Naugy girls bounce back from opening-season loss, win three straight

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NAUGATUCK — The Naugy girls basketball team is built on a foundation of many interchangeable parts. That was evident last week when the Greyhounds shook off an opening-season loss and won three games in a row with different players emerging to lead the way to victory.

“We are getting into a flow,” head coach Gail Cheney said. “We had nine girls score against Oxford and nine more score in the win over Career. We are moving in the right direction, getting everyone involved in the offense.”

Naugy handed Oxford a thorough 51-36 defeat on Dec 14. The Greyhounds showed a solid core of scorers, with senior Sarah Wisniewski knocking down a game-high 10 points.

The Wolverines had very few opportunities to shut down the Naugy (3-1) attack. Mia Rotatori (9 points) and Shannon Burns (8 points) threw down key baskets to keep the Greyhounds out in front. Kaylee Jackson and Brielle Behuniak added seven points each, and Hailey Deitelbaum and Alissa McNeil added four points each to complete the Naugy scoring.

“It’s what we are trying to do each night,” Cheney said. “We don’t want to be a team that relies on one or two players to score because if you shut them down we are in trouble. We don’t want to go there. We want to get everyone involved. That way it makes it harder for teams to defend us.”

Naugy relied on a few more up-and-coming players in a convincing 65-45 win over Waterbury Career on Dec. 18. Hailey Russell and Sara Macary each scored 12 points to lead way.

“We had a couple of girls excel in the JV game,” Cheney said. “And they came out and led the team in scoring during the varsity game. That’s what we are all about. If you show the effort and the hustle to get involved, then you are going to get the opportunity, and Hailey and Sara did just that. They were my first two players off the bench and they were our leading scorers.”

Waterbury Career wasn’t able to focus on any one aspect of the Greyhounds’ offense as Naugatuck spread the ball around. Jackson had 10 points, Burns chipped in with seven points, and Rotatori added 6 points. Deitelbaum and Wisniewski put up five points each. Alyssa Roberts and Behuniak chipped in with four points each.

The Greyhounds made it three straight wins with a 41-25 victory over Derby on Dec. 21. This time, Jackson led the way for Naugy with 11 points. Russell added nine points, and Wisniewski and Macary each had eight.

The Greyhounds will host a holiday tournament this weekend and take on Torrington on Friday and Maloney on Saturday.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated from the version published in the Dec. 27 edition to include information on games played after press time.