Without Top Scorer, Blue Devils Fall To Windsor Locks

Nikki LaPierre of Windsor Locks was as damaging to Coginchaug at drawing the pivotal fouls at crunch time as she was in scoring the big points Thursday night in a CIAC Class S state tournament second-round game in Durham. She hinted that she’d be the difference with buzzer-beaters in the first and third quarters.

LaPierre’s foul shot with 33.5 seconds gave the Raiders a one-point lead and a Jessica Kuzmickas free throw with 7.9 seconds remaining wrapped it up in a 49-47 victory that locked a spot in the quarterfinals Monday against Old Saybrook in Windsor Locks.

LaPierre hit three three-pointers and led 14th seeded Windsor Locks (14-9) with 18 points. Mariah Brown scored 12 points and Ellary Douglas, on three three-pointers, and Jenna Wojtas each added nine. Wojtas stuffed a shot by Coginchaug in the final minute with the score tied.

Samantha Mancinelli scored a game-high 22 points to pace the Blue Devils (19-4), the No. 3 seed. Mancinelli fouled out with 33.5 seconds left, which sent LaPierre to the foul line for her go-ahead free throw. LaPierre drew a foul on Lauren Esposito, trailing by 47-44 with a 1:12 to play.

LaPierre had grabbed an offensive rebound, somehow squeezed through for an off balance shot as Esposito fouled out on LaPierre’s three-point play that made it 47-47. Esposito had scored eight points, with Jessica Solomon’s nine points the second biggest production for the Blue Devils.

For the season, Mancinelli and Esposito were Coginchaug’s second- and third-leading scorers. The Blue Devils were without their leading scorer, Audrey Biesak, who injured a thumb late in their 42-41 victory over Portland in the Shoreline Conference championship game on Feb. 25.

Coginchaug, which entered with a 10-game winning streak, ended its scoring against Windsor Locks on a Morgan Kuenhle basket with 1:47 left – making it 47-44 – and went to the wire without its three leading scorers. The lack of prime scoring options did not help Coginchaug.

“It was definitely weird not playing with Audrey,” Mancinelli said. “But I thought some girls stepped up in her place. We all didn’t play our best game tonight.”

The Blue Devils’ fast-paced offense was out of sync without Biesak, one of their main ball-handlers as well. Coach Rett Mancinelli said his team not getting its usual number of shots contributed to the loss. “We weren’t even close to that number,” Rett Mancinelli said. “We average usually 55 shots a game.”

The ability of the Raiders to follow the instructions of coach Doug Knowe was a factor as well. Knowe wanted to slow the tempo down as much as possible.

“We were committed to keeping the ball in our hands,” Knowe said. “We wanted to take as much time off the clocks as we could without passing up open shots. [Point guard] Mariah [Brown] really held on to it.”

The Raiders’ main weapon this season, their smothering defense, compounded Coginchaug’s troubles at adjusting without Biesak. The Blue Devils had a lot of turnovers, many at key points of the game, which featured them in the lead most of the time.

“The turnovers really hurt us,” Rett Mancinelli said. “That kept us from having the [larger] leads that we should have had. We spent too much time turning it over. Once we opened the lead, we didn’t put them away.”

Windsor Locks shot poorly at the start, missing seven of its first eight shots. Coginchaug, which had last lost on Jan. 20, held a 10-4 lead late in the first quarter before LaPierre hit an 18-footer just before the horn.

The Raiders, who had lost an NCCC tournament game before defeating Hale Ray of the Shoreline Conference in the Class S first round on Monday, shot much better in the second quarter. Halftime began with a 22-22 tie.

In the third quarter, Coginchaug built up a lead as large as eight (33-25) and had an answer each time Windsor Locks responded. Solomon’s foul shot made it 38-32 with less than a minute to play.

But the Raiders rallied quickly. Brown made a pair of foul shots (38-34), Wojtas made a layup (38-36), then LaPierre sank a three pointer at the horn to give them a 39-38 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Windsor Locks had called time out with 4:13 remaining in the third quarter and trailing by 31-25. “In that time out, our kids said they were going to come back,” Knowe said.

No. 22 Old Sabyrook (11-12) reached the quarterfinals by defeating No. 6 East Hampton 39-35 on Thursday.