Mavs Dribble And Shoot To Tourney Title

Newtown’s fourth-grade girls’ basketball team, the Mavericks, took home the championship in the Joan G Bradley Basketball Tournament in Branford this weekend.  In the first round of play, the Mavs faced a solid Guilford squad. Tess Davenport, Jenna Lavelle, and Nicki DaPra led the scoring effort, while Carolina Stubbs, Alison Kelleher, and Jackie Matthews all contributed from the foul line. Kim “Smooth” Buttery set up several key plays and played tough defense the whole game in a 16-6 win.

In the second round, the Mavs faced East Haven. Strong out of the gate, the Mavs took an early lead and never looked back. Scoring came from seven players, with a season-high of six points each from Kelleher and Davenport. Sarah Widmann played her best game of the year, causing problems for East Haven on both ends of the floor. The Mavs’ tenacious defense once again kept their opponents in the single digits, with a final score of 30-9.

The championship was a rematch against Guilford, which the Mavs won 16-7 to take home the trophy. In the final game, the Mavs played some of their best ball of the season with smothering defense and great ball movement on the offensive end of the floor. The relentless 1-3-1 trap continued to frustrate their opponents and gave Guilford very few looks at the basket. The aggressive and lightning-quick guard play of Matthews, Kelleher, Buttery and Widmann was too much for Guilford to handle on the press. Davenport was on fire with multiple steals and assists. Stubbs pulled down key rebounds, and played tough underneath. Kristen Cirone led the team in rebounds and also chipped in with three points. DaPra and Lavelle were tough down low, knocking in six and seven points, respectively.

The girls look forward to having Lauren Adams back from injured reserve as they head to the Milford Hoopfest Invitational Tournament in the coming weeks.