State tourney within reach

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BEACON FALLS — The Woodland girls are at the doorstep of the postseason.

The Hawks need one more victory in the last three games to punch their ticket to the state tournament.

The Hawks secured win number seven last Friday by pouring in a season-high score in a 65-56 win over Watertown. The win snapped a four-game skid for the Hawks, who played four games over a seven-day span before facing the Indians.

The Hawks had a bit of a rest with three days off before the Watertown game, and they came out a little rusty.

The Indians broke out to a 19-14 first quarter lead before the Hawks took flight. Eliza Smith led the way with 24 points and keyed a 21-13 second quarter to give Woodland a 35-32 lead at the half.

Haley Andrews (14 points), Hana Bojka (14 points) and Jill Barbarito (12 points) gave the Hawks enough fire power to open up a 54-44 lead going into the final quarter.

Woodland secured the game at the free throw line with Smith hitting 14 of the Hawks’ 25 free throws.

“We played great against Watertown,” Woodland head coach Jess Moffo said. “Our press on defense helped to win us the game. We hit our foul shots, we drove to the basket and we played hard. We outrebounded them. We did the little things that help you to win games.”

Woodland got its first chance for win number eight on Tuesday at Naugatuck.

The Hawks fell behind early and didn’t score their first basket until there was 1:47 left in the first quarter when Bojka hit a shot in the lane. Naugatuck went into the second quarter holding a 13-5 advantage.

The Greyhounds continued to pull away, and when Smith was lost for the rest of the game due to a dislocated finger, the Hawks chances were severely diminished. Naugatuck hung a 51-23 loss on Woodland.

“Eliza got hurt and we got a little down after that,” Moffo said. “But someone gets hurt, we need to step it up. We didn’t do the little things that gave us a chance against Watertown.”

Bojka and Smith had six points each to lead Woodland.

“We need one win over the last three games,” Moffo said. “It’s doable. If we play like we could play, we will get there.”

The Hawks will finish out the week at home against Wolcott on Friday. Woodland will close out the regular season next week at Torrington on Monday before hosting Seymour on Wednesday.