Hawks fall to Whippets, historic season concludes

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WINDHAM — The winningest season in Woodland girls basketball history came to an end last Thursday in the Class M state tournament quarterfinals as the No. 10 Hawks fell to No. 2 Windham, 75-44.

The game’s outcome was never really in doubt as the Whippets (20-3) led wire to wire. The up-tempo style of offense and defense helped Windham to a 20-12 first-quarter lead and a 41-27 halftime edge before putting the game out of reach in the second half.

“They were hitting their shots,” Woodland senior forward Heather Framski said. “They were pushing the ball. They were playing their game and we gave into it. We didn’t play our game; we played theirs.”

Windham was led by Haley Roberts with a game-high 20 points while Danyelle Rodriguez and Ali Risley scored 13 each. Nine different players scored for the Whippets, who defeated No. 6 Tolland, 67-64, in overtime Monday to advance to this weekend’s Class M championship against No. 21 Weaver.

“Windham was a very good team,” Framski said. “They didn’t make many mistakes.”

Framski paced the Hawks (18-7) with a team-high 18 points. Lindsay Feducia added eight, Kate Tuckey had seven, Andrea Piccolo tacked on six, and Kelsey Deegan contributed five. They were the only five players to score for Woodland.

Framski said the ending of the season was bittersweet.

“Everyone was really sad after the game was over,” Framski said. “But we made history. It sucked when it was over, but it was great that we made history. Everyone was proud of us afterwards.”

Woodland set school records for wins (18) and regular-season wins (15). The Hawks reached the Naugatuck Valley League tournament semifinals for the second-straight year, the first time in program history that’s happened. Woodland also reached the Class M quarterfinals for the first time.

Framski said the season was undoubtedly a success even though the team didn’t win the Brass Division championship that she wanted.

“We did almost everything I wanted to,” Framski said. “I really wanted a banner for our division but it didn’t happen. But the team was better than I could have asked for. I couldn’t have asked for a better senior year.”

Framski finished with a school-record 1,257 points, a full 100 ahead of Jen Valente, who scored 1,157 over a three-year varsity career from 2003-06.

But Framski said the team wasn’t all about her and maintained the team’s success was more about intangibles.

“I think it was how close we are and how much we wanted it,” Framski said. “We have four seniors who have been in the program for four years and Piccolo really stepped it up. We had girls who really wanted to play. Heart goes far in the NVL.”

Framski also gave credit to the team’s fans, many of which made the long haul to Windham for the quarterfinal game.

“As a team, we really want to thank our fans,” Framski said. “We had such a good crowd at the Windham game. Windham is out in the boons and we had such a good turnout. I don’t think we would have made it that far in states if we didn’t have those fans, so we really appreciate it.”