NC Drops Girls' Basketball in First Round of State Tourney

-By: McKinley Stauffer & Jack Bushell-

Girls' Basketball was unable to come away with a win in the first round of the state tournament against Darien's arch enemy, New Canaan, at New Canaan High School on Monday (3/1). Senior AnnaRae Anderson answerd after NC put a quick score on the board, with a jump shot on the foul line. Senior captain Liz Calby hit a couple big threes to keep the game close, scoring a total of 12 points, not a high total for Calby. Darien may have lost on the score board, but they remained resolute throughout the game. New Canaan's offense was led by sophomore Sarah Manley showing poise for a sophomore. The rest of the Ram's players were thwarted by Darien's frantic defense. By the end of the game Darien had a total of 16 fouls which hurt their chances because NC is great at putting in foul shots for easy points especially when Darien was down 35-21 by the end of the first half. Freshman Meg Marren had a good start to the second half with great defense around the three point line with a couple steals and bad forced passes by the Rams. Marren also had a great night from the free throw line sinking all of her free throws. Calby fouled out in the fourth quarter with a questionable call by the ref. Junior Nicole Buch (pictured) had 26 points by the end of the game but it wasn't enough as they lost the game 59-51.

Sophomore Susan Biggart, who has been unable to play much this season due to an ACL injury, has been recording the team's stats while cheering for them on the sidelines. Biggart commented on the team's season by saying, "Overall this season we've worked so hard and come so far. I think this season was great success for us." Susan is right because last year the girls only had 3 wins during the regular season while haveing 10 wins this season. The seniors will surely be missed as Liz Calby, Leanne Stone, Taylor Wells and AnnaRae Anderson will not be playing for the team next year. Other players need to step up to replace what surely is one of the best set of seniors that this team has seen.