Pat LaKomy 2 0-0 6, Matt Fortier 1 0-0 3, Ben LaKomy 3 4-4 11, Evan Malinowski 6 0-0 12, Kenzie Vick 0 1-2 1, Brady Gill 1 0-0 3, Ben Wolf 1 0-0 3. Totals: 14 5-6 39.
Related Posts
OLD SAYBROOK (15-7)
Wes Nobile 0 2-2 2, Jake Butler 3 0-0 8, Riley Lawson 3 0-0 6, Ryan Stratton 6 0-1 13, Bradley Kulmann 2 0-0 4, Aaron Tolve 5 5-6 15. Totals: 19 7-9 48.
Score By Quarters
East Granby…..7 5 10 17–39
Old Saybrook…6 17 11 14–48
3-pointers: East Granby–P. LaKomy 2, Fortier 1, B. Lakomy 1, Wolf 1, Gill 1; Old Saybrook–
I certainly don’t want to take anything away from the Bellringers’ nice win, but you really need to mention that Seymour’s all-everything senior, Kenzie Sirowich, fouled out with six minutes remaining in the game.
Wrt Kenzie Surowich fouling out, I think that was the result of an overly aggressive approach chosen by the Seymour coach, opting for a swarming zone defense that created double and triple teams. The result was a lot of fouls on the whole team, not just Surowich. Those fouls got them into the penalty early & kept EH in the game in the first half when their shots weren’t dropping. Ultimately Surowich was the one who paid the price for a poor coaching decision and a failure to adjust when it wasn’t working to their advantage.
wow, Old Saybrook always plays down to there opponents level!