BEACON FALLS — Entering the final two weeks of the season needing four wins in five games, the Woodland girls basketball team’s state tournament hopes looked like they’d appeared at the beginning of the year — bleak.
But the youthful Hawks did exactly what they had to do, winning four of their final five regular-season games — including a 53-17 rout of Kaynor Tech in the Feb. 15 finale — to qualify for the Class M postseason.
“They’ve worked so hard and they deserve it,” Woodland coach Jess Moffo said. “Nobody thought we would qualify at the beginning of the season. They kept on plugging away and they did it.”
Woodland (8-12) earned the No. 33 and final seed in the bracket and will visit No. 32 Amistad in a qualifying-round game Friday. A victory will send the Hawks to top-seeded Northwestern on Tuesday.
But no matter the Hawks’ state tournament results, this season tops the list of Moffo’s most memorable as a coach at Woodland.
“Of all the seasons I’ve coached, this is definitely the most rewarding,” Moffo said. “With the young kids — we lost all our top scorers from the last two years and qualified with basically underclassmen. It’s so rewarding. We’ve made great strides from the beginning of the season.”
Woodland experienced plenty of growing pains throughout the first three-quarters of the year, at times playing with as many as four freshmen on the court. Even with a 4-11 record entering the home stretch, Moffo believed her Hawks had a chance to make the postseason.
“I believed that we could qualify — I told the kids that every day,” Moffo said. “At times, we showed against every team the potential that we do have. The inexperience sometimes played a factor, but as the season went on, the inexperience mattered less and less. We were turning over the ball less and scoring more productively inside and out.”
Woodland beat Derby (45-24 on Feb. 5), Bulkeley (55-42 on Feb. 9), Wilby (50-18 on Feb. 11), and Kaynor Tech to squeak into the tournament.
In the postseason-clinching victory over the Panthers, the Hawks enjoyed one of their most balanced offensive attacks of the year. Gabby Mastropietro led the way with 10 points and four steals, while Jill Barbarito checked in with seven points, 12 rebounds and four steals. Other leaders included Kylie Bulinski (seven points), Andra Bojka (seven points), Riley Kane (six points) and Allyson Koliani (five points).
“They were eager,” Moffo said. “They wanted it. They were focused. It’s a long season, so to keep them mentally checked in is hard, but with these girls it wasn’t hard. They wanted to get better.”
Moffo especially praised the efforts of Mastropietro and Bojka, both freshmen, down the stretch.
“Gabby Mastropietro was huge over the last few weeks. She played confident,” Moffo said. “Andra did a great job of running the court. She’s a hell of a point guard and I wish she would give herself more credit for it.”
In Moffo’s mind, the Hawks’ state tournament berth wasn’t merely an accomplishment for just this season. She hopes this success will serve as a springboard into next season, when Woodland will return its entire squad except the graduating Hana Bojka.
“They know they can do it,” Moffo said. “We basically have the same team back. Losing Hana will be huge — she does a lot of things that nobody realizes — but they know they can get better. They’re committed and excited to play. I think they’re excited.”
