Hartford tops Springfield girls, levels record at 7-7

Hartford displayed its offense in the first quarter and the defense took care of things the rest of the game as the Hurricanes dispatched Springfield 43-34 Saturday afternoon at Dressel Gym.

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Hartford tops Springfield girls, levels record at 7-7 Rutland Herald | February 18, 2017 By POODY WALSH SPRINGFIELD – Hartford displayed its offense in the first quarter and the defense took care of things the rest of the game as the Hurricanes dispatched Springfield 43-34 Saturday afternoon at Dressel Gym. Hartford scored 19 points in the first quarter, but the offense was inconsistent the rest of the way causing Hurricane coach Troy Guerin to wonder if maybe a Friday practice should have been a little easier. “We had three games this week and had went hard yesterday,” said Guerin. “Maybe it was a bit too much. There were times when we had people open, but we couldn’t get them the ball.” While the offense may have been a little off the defense, led by sparkplug guard Kaylee Williams, limited Springfield to 24 points over the final three periods. Williams, who expended as lot of energy chasing down Cosmos, twice hit the deck and needed repairs before returning to the game. The Hurricanes also had a decided height advantage with Corey Lieberman and Kyra Wood, both in the 5-foot-10 range, controlling things underneath Both teams struggled offensively at times and while it may have been a case of fatigue for Hartford, Springfield coach Joe Costello thought his club “should have had a better shot selection.” Still what bothered Costello the most was the Springfield defense in the first quarter that allowed 19 points. “That just can’t happen,” he said. But it did happen and it had a long-term affect when Springfield, which had to play catch-up all game, had a solid shot at overtaking the Hurricanes when they closed to within 36-31 with more than five minutes to play. It was at that point Hartford went into a delay for awhile then Isabella Leister broke free underneath and Megan Bushway stuck the dagger into the hearts of the Cosmos with a 3-pointer. The 19-point first quarter had to be a relief for the Hurricanes, now 7-7, who had totaled just 35 points in the last two games. Springfield, which has now lost four straight, fell to 3-12. The Cosmos once again played without senior Cassidy Otis who is sidelined with an ankle injury. If there was one minute in the game that Springfield would like to have eliminated it was probably with less than 30 seconds to play in the third quarter and the Cosmos climbing back into the game at 31-26. A missed Hartford shot was mishandled twice by the Cosmos with the ball eventually ending up in the hands of Bushway who dropped in a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left. Bushway had a 12-point game but the two 3-pointers she had came when the Hurricanes needed them the most. It has been a struggle for the Springfield girls, but Costello remains optimistic that the flaws like blocking out and taking good shots are correctable. “We’re making progress,” he said. Costello got a nice game freshman guard Halley Perham who had a 14-point day to lead all scorers. Teammate Hannah Crosby, just a sophomore,added 10 points. Springfield will see the top team in Division II on Tuesday when Mill River comes to Riverside Park.