By Michael Letendre
PLAINVILLE – There’s a couple sides to the Plainville girls basketball team and both are equally as successful.
The first side is a team-balanced concept that sees more that a couple players notch double-figures in scoring while the other method has senior standout Jadia Vasquez go wild offensively.
That second option was what the Blue Devils went with on Thursday, March 4 against CCC Region B leader Bristol Eastern.
And Vasquez had an amazing performance, dropping in a career-high tying 30 points, as Plainville turned away the Lancers by a 44-39 final from the Ivan Wood Gymnasium.
But despite the scoring exploits by Vasquez, it was just a one possession game with less than 10 seconds to play.
A late turnover ended any possibility of an Eastern comeback as the Blue Devils held on for a huge victory.
“We had a chance to win the game in the end,” said acting Eastern coach Mark Camden. “Plainville played well. They played to win the game. They worked hard out there. It’s a well coached team. They do a good job.”
Only four Plainville players scored points that night but that was all the offense the home team needed.
Kori Jones scored five of her seven points over the final 2:59 of the game – hitting three clutch free throws down the stretch – while teammate Lilly Wazorko added five points.
The win avenged a huge loss by Plainville at Eastern back on Wednesday, February 17 when the Blue Devils fell to the Lancers by forty-four points (77-33).
“I’ve been telling these guys all week, it’s going to be a different game when we go to Plainville to play,” said Camden. “It always is every time. We can win a game by 30 or 40 points [and] it doesn’t mean anything when you come here. It’s a different gym. I don’t know if [our players] took me too lightly or what.”
Ciara Collins led the Lancers with 19 points – on credible 7-of-15 shooting from the field – to go along with seven rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and four steals.
Sage Scarritt returned to the Eastern line-up, providing six points, eight rebounds, and three assists while Janessa Gonzalez came off the pine for five points and four rebounds.
Also coming off the bench, freshman Emma Stavens showed glimpses of what she will doing for the Eastern program for years to come.
She collected four points, six rebounds, and a team-high four assists.
Fellow freshman Audrey Tice contributed two rebounds, as did Taigan Parent, while Alyssa Kehler added three points.
The ultimate statistical metrics were in Eastern’s favor as Plainville shot just 32-percent from the field (16-of-50), missed 17 of 21 three-pointers, only managed a handful of assists while committing 16 turnovers.
But Eastern made just 6-of-24 first half field goals, turned the ball over 11 times, and saw a slim second period lead erased when Vasquez scored nine points in a matter of 3:39 to end the second stanza.
“Our play in the first half was kind of lackadaisical,” said Camden. “We had a lot of turnovers. We had a lot of open shots but we missed them.”
The Lancers started the showdown on a 7-4 run, capped by a 3 from Collins, while the junior followed up with a quick steal and lay-up as the visitors held a three-point edge 5:25 into things.
Eastern never scored again in the first frame while Vasquez canned a three-pointer and Jones put back a miss as Plainville snared a 9-7 lead through eight minutes of action.
Stavens fueled a 6-2 run to open the second period with back-to-back hoops and when Scarritt dropped in two charity tosses with 5:27 before the half, Eastern’s edge was 13-11.
Cali Doyon (two points, two steals) flipped in a hoop with 3:52 before the half but from there, Vasquez scored all of her team’s points in a 9-2 jaunt that gave Plainville a 24-17 push at intermission.
Eastern never led in the second half but made things interesting none-the-less.
Vasquez and Wazorko combined to score nine points over a stretch of 5:23 that gave the Blue Devils a 33-25 cushion with 1:22 left in the third tilt.
But Collins found Gonzalez for a hoop and then Eastern’s leading scorer dropped in two points via a slick spin move in the lane to end the third as the Lancers trailed just 33-29 with one quarter to play.
A steal and lay-up by Vasquez gave Plainville a six-point lead before a hoop and two free throws from Collins, plus a foul shot by Kehler, got Eastern within one at 35-34 with 3:35 left to play.
“In the second half, we played a little bit better,” said Camden. “We got ourselves into the game.”
The squads then exchanged three-point plays as a 3 from Collins kept it a one point contest at 38-37 at the 2:45 mark of the fourth.
Plainville slowed things down and attacked, as another spin move from the slick Vasquez found pay dirt but Stavens made a neat pass to Scarritt for a foul line jumper.
And it was still a one point deficit, this time at 40-39, with ninety-seconds showing on the clock.
It was still 40-39 with 25.1 seconds remaining before Jones was fouled – going to the foul line for a one-and-one shooting opportunity.
Jones calmly sank both free throws but at 42-39 with 22.8 seconds left, Eastern had a shot to tie things up and force overtime.
With the seconds ticking off the clock, the ball never found Collins for that three-point attempt.
Instead, the Lancers turned the ball over and Vasquez hit two free throws that made it academic as Plainville scooped up a huge 44-39 victory.
“It went down to the wire,” said Camden. “Plainville made the shots in the end and we didn’t.”
CCC Region B girls basketball
PLAINVILLE 44, BRISTOL EASTERN 39
from the Ivan Wood Gymnasium, Plainville
Bristol Eastern (6-2) 7 10 12 10 – 39
Plainville (6-2) 9 15 9 11 – 44
BRISTOL EASTERN (39): Ciara Collins 7 2 19, Cali Doyon 1 0 2, Alyssa Kehler 1 1 3, Janessa Gonzalez 1 3 5, Sage Scarritt 2 2 6, Emma Stevens 2 0 4, Audrey Tice 0 0 0, Taigan Parent 0 0 0. Totals: 14 8 36.
PLAINVILLE (44): Lilly Wazorko 2 1 5, Jaida Vasquez 11 4 30, Kori Jones 2 3 7, Katie Gagnon 1 0 2, Tessa Susco 0 0 0, Elena Gorneault 0 0 0. Totals: 16 8 44.
Three-point goals: Collins (BE) 3, Vasquez (P) 4.
Records: Plainville 6-2; Bristol Eastern 6-2
