It was another tough shooting night for the Wilton High girls basketball team on Tuesday at Staples. While the Warriors again made up for their offensive struggles by playing some great defense, they came up short in a 45-44 overtime loss to the Wreckers.
Wilton dropped to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the FCIAC.
The Warriors held the Wreckers to only two points in the first quarter to take a 9-2 lead, and were up 12-3 early in the second quarter when Caroline Sweeny converted on a conventional three-point play. Staples rallied with a 10-0 run to take a 13-12 lead.
Wilton answered with another conventional three-point play, this time by Lauren Robertson, and a breakaway layup by Tuin to go up 18-13. The Wreckers took advantage of multiple Wilton turnovers in the final minutes of the quarter to reel off a 7-0 run, taking a 20-18 halftime lead on Arianna Gerig’s basket at the buzzer.
In the third quarter, the game was tied at 22, 26 and 28, with Sweeny’s layup off her own steal making it 28-28 in the final minute.
Both teams struggled to get the ball to drop in the fourth quarter. Staples was up 36-33 with two minutes left when Emily Tuin nailed a 3-pointer to tie things up, 36-36. Elizabeth Breslin’s free throw with 1:11 left tied the score 37-37. The Warriors had the ball with 45 seconds left and worked the clock down, but Sweeny’s 3-pointer with five seconds left was no good, sending the game to overtime.
Gerig scored on a conventional three-play to begin the overtime, putting Staples up 40-37. She later scored a layup to make it 43-39, but Gulbin answered with a clutch 3-pointer to cut the lead to 43-42. Gerig hit one of two foul shots, and Rachel Seidman hit two of two free throws, to extend the lead to 45-42 with 1:13 left in overtime.
Tuin scored off a drive to cut the lead to 45-44. After a Staples turnover, Wilton got off a pair of shots to take the lead with about 30 seconds left, but missed on both. The Warriors had one last chance after another Staples turnover, and came out of a timeout with 11 seconds left with a chance to win. But after a missed 3-pointer, a second-chance shot at the buzzer was no good.
Tuin led Wilton with 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Sweeney had 10 points and one trey. Rounding out the scoring were Breslin with seven points, Gulbin and Robertson with five points each, and Downey with three points.
The Warriors hit only 25% from the floor in the game, but held Staples to 30%.
Gerig, a freshman, led all scorers with 19 points, as Staples improved its record to 7-2.