Losing is always painful but few defeats top what the Shelton girls basketball team experienced on Monday.
Shelton came out strong and led most of the way, but in the end, it had trouble rebounding and committed too many turnovers in a 41 – 40 home loss to Bunnell in the first round of the Shelton High School Christmas tournament and dropped to 0 – 6. Bunnell raised its record to 4 – 1.
“It’s heartbreaking, especially because we were up by a lot in the first half,” said Gaelettes senior tri-captain Jen Spicer.
Shelton did everything right in the beginning and led 16 – 2 after one quarter. The Gaelettes pressed the Lady Bulldogs into committing too many turnovers with junior Melissa Corraro leading the charge. Corraro (19 points, four rebounds, two assists, four steals, one tieup, two forced turnovers) opened the scoring with a layup off a steal from midcourt and six points in the opening quarter, including two free throws and a stop and popper that made it 16 – 2.
“We were just into it and we really wanted it,” said Corraro.
Senior tri-captain Erin Chuma (eight points, four rebounds, two steals, one blocked shot, one tieup) scored five points in the opening quarter, including a three-pointer she swished from freshman Megan Burke (one rebound, three assists, one steal, three forced turnovers). Sophomore Bianka Bell (seven points, three rebounds, one forced turnover) scored five points in the first quarter, including a trey she swished from Burke.
Overall, Shelton forced 21 turnovers, 11 in the first half. The Gaelettes’ lead peaked at 18, 25 – 7 with Corraro swishing a trifecta from classmate Molly Hanko. Corraro also set up layups by Hanko (two points, two assists, one forced turnover) and sophomore Kelsey Pendagast (four points, six rebounds, two assists, one steal, one tieup, one forced turnover). Bell’s layup after scooping the offensive rebound made it 25 – 7 with 3:37 remaining in the half.
This is when Bunnell slowly started to creep back and closed the gap to 12 at the break, 27 – 15. The Lady Bulldogs continued their momentum into the second half and their press forced 22 Shelton turnovers after the break, 33 overall. Bunnell also took advantage of its prowess on the glass and outrebounded the Gaelettes, 42 – 21.
Senior captain Isenende Milfort (11 points, eight rebounds) and sophomore Sha’quira Palmer (15 points, 10 rebounds) spearheaded the Lady Bulldogs on the glass and they took advantage by having three or four shots at the basket and closed the gap to two after three quarters, 34 – 32.
A friendly whistle also helped Bunnell as it benefitted from a few calls, including one time when a traveling violation was called on Corraro when she was clearly fouled.
However, the referees can’t be blamed for the Gaelette defeat because they struggled in handling the ball, shot poorly and even when they got a defensive rebound, they immediately turned it over. The Lady Bulldogs helped by going only 15 – 30 from the foul line.
“We had too big of a lead, got comfortable and began to relax too much,” said Corraro.
Pendagast stole the ball and laid it in to extend the lead to 36 – 32 with 7:05 left in the game, but the Gaelettes didn’t manage any more field goals until it was too late.
Milfort’s three-point play with 1:56 to go gave the Lady Bulldogs their first lead, 38 – 37, an edge they never relinquished.
Spicer (one rebound, two assists, two tieups, three forced turnovers) gave Shelton a defensive spark in the second half and forced turnovers at critical times, including one with 47 seconds to go in the game. However, the Gaelettes made a few bad passes and the lead was 41 – 37 after Palmer’s free throw with four seconds left.
Corraro hit a three-pointer from midcourt off the backcourt at the buzzer but it was too little, too late for Shelton.
Also contributing for the Gaelettes were juniors Melissa Brouillette (one rebound, one forced turnover) and Kelly LaRue (two tieups) and freshman Alyssa Eannotti (one rebound, one tieup, one forced turnover).
Shelton will host Norwalk Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the consolation round.
“This [the loss] will give us an edge [a chip on our shoulders] to come out harder the next time,” said Spicer.
