Darien Girls Basketball Survives Tense Game Against Cheshire

By Edward Pankowski

 Tuesday night, February 26, saw the Darien Girls Basketball team prevail against Cheshire, using a surprisingly strong offense to offset a weaker defense. Strong drives by Darien in the first half gave the team a commanding lead, which it was able to defend against a strong retaliation by Cheshire in the fourth quarter. 

 The main gym of Darien High was packed with both Cheshire and Darien fans, though the Darien audience was definitely larger. Before the game, I spoke to sophomore Kendra Fitzpatrick, who predicted, " If we bring our A-Game, we'll win." In the pre-game practice, the Darien team demonstrated impressive teamwork, concentrating on passes and short, aggressive pushes to the basket. Cheshire, meanwhile, demonstrated significantly stronger three point shooter and seemed to be more aggressive overall.

Darien scored the first points early on in the first quarter, taking a lead that Cheshire was never able to surpass. The Girls team was able to maintain control of the ball for most of the quarter, and at some points, the struggle over the ball became more direct and physical, and the Cheshire team grappled with Darien girls over the ball. Kate Forey in particular demonstrated a particular determination, managing to maintain control despite the best efforts of Cheshire. 

The second quarter started well for Cheshire, as they brought out the cannons of the team, easily sinking multiple three pointers. Darien was able to make up these points with some skillful free throws and layups, which demonstrated some of the teamwork and co-ordination on display during the pre-game practice. The Cheshire team was forced to pull a player off the court towards the end of the quarter due to an ankle injury, which temporarily stalled the game. However, Meg Marren was able to drastically increase Darien's lead over Cheshire with a series of skillful three-throws, making the score 24-12 at halftime. 

Darien scored its first three pointer of the game shortly after the beginning of the third quarter, but aggressive playing by Cheshire began to reduce the teams lead. At the same time, Cheshire clearly sought to avoid giving Darien more free-throw opportunities, which meant that fewer fouls occurred. The room became noticeably tense as Darien's lead shrank to the single digits, and by the late fourth quarter, it was down to a mere four points, 47-43. 

The Darien Girls team was able to strengthen its lead with more aggressive tactics. Emily Stein was the most visible of the girls to take the game to the Cheshire basket, and ultimately, a series of free-throws by Stein and Marren extended the blue wave lead to 56-48. Cheshire scored in the last fifteen seconds, but by that point, both sides knew it was over, and the Darien Girls Basketball team secured a major victory in the CIAC tournament. The final score is 56-50.

Photo caption: Junior Emily Stein shoots a free throw in the third quarter of the game in which she played a major role in defeating Cheshire