Seniors Go Out With A Win

On a night when four Berlin seniors were honored before their last regular season home game, it was one of those seniors and a junior who spurred Berlin to a hard-fought win over Plainville, 51-36.

With the win, the Redcoats finished 17-3 overall and a perfect 14-0 in the CCC South to claim the division championship.

Senior Chelsea Vujs showed she is one of the best players in the state as she stuffed the stat sheet. Vujs finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and six steals.

Junior Paige Young scored seven points and grabbed 10 rebounds and was an emotional leader for the Redcoats, who struggled to pull away from the pesky Blue Devils.

"When I get my momentum going I just get crazy," said Young, who spoke about senior Paige Owens before the game on Senior Night. "We might have gotten a little caught up because of the emotions of senior night but after halftime we came out and dominated and they couldn't catch up."

Vujs can do it all on the court and showed off her entire game against Plainville.

"She's a very unselfish player and likes to distribute the ball," Berlin coach Sheila King said of Vujs. "She passes up a lot of shots that we would like to see her take. I pulled her aside right before we came out at halftime and told her she needed to take over. She has no problem doing that and she can dominate a game like she did in the second half tonight."

Berlin led 14-13 after the first quarter and 20-16 at halftime but it was an important 10-0 run in the third quarter that provided the needed cushion between the teams.

The Redcoats led 20-18 but then Vujs scored two baskets and junior Courtney Trzasko scored six points on three free throws and a three-pointer to push the lead to 30-18 with 3:38 left in the quarter.

A three-point play by Hallie Nygren, lay-up by Ashley Malloy and corner jumper by Vujs made it 37-23 after three quarters.

Vujs hit a three-pointer and Berlin got threes from Trzasko and Owens to keep a comfortable lead in the final quarter.

"They played very good defense and gave us trouble but I thought we played pretty good defense too," King said. "We went to zone in the second half and they started shooting threes so we were happy about that. I also thought our rebounding was the difference. They were one and done on offense. We're not very big but Paige Young especially did a great job rebounding."

Vujs, who is being recruited by and will choose between Western New England College and Western Connecticut where she will continue her basketball career, said she doesn't care much about scoring.

"I care more about my assists and us winning," she said. "King said she wanted me to score more in the second half and I'm used to that. Nobody wants to lose on Senior Night so I was willing to do whatever was needed."

Vujs said people around Berlin High School didn't think the girl’s basketball team would be very successful this year.

"Nobody wants to hear you're not going to have a good team," she said. "We were a little upset that people didn't think we'd be too good but they didn't know how fast we are or how hard we play. We're not the biggest team but we play big."

Young also said the team plays with a chip on its shoulder.

"We have definitely been an underdog all season," Young said. "It kind of stinks. When I was a younger player the 'Red Sea' (Berlin student cheering section) used to come to all the games and they don't come anymore. I guess our success was unexpected but it would be great if the 'Red Sea' would come back and support us. We're looking forward to the state tournament. You should come check it out, it's going to be fun."

Senior Night Festivities: The four seniors, Vujs, Owens, DD Barrett and Olivia Sherman, were honored before the game by underclassmen who read a short statement about each. They were also given a framed practice jersey and various other items by the team.

The team sold yellow ribbons to raise money for the medical expenses of Skylar Caswell, who is confined to a wheelchair due to spina bifida.