NAUGATUCK — After a couple of tough losses to start the month, the Naugatuck girls basketball team ripped off four wins in a row to put that little bump in the road in the rearview mirror.
“I wouldn’t necessarily call what we had a slump facing two of the best teams in the league,” said Naugatuck head coach Gail Cheney about the losses to Watertown and St. Paul early this month. “But I think over the last two weeks we are showing what we are made of.”
The Greyhounds showed what they are made of with a 63-44 win over Amistad in an out-of-league game on Jan. 21.
The Greyhounds got back to spreading the offense around in the win, their fourth in a four-game stretch. Mia Rotatori and Sara Wisniewski had 15 points each to led Naugy.
“I think we definitely got our head back in the game,” Wisniewski said after the game. “We are all working together as a team and finding that chemistry that will get us through the tough spots.”
Sara Macary scored nine points. Deitelbaum, Brielle Behuniak and Kaylee Jackson added six points each as the Greyhounds took control early on.
“We are getting back to everyone getting involved in the offense,” Deitelbaum said. “We are picking each other up and we are all capable of getting to the basket. When we do that we are a very tough team.”
The win over Amistad followed a 58-57 victory of Seymour on Jan. 17. Naugy put up its highest fourth-quarter output with 28 points to secure the win.
Hailey Russell scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning basket with just 5 seconds remaining.
“Hailey has been giving us quality minutes and she is capable of doing what she did against Seymour,” Cheney said. “It’s always good to measure yourself against the top teams in the league but you can’t look past anyone in this league.”
Holy Cross snapped the Greyhounds’ four-game win streak with a 58-56 victory on Jan. 23.
The Greyhounds took the lead — their first since the opening quarter — with two minutes remaining against the Crusaders on foul shots from Jackson and Wisniewski. A five-second violation gave Holy Cross the ball back with 16.9 seconds to play, and Alyssa Hebb scored with 3.2 seconds left to give Holy Cross the win.
Wisniewski led Naugy with 16 points and Russell had 14.
Naugatuck bounced back with a 48-33 win over Torrington on Friday to improve to 11-4. Macary led Naugatuck with 17 points.
With a little more than two weeks to go before the Naugatuck Valley League girls tournament tips off and teams jockeying for seeding, the Greyhounds have entered crunch time of the season.
“It’s girls basketball and there are going to be ups and downs along the way,” Cheney said. “I think lately we have been picking up for one another. It’s similar to last year where someone stepped up to get the job done.”
Naugatuck will host Watertown on Thursday in game postponed from Tuesday before hosting Woodland on Friday.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated from the version published in the Jan. 31 edition of the Citizen’s News to include information on a game played after press time.
