5th Grade Somers Girls Win the Tri-County Basketball League Championship at the Buzzer

The 5U Girls TCBL Championship game at 7 Bridges School on Sunday didn’t look like it would amount to much excitement at the outset. Ardsley’s deft little point guard put the ball on the floor, and set her sights for the rim en route to eight first quarter points. The long two her oversized shooting guard drained from the corner didn’t say much for a compelling game either. So, facing a 10-4 deficit after one, Somers looked as the tandem was going to run them out of the gym. But the closure that coach Rob Hawkins got his girls to employ said nothing about giving up, and ultimately had the Tuskers and Lindsay Ulaj sounding their trumpets in a 24-22 buzzer beater.

“First of all, the girls played as a team,” said Hawkins. “But we switched to a box-one, and our defense changed the game by frustrating their two best players.”

Defense Leads the Way Back

The strategy immediately paid returns as Mia Paulmeno was mostly in charge of keeping the ball out of the hands of her much bigger counterpart. Covering the big Ardsley shooting guard like a bad cold, Paulmeno forced a turnover and Ulaj converted the fast break layup to get Somers within four.

Another forced turnover followed, and Paulmeno showed she could be in the mix on offense too. The pesky guard was found cutting to the basket by the Somers towering center, Lily Mazzella, and the finals were a two-point game with 2:50 left in the half.

A tie was all that awaited, and Mazzella filled the bill. The Somers big stopped up the middle under the Ardsley basket, forced Ardsley’s tall shooting guard into a travel, and on the other end, the talk of tandem shifted.

Everyone Involved

Paulmeno took her turn and popped an open jumper to knot the game at 10. But Somers is all about getting everyone involved, and Maia Cassin was the next to come and play. The clock winding down on the half, she took the pass in the corner and calmly hit a jumper at the buzzer.

A little foreshadowing, the five minute intermission didn’t give Somers any pause either. Paulmeno converted a fast break basket on Ulaj's outlet pass, and Cassin extended the lead to 16-10 when she came open in the corner again.

The first player off the bench took the big shot in stride for a second time, and her calm demeanor played perfect with her approach to the game. “We play as a team,” Cassin asserted, modestly.

But Cassin wasn’t the only one with a game face, and Ardsley’s off guard showed that their early advantage wasn’t a fluke. Playing big inside and out, she first drove for two, then hit from the corner and got Ardsley within one from the foul line with another hard drive.

The Back and Forth Begins

The quarter closing with Somers up 16-15, the game officially became a back and forth to remember. A coast to coast by Ardsley’s point guard had hardly the time to sink in when Cassin's transcontinental scoop to the hoop gave Somers the lead again with 4:32 left in the game.

The lead would then extend to three on a fast break basket by Paulmeno with 2:38 left. Set up by a defensive board and long outlet pass by Cassin, the long view didn’t get past Coach Hawkins. “She sees the court well and has great vision,” Hawkins said.

The 20-17 lead was also looking insurmountable as Ardsley missed two at the line with at 1:50. But the tall side of Ardsley’s backcourt put back the rebound, and before Somers had time to gasp, Ardsley’s short-end guard scored a layup on a backcourt steal.

Victory suddenly shifting sides, a sunk free throw wasn’t enough for even keel either. Paulmeno was called for a foul line violation on her first shot, and Somers was still down one after she missed the second.

A Wild Finish

Shaking off the call, Somers forced a backcourt violation and geared up for what appeared to be their last chance. 17 seconds left, the Tuskers made the most of their persistence. Ulaj came open to the right of the basket and made the deuce for a 22-21 lead with five seconds remaining.

Victory seemingly in hand, again, Somers lined up to defend at half court, but were whistled for a foul before the inbound. Ardsley’s towering guard missed the first free throw, but forced the tie on the second and the scene shifted sides.

The Tuskers got the ball in and Ulaj once again got the call. “I didn’t think I was going to shoot,” she said. “I looked around and no one was open. So I shot as hard as I could.”

There was nothing but soft touch, and the championship belonged to Somers. “I just believed it would go in,” said Ulaj.

The free for all afterwards was summed up in her teammate’s joy. “I just want to hug her for the rest of her life,” Mazzella concluded.

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