the bistro off broadway
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Ansonia junior Brooke Neal looks to shoot against Bradford Thursday. The Lady Tigers broke a four
game losing streak with a 42-36 Cross County Conference victory over Bradford. Neal led all in
scoring with 14 points. CNO Photo by Danny Stockton, stocktonstudio.com
 
Ansonia wins in come from behind fashion
Lady Tigers put three in double figures
By George Starks

ANSONIA- Coming in on a four game losing streak, the Ansonia Lady Tigers needed to get things back on track.

With losses to some stiff competition, the most recent being Parkway in a 60-30 loss to the Panthers.

Thursday, the Tigers were staring at its fifth consecutive loss but the Tigers would not be defeated.

Ansonia, had to scratch and claw for everything it got but in the end, the Tigers held on for a 42-36 victory over Bradford in a CCC contest.

It wasn’t the best start head coach Jim Bolin could have envisioned for his team.

Bradford, coming off a 20 win season a year ago, hasn’t had the best of times in 2015, came in with a 5-15 mark on the season.

On the strength of some stellar shooting from sophomore Mandi Bates, the Lady Railroaders jumped out to an early 9-0 lead and was looking to blow the Tigers right out of their own gym on senior night as Bates accounted for seven of the nine Roader points.

Ansonia, finally got on the board with 1:45 left in the quarter on a bucket by Stephanie Garrett.

“We started out slow and we’ve been doing that the last few games,” said Bolin. “You have to give the kids credit, they could have just laid down and quit but they kept coming back. They stayed with it and ended up winning it.”

On a night when hitting free throws meant everything to the Tigers (8/11), it was Garrett who steped up big for Ansonia late in the game.

With 1:02 left in the game, the Ansonia sophomore calmly dropped in two free throws, giving the Tigers a four point cushion, 38-34.

Garrett finished with 11 points on the night, going 6 of 8 from the charity stripe.

“We’ve been talking to Stephanie all season about shoot the basketball,” said Bolin. “She is more than capable of shooting the ball and does a good job at the line.”

Trailing 11-4 after the first quarter, Ansonia started to pick up the pace in the second frame.

Neal opened up the second with one of her four three pointers, drawing the Tigers to within a 11-7 count.

Staying persistent on both ends of the floor, the Tigers went into the break trailing 20-16.

Ansonia gained its first tie of the night when junior Abby Helmke scored with 6:04 left in the quarter, giving the Tigers a much needed shot in the arm.

“Abby had a slow start at the beginning of the season and she really hasn’t got back to form,” Bolin pointed out. “She’s coming around and she’s more than capable of scoring in double figures every night. I just want to get the whole team back and one night, surprise some people.”

Despite falling behind, Ansonia never lost sight of the goal, holding a 26-26 tie with eight minutes left on the game clock.

With Lydia Sink out with injury, Neal has stepped up for Bolin and Thursday, she scored 14 with four triples.

“Brooke’s an excellent shooter,” said Bolin. “Since Lydia’s went down, she’s kind of taken over the team and she’s enjoyable to coach.”

Ansonia will close out the regular season today with Fairlawn in a varsity only game, starting at 1 pm.


 
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