Up until late in the third quarter Monday, the Shelton High girls basketball team appeared to be heading to a victory.
Shelton controlled the game and for the most part, led Cheshire. But it wasn’t meant to be, as Cheshire came away with a 58 – 50 victory.
The Lady Rams raised their record to 4 – 11. The Gaelettes dropped to 2 – 12.
Free throw shooting was the difference as Cheshire made 18 straight free throws in going 27-for-33 (82 percent) from the free throw line.
Conversely, Shelton failed to convert two conventional three-point plays and missed the front end of a one-of-one in the first half in going 7‑for-16 (44 percent) from the charity stripe, shooting below the unofficial Shaquille O’Neal line (50 percent).
“We did a lot of things well, we only turned it over 11 times,” Gaelettes coach Mary Maciulewski said. “They made their free throws and we didn’t make ours. We let it slip away and we didn’t overcome the slippage.”
After spotting Cheshire a 4 – 0 lead, Shelton came back behind sophomore Kelsey Pendagast (12 points, nine rebounds, three steals, one blocked shot, one forced turnover), who scored the team’s first six points, hitting two layups and one putback off the offensive glass. Junior Molly Hanko (six points, three rebounds, one assist, two steals, one tieup) hit a jump shot and set up one of Pendagast’s layups.
Senior tri-captain forward Erin Chuma (10 points, two rebounds, two steals, one charge drawn) sparked the Gaelettes from outside in swishing two 3‑pointers from junior Melissa Corraro. Chuma’s first trey gave Shelton an 11 – 9 lead and her second trifecta was at the buzzer to end the first quarter to increase the lead to four, 14 – 10.
“I was really focused before the game and that helped,” Chuma said.
The lead peaked at six, 19 – 13, on Corraro’s runner. Senior tri-captain Jen Spicer (one rebound, four assists, five forced turnovers) made things happen on defense and spearheaded the effort in forcing the Lady Rams to commit 20 turnovers, 13 in the first half.
“Defense is all about effort and I do what I can to help the team,” Spicer said.
Cheshire slowly crept back in but Corraro hit a layup and then went 1‑for‑2 at the foul line to keep the Gaelettes ahead at the half, 23 – 22. The Lady Rams took a 24 – 23 lead to start the second half but Shelton got it back, courtesy of junior Melissa Brouillet.
Brouillet (four points, four rebounds, one forced turnover, one tieup) helped Shelton inside in the first half and hit two layups to start the second half. Sophomore Bianka Bell (one point, one rebound, three assists, one steal, three forced turnovers) forced a turnover that led to Brouillet’s second layup, which gave the Gaelettes a 27 – 24 lead.
Shelton’s second half lead peaked at five, 33 – 28, after Corraro swished a trey from Spicer.
However, Cheshire then went on an 8 – 0 run and never looked back after that. Freshman Alyssa Eanotti (six points, four rebounds) played well in the paint for the Gaelettes in the second half and cut the lead to one on two occasions, first off a layup from bell and then on a putback off the offensive glass, which made it 38 – 37, but Shelton never got over the hump after that.
Corraro (nine points, eight rebounds, six assists, six steals, one blocked shot, four forced turnovers, one tieup) tried to rally the Galettes and had many offensive opportunities off of steals she made look easy.
“I tried to get my team back in it,” Corraro said.
In the end, Shelton never recovered. Sophomore Brittany Lambert (one tieup, one forced turnover) and freshman Megan Burke (two points, one rebound, one forced turnover) also contributed for the Gaelettes.
“They just outhustled us in the end,” Corraro said.
Chuma said, “Foul shots killed us.”
Spicer said, “Other than that [missed shots], we played a good game.”
