Cross Keeps It Close

Wilbur Cross Lady Governor Leilanie Pugh had just minimized her opponents’ lead by laying the ball off the backboard and into the hoop — but she didn’t stop there.

Seconds later she caught a rebound, then sank a mid-range shot to bring her team within four points.

That was the scene during a Friday evening girls varsity basketball game between Wilbur Cross High School and Shelton High.

For the second face-off this season, the Cross girls stepped onto the court for the away game with high energy. The stands were packed, mostly with Shelton supporters who before the game celebrated senior night with the Shelton team.

Shelton took the win 53 – 47. But Cross made them fight for it. This made for Cross’ 16th loss out of 17 games this season. (Click here to read about when the same two teams faced off earlier in the season.)

The game began with Cross taking the lead with six minutes on the clock. Cross senior Leilanie Pugh, who is number 20 on the court, caught a pass from her teammate and drove to the net for a layup putting the first points on the board, 2 – 0. 

Shelton tied it a minute later. 

With four minutes and 45 seconds remaining, Shelton took to the free throw line for two free throws. Cross freshmen Harmoni Thomas caught the rebound of the final missed shot and passed it to point guard Sirraya Pratt who then sunk a three pointer, bringing the score to 5 – 3 with Cross up. 

The teams tied again at 10 – 10 with one minute of the first quarter remaining after senior KaNai Goodwin-Kellman also sunk a three pointer and Thomas put up two layups.

The teams went into the second quarter 12 – 12. Thomas continued with putting up points through mid-range shots while the team also secured free throws. In the final two minutes of the second quarter Pugh passed the ball to guard Kiara Cabassa who successfully completed a layup from the assist.

Halfway through the third quarter Pratt sank another three pointer, bringing the score to 38 – 29 with Windsor holding the lead.

At two minutes and 10 seconds, Pugh put up another layup, bringing the score to 39 – 33. Forty seconds later got her own rebound and sunk a mid-range shot. This brought the score to 39 – 35 in the fourth quarter with Cross eager to close the slight gap. 

Points by Thomas, Cabassa, Pratt, and junior Bella Gomez Stafford throughout the quarter brought them that much closer to their goal.

Cross took a timeout to plan out the final 17 seconds with the score at 50 – 44. With 11 seconds left Pratt made a three-pointer, bringing the score to 52 – 47. Cross pushed hard to put up the final points, but a Shelton player held the ball for the remaining final seconds of the game.

“I was happy because we played as a team today,” Pugh said.

Thomas said minor mistakes like rebounding contributed to the loss. Head coach Deborah McClease agreed: ​“There was too many second-chance baskets we missed that we could have been on the winning end of. But I’m proud of them. The score is not an indication of how great a game they played.”

Cross plays their final game of the season and will celebrate senior night Monday for a home game. 

McClease said the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) recently changed its rules to allow for the team to practice next year before the start of the season on Dec. 1.

“This will help a lot because our first game was on Dec. 12, and that gave us no time to really start strong,” she said. ​“These girls have character above any standards, and that’s something you can’t work on so all that’s left is building on the basics.”

Pugh and Thomas agreed that they will do all it takes during Monday’s final game to get a win for their final game of the season.