Date: Fri 21-Feb-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

Liz-Glaser-Feature

Full Text:

Liz Glaser: Standing Tall Through It All

B Y K IM J. H ARMON

Over the last several years, a good many female basketball players have come

and gone at Newtown High School with their praises being sung long and hard by

coaches and players alike, but while no one was looking, a player by the name

of Liz Glaser scored 700 points and has become the seventh-leading scorer in

school history.

Liz - newly selected to the All-South West Conference team - is the focal

point of the Nighthawks' inside game and in 17 of the 19 games she has played

in this year, she has been the team-high scorer while never collecting fewer

than 11 points.

And yet she does it so quietly, so unassumingly, so inconspicuously . . . even

though coaches around the South-West Conference understand that to beat

Newtown they have to first contain her.

"Liz is the kind of kid who has never really brought a lot of attention onto

herself," said Newtown High coach Gregg Simon. "But she has been a real good

role model for the kids. When she talks, the kids respect what she has to

say."

Still, maybe it is time that people sit up and find out who this player really

is.

For, she is one of the steadiest and one of the best.

Have To Get Up

It wasn't too long ago that Gregg Simon wouldn't remember - wouldn't remember,

that is, without a droplet of sweat beading up on his forehead - seeing his

senior forward and co-captain, Liz Glaser, writhing on the gym floor in agony,

one leg lying flat and still, as if broken, and the other jitterbugging off

the polished wood like a beached mackerel.

It was not even a month ago.

And Liz remembered, "I was thinking, `I have to get up right now . I don't

have a choice.' Ali (Giannini) even came over and said, `You have to get up.

You have to.' "

The Newtown High School girls' basketball team has a couple good shooters,

some capable people handling the ball, and a good presence underneath the

basket, but without their dependable, rock-solid forward, the Nighthawks would

be grounded.

But what looked serious - ghastly, even - as Liz tumbled to the floor against

Bunnell turned out to be less than that. She did sprain her ankle, but managed

to return to the game, scoring 16 points - six of those in the fourth quarter

- and helping lead Newtown to an important 49-40 win over the Lady Bulldogs.

The ankle, though, swelled up that night and kept her off the practice floor

and out of the Nighthawks' following game against Weston. She returned to the

team for a very important South-West Conference game against Brookfield, a

38-37 win for the Nighthawks.

Liz was rusty, but neither that nor a tender ankle kept her from pumping in 15

points.

What ankle injury?

"I don't feel satisfied," said Liz, "unless I put out the best effort I can.

I could feel the pressure if I wanted to, but I put enough pressure on myself

to go out an score my points."

By The Numbers

Liz Glaser might have the extraneous pressure of needing to produce - needing

to score - in order for the Nighthawks to be successful, but whatever pressure

there has been has not prevented her from thriving anyway.

Liz has scored 20 or more points four times this season, with highs of 26

against Pomperaug and 27 against Danbury, and has not scored fewer than 11

points in any game . . . not even the one in which she sprained her ankle.

The first 15 games of the season, starting with a 24-point performance in a

win over St. Joseph's of Trumbull, Liz was the game-high scorer for Newtown.

After she missed the game against Weston, she was second to Ali Giannini

against Brookfield (although she scored 15) and second to Michele Draper

against New Milford (although Liz scored 11).

She is averaging 16.5 points per game and is a shooting a nifty 66.9 percent

from the foul line . . . the best on the team. Liz has already scored 314

points this year, and with her 200 as a junior and 207 as a sophomore, she

boasts a total 721 . . . good for 8th on the Newtown High School all-time

scoring list.

With at least two more games guaranteed for the Nighthawks (the first round of

the SWC playoffs and the first round of the CIAC state tournament), Liz could

reasonably see her career total rise above 750, which would put her fourth

all-time.

And that is considering she has lost 10 games in her career due to injury and

did not play varsity as a freshman.

Liz played junior varsity as a freshman mainly because of the presence of

Micaela Hurley, Sarah Wasko, Katie Lyddy, Melissa Eigen, and Erica Hanson on

the floor (all of whom are on the Top 10 scoring list). Given that, Liz had an

opportunity for more development on the junior varsity level.

"We had a loaded senior class," said coach Gregg Simon. "We had seven seniors

and a lot of size. Liz was a pure post-up player and, absolutely, she could

have made the team (as a freshman) in a leaner year."

