The St. Paul girls, who had lost in overtime to Seymour in the regular season, were determined not to let that history repeat itself. Mission accomplished. The Falcons led from start to finish, winning by a comfortable score of 49-35 Friday night.

The key to victory was St. Paul’s lock-down defense that limited their opponent to 13 points in the first half, and the dynamic duo of Rebecca Kelly and Audrey Tice, who each scored 13 points for the Falcons.

Kelly also was a dominant force inside with 11 rebounds, and her strong moves to the hoop resulted in 7 points from the foul stripe as well.

Zola Cudjoe, Haileigh Orzel, and Olivia Zahn all chipped in with 7 points in a balanced St.Paul offense.

Lauren Golebieski and Jackie Okula led Seymour with 12 and 11 points respectively.

St. Paul now advances to the quarterfinals on Wednesday, when they will face #1 seed East Hampton. The Bellringers (novel name) of the Shoreline Conference have put together a dominant season. Their record (20-1) includes a slew of blowout scores, as they have been challenged only a few times this season.

Game time will be 7:00 at the East Hampton gym. After beating Torrington and Holy Cross in the NVL Tournament, the Falcons have been peaking at just the right time. Wednesday’s game should be quite a battle.