End Of The Line For Lady Redcoats

The difference between advancing in the state tournament and being eliminated is small. Turnovers, mental and physical mistakes and missed shots can make the difference in a close game.

All of those things plaqued the Berlin girl's basketball team Monday night at Babe Allen Fieldhouse at Bulekeley High School in Hartford. Berlin had two lapses, one in the second quarter and one to finish the third quarter that allowed top-ranked E.O. Smith to dominate and just like that Berlin was knocked out of the state tournament, one game short of the title game, 63-52.

Berlin was not intimidated by the unbeaten Panthers as they came out flying taking a quick 6-2 lead. E.O. Smith hit a shot at the buzzer to tie the well-played first quarter 13-13 after eight minutes.

The second quarter changed the tenor of the game in a big way. E.O. Smith went on a 16-2 run to start the second quarter and went ahaead 29-15 midway through the second quarter. Berlin committed 15 turnovers in the second quarter alone. Berlin came back to close it to 32-21 at halftime, thanks to inspired play by Kailene Rampone and Courtny Trzasko.

The 'Coats came flying out of the locker room and went on a 9-2 run to start the third quarter and close the gap to 34-30 midway through the third quarter.

But again, it was a big run, another 16-2 spree, by the Panthers that would seal the Redcoats' fate as E.O. Smith led 50-32 going into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter would see senior Chelsea Vujs foul out with three minutes left to go, ending her spectacular career in a Berlin uniform. Fellow senior captain DD Barrett fouled out with less than a minute to go.

"That's a much improved team and we knew that," said E.O. Smith coach Kirk Murad, whose team beat Berlin soundly in the first game of the season for both teams back in December. "They made us work for it. I think our experience helped us but like I said, this was a tough, tough game and you have to congratulate Berlin for how hard they played."

Rampone topped Berlin with 11 points while Paige Young and Trzasko added 10 points each.

Taylor Vonasek was top for E.O. Smith with 15 points while Morgan Olander scored 14 points.

Sheila King said her team should be proud.

"I'm proud of them and how hard they played tonight," King said. "We made a lot of mistakes which hurt us against a very good team. We never stopped fighting."