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Ansonia senior Brooke Neal shoots for three of her game high 19 points
Saturday against Franklin Monroe.
Neal was named to the All-Tournament
team as the Tigers took a 48-44 victory over the Jets in the
consolation
game of the 28th annual Bill Burkett Tournament. CNO Photos
by Dylan Knoop
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A-Lady Tigers
edge FM in Burkett consolation
Moore falls short in FM debut
By George Starks
NEW MADISON- When it comes to the annual Bill Burkett Tournament, it
seems like Ansonia coach Jim Bolin just can’t get over the hump.
In the 28 years the tournament has been contested, Ansonia has
never won it, despite a 57 point, two night scoring performance by
Lindsey Bennett in 1991.
The 28th tournament was no different.
After giving Arcanum all it could handle Friday in a 47-33 loss to the
Trojans, Ansonia bounced back Saturday to drop a 48-44 loss on Franklin
Monroe, spoiling the head coaching debut of Abby (Davenport) Moore.
In the Friday night loss to the Trojans, Ansonia shot a dismal nine of
22 from the foul line, despite trailing by a 30-23 count at the end of
the third quarter.
Even though the Tigers were less than perfect against the Jets, a win
by any other name is still a win but Bolin seen many problems that he
addressed.
“We played good and we played bad,” said Bolin after the game. “We lost
our composure at times in the game. We are still pretty young but you
can’t do what we did. We were ahead by 10 points with 1:57 to go and we
had three big turnovers and they took advantage of it and they made a
ball game out of it. I told the kids at halftime that we gave them
confidence and they played right along with us.”
In the Friday loss to Arcanum, it was more than poor foul shooting as
turnovers plagued the Tigers.
With no less than 26 miscues on Friday, the Tigers backed that up with
16 more on Saturday.
“That’s been our M.O. starting out,” admitted Bolin. “We were careless
with the ball and we don’t have a sense of urgency with a lot of things
but we’re working on them. I told the girls in the locker room to enjoy
the win because we were going to get back after it on Monday.”
After falling to the Patriots Friday, 85-23, the Jets came back on
Saturday, pleasing first year coach Abby Moore.
“I’m extremely proud of my girls tonight,” said Moore. “They fought
hard tonight and I’m very pleased with the effort they put in tonight.”
The difference maker came in the form of junior Hannah Eley in the post
for the Jets.
Ansonia seemingly had no answer for the 6’1” Eley who proved to be a
force as she altered shots in the lane on defense and recorded three of
her seven rebounds on the offensive glass with one of those boards
accounting for points.
But it all started with defense.
“Defensively, we turned it up in the second half,” stated Moore. “We
struggled against the pressure but the girls did what I asked in the
second half. With a little more experience, we’ll see some
improvements.”
With all that being said, Moore was still not happy with the loss.
“Anyone that knows me knows I’m very competitive,” said Moore. “I told
the girls this is a lesson we’ve got to learn. They’ve not had a whole
lot of success over the past few seasons and I told the girls it was
okay to be disappointed but I’m extremely proud to be your coach."
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Franklin
Monroe sophomore Kinsey Goins scores in the paint for the Jets.
Goins led FM wit 11 points against Ansonia.
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