The Greenwich High girls basketball team clinched their CCIAC playoff berth, with their eighth win coming over Staples High in a 71-25 victory Tuesday night at GHS.
Senior captain Abbie Wolf set the pace early for the Lady Cardinals, scoring 21 of her game-high 25 points in the first half and collecting 11 rebounds. She added five blocks, a pair of steals and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe in the team’s most lopsided conference win of the season.
“Coming off Friday’s loss to Ridgefield, we wanted to challenge ourselves and get back to Greenwich basketball, which has always been defensive intensity and I definitely saw that today and I’m very proud of them,” said GHS head coach Chrys Hernandez. “Abbie is definitely solidifying her role as opposed to being patient and we need that.”
With exactly a week until their next game, Hernandez says that the team will try to keep their momentum by maintaining high intensity for the second half of their regular season.
“We try to keep the intensity up in practice. We can’t relax. We know we’re at a point where we can’t just relax. Right now I still think we’re trying to find consistency, regardless of what our record indicates.”
Providing a spark on both sides of the ball for GHS was Kim Kockenmeister who added 13 points, five rebounds, five steals, some key assists and didn’t commit a turnover.
“I think it’s really important to start off strong and that’s something we’ve struggled at recently,” Kockenmeister said following the game. “Once we get our momentum, I think we can be unstoppable. How we practice really reflects how we play in the game. That [Ridgefield] loss remains a chip on our shoulder.”
Emily Anderson had a very strong performance in the paint as she added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Cardinals. Caroline Beneville pitched in 11 points, hitting a pair of second quarter three pointers in the process.
The Wreckers were limited to just 11 first-half points behind strong defensive play from the home team as Greenwich improved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the FCIAC on the season.
“Abbie and Kim have been very consistent all season long,” Hernandez said after the win. “They both made the all-tournament team at Woodstock earlier in the season. Kim is an amazing defender and has a natural instinct for the ball. She pushes the ball which is what we really want. We had a lot of inside-outside game today which we need to get back to.”
The Lady Cardinals will be back in action Tuesday, Jan. 26 when they travel to Trumbull High School for a game against the Eagles.