Learning The Game

It was clear, right away, that Liz would be a powerful force underneath the

basket.

As a freshman, she was bigger and stronger than nearly every girl her age and

although she was a bit one dimensional, comfortable only in the power forward

or center position, she had the skills to lead the junior varsity team by

averaging nearly 14 points a game, scoring better than 200 points for the

season, and taking over 100 shots from the foul line.

But it wasn't enough to be a low post player. In the AAU off-season basketball

program, Liz learned how to run the floor, how to dribble the basketball, and

how to shoot from the outside. This past year, with a lot of talented girls on

her team, Liz worked even harder on developing speed and endurance and wanted

even more so to become a threat from the outside.

As if - box her out, double team her, and she just can the soft jumpers until

you free up the middle. And it has gotten to the point where Liz has become a

threat on the run . . . a threat in the box . . . and a threat from the

outside.

"I don't think I've seen as much improvement over four years in anyone as much

as I have seen in Liz," said coach Simon. "She has added a tremendous amount

to her game. She has a nice outside shot and her ability to run the floor has

really improved."

But she didn't need to be so well rounded, not as a sophomore. Newtown had one

of the most frightening defenses in the league, fueled with almost unbridled

ferocity by the guardsmanship of Melissa Eigen and Erica Hanson. And on

offense, Newtown had Katie Lyddy and Eigen scoring the points and raining the

three-pointers (27 all told) and Hanson driving to the hole with all the

aplomb of Evel Kneivel jumping his motorcycle through a ring of fire.

Newtown lost an offensive threat, though, with the graduation of Lyddy and

last year the Nighthawks (then the Indians) needed Liz's presence even more.

But Newtown still had that punishing, intimidating defense, which was the

reason why the Nighthawks were able to withstand that eight-game stretch when

Liz was recovering from an ankle injury.

She came back and Newtown went all the way to SWC championship game against

Masuk . . . a game the Nighthawks lost by 20. Glaser was named to the

All-Tournament team as she scored 20 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in the

final.

She had come of age.

"Once the playoffs began (last year)," said coach Simon, "Liz was really

getting back to the form she had shown before she was injured. She missed

eight games and when she came back, everyone expected her to get right into

it, but it took her some time and she really played well for us down the

stretch."

And despite the loss of Hanson and Eigen to graduation, no one really thought

things would be that bad in the 1996-97 season because, well, Liz was coming

back.

But after the 3-2 start with that win over St. Joseph's and a near miss at

Danbury and all that promise, the Nighthawks fell into a five-game losing

streak that had everyone doubting themselves.

Even Liz.

"It was really frustrating," she said. "The first two games, I didn't think

about it much. But later, I started losing confidence in myself and I wondered

how I would get through the season."

Confidence sunk to an all-time low when Newtown lost a controversial game at

Jonathan Law. Law won on a final shot that Newtown argued was well after the

final buzzer.

"We went into the season with a little bit of confidence," said Liz, "and then

we went out and played some of the top teams in the state. We knew we had to

get through that part of the season, but it was tough."

But the Nighthawks found resolve in that heartbreaking loss to Jonathan Law.

"We finally went into a game with some confidence," said Liz, "we played a

great game, and to have it taken away from us was one of the worst feelings.

But in a way, it made our team that much closer. We realized we had played one

hell of a game."

Since then . . . 10 straight victories.

In that stretch, Liz has scored 151 points and averaged 15.1 a game while

quietly making her climb up the Newtown High School All-Time scoring ladder.

She began the season down in the 20th hole and has since leapfrogged over

players like Terri Staudinger, Donna Springmeyer, Liza Fairfield, Allison

Borelli, Tracy Teichert, Jacquie Smith and former teammate Melissa Eigen.

"I didn't realize (it was happening)," said Liz, "until I saw an article at

the beginning of the season. It's rewarding, but I think it would be even

better to win a title."

Well, that doesn't seem all that likely because one of the state's perennial

powerhouses, Masuk, is in the same conference, but title or no, Liz has a lot

of memories to appreciate when - and if - she takes her game to the collegiate

level.

"The whole experience, in general, has been great," she said. "Fortunately,

for me, I played with so many good players and came up through the best (era)

of the program."