By Lily Dawson |

It has been a long, hard battle for the girls on the Morgan Girls Basketball Team. They started off the season 0-1, losing to the big time rival HK. They came out flying in their next game, beating Cromwell, the reigning state and shoreline champs. That win fueled them for the rest of the season.

Unfortunately, the girls hit a rough spot in their season, losing three games by 3 points or less. They played Cromwell for the second time in Cromwell. Making a comeback after losing by 11 at halftime, the girls were able to battle back. With less than 30 seconds left, Cromwell hit a shot that put them ahead by two for the remainder of the game. After falling to Cromwell by 2, the Lady Huskies lost two consecutive games, losing to Hk again by 1 and losing to Class L Ledyard by 3. The girls had a successful pre season, finishing with a winning record of 16-4, earning the spots of number 2 in the Shoreline and number 6 in the state. They lost 3/4 games that were so close and that they could’ve won, makes the loss hurt that much more.

The team battled through the Shoreline Tournament, meeting again with Cromwell in the finals. This one hurt the most. Up by 9 with five minutes left, the game turned around. Cromwell came back sending it into overtime. With 10 seconds left in overtime, Cromwell hit a shot, and they won the Shoreline Championship by 1. The girls on that team were angry at themselves for allowing that to happen, and every single one of them never wanted to feel that way again.

Moving through the State Tournament, the Morgan Huskies met up with the Cromwell Panthers again in the Class M semi-finals. Coach Grippo always told the girls, knock them out of the state tournament to get to the sun, and we can finally move on from the loss at Wilbur Cross (where the Shoreline Championship was played.) Although that game was big, this one was bigger. Winning States felt 100 times better than winning Shorelines.

Every player on that team kept in the back of their mind what had happened during the 2 losses to Cromwell. They were not about to let it happen one more time. They went out there and left everything they had on the court. Finally it was their time, walking off of the court with a W, winning 50-39 and knocking the defending state champions out of the tournament. Winning this game means the Huskies will play in the state championship game on either March 22nd or 23rd at Mohegan Sun!

photo via The Hartford Courant

Everyone should go out to support the team and help the players get this last win against No. 5 New London. Tickets to the event will be available on the CIAC website. Let’s bring back a state title to Morgan!