Sports

Few Guarantees Come Tournament Time

East Hampton and Portland girls start second season

In 2008, the East Hampton girls entered the state tournament undefeated and having just won the Shoreline Conference tournament. The Bellringers couldn’t have been flying any higher and after a first-round bye, were set to take on 17 seed Berlin at home.

Final score: Berlin 39, East Hampton 33 in overtime.

Last year, East Hampton barely qualified for the tournament with an 8-12 regular season record.  The Bellringers were sent to Bristol to play No. 3 seed St. Paul. After spotting the Falcons an early 10-0 lead, however, East Hampton fought back. Late in the fourth quarter it was a one-possession game. The Bellringers ultimately lost 34-29 to a team that would go on the win the Class S title.

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“The only reason we were able to make that second half play out the way it did is because I got a group of kids who have been in the postseason, been deep in the postseason, and we weren’t that frazzled about getting on a bus and playing a team that was seeded that highly,” East Hampton coach Shaun Russell said. “I give the kids a lot of credit for that.

“In the postseason, records are really irrelevant because one good five-minute run by anybody can win these games.”

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Portland, the team St. Paul would beat in the final, had to navigate its own upset-minded opponent in the first-round. The Highlanders needed overtime to defeat No. 24 Housatonic Regional 62-54 at home.

And so goes the state tournament. Call it the second season, where every team starts 0-0 and anything can happen. Cliché? Not really. Navigating a win-or-go-home format with teens can be a challenge unto itself. Factor in the luck of the draw, injuries, in some cases an unfamiliar opponent, and the perils can be many.

“I think every coach, you try to instill in your team that it’s a one-game season,” Portland coach Nick Chaconis said.. “Throw out the records. Whether you played the team before or you’re playing a fresh team, you put everything on the line.”

Last season, Bacon Academy was trying to make it two state titles in a row. With a 19-1 record, who was to doubt them. Then, All-State player Katie Mahoney went down with a knee injury in the ECC semifinals and the Bobcats ended up losing to a 9-11 Newington team 60-56 at home in the first round.

Fast forward to last week. Coginchaug, a legitimate threat to win the Class S tournament, held on to win an exciting Shoreline Conference tournament final against Portland. The title came with a cost, though. Audrey Biesak, a First-Team All-Shoreline player, has a broken thumb and her effectiveness, if not her availability, is in doubt.

The CIAC does not take into account injuries when ranking teams. There is no human element at all. Teams are ranked first by their record. A young team that struggles early but finishes strong and confident can lurk behind any 12-8 record and has the perfect makeup for an “upset” of a higher-ranked opponent.

Such was the case for East Hampton in its matchup with Berlin, who, as it turned out, was merely laying the ground work for a run to the Class M final the following season.

“That for us was probably the worst matchup of that entire bracket,” Russell said. “We felt if we can get by that game, we thought the next two would have been a little easier in terms of the matchup. That night Berlin played great, they had been playing hot, they just won their conference tournament, had got some kids back from being injured.

“It was devastating in that moment, but I think overall we did not let that one game define us for that season. I think the kids were able to look proudly back on that year.”

Whatever the reasons, surprising outcomes are fairly common. In 2008, Ellington (8-12) was the lowest seed in Class M but went to St. Bernard (16-4) and won, 53-41. Last season, Portland was a 9 seed playing for a title. Just this past Monday, Old Saybrook (9-11) traveled to Manchester and crushed Cheney Tech (16-4), 69-42.

“You have those unknown factors. Other leagues, other teams, different styles and it’s one game. There’s another Portland out there,” Chaconis said, referring to his Highlanders team that was ranked No. 9 but made it to the Class S state final last season. “Someone we don’t know about, that gets on a run, wins an overtime game, wins a buzzer beater and all of a sudden, this team can play, this team has confidence. They’re out there. I know they’re out there.”

Would coaches rather face an opponent they are familiar with?

“I think most coaches like a fresh face,” Chaconis said, “but I will say this, sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for.”

Said Russell: “I think sometimes it’s better earlier to play someone new. I think that lends itself to stepping into the tournament. It really kind of jumps you into the state tournament feel and it really feels like you’re doing something different.”

As the tournament advances, however, Russell thought playing a familiar foe does have an advantage, in at least one respect.

“If the bracket played out where there were three Shoreline teams in the semifinals, I don’t think the enormity of the round would outweigh the opponent because of the familiarity of the opponent. I don’t think our team would be star struck playing a Shoreline team because it’s the semifinals of the state tournament.“

Making it to a state final can be difficult enough. Making it in consecutive years could be daunting without the right mind-set. Making it to the Class S final two straight years is the challenge facing Portland.

“We’re trying to approach it one possession at a time,” Chaconis said. “The experience is there. I think last year we had a good season, which became a great season as we won tournament games. The kids gained confidence. Our core kids are back. I don’t have to say too much [for them] to remember last year. They know. They were on the court.

“You leave it on the court. You play one possession at a time and you make a mistake you have to play through it.”

Under Russell, the Bellringers have consistently made the state tournament. This experience goes a long way to helping his teams be prepared for when the games begin.

“I think because of the success that we’ve had here, because of the work ethic the kids have put in, the expectations they have of each other, we’ve played enough of these postseason games and postseason tournaments that we have a good understanding of how to attack them,” Russell said.

Russell’s four key elements to postseason success are defense, enthusiasm, aggressiveness and focus.

“If you can do those four things, you’re going to win a lot more than you lose in the postseason,” he said. “The other stuff is out of your control. The draw is out of your control, you’re not going to know who you are playing and when, the state takes over the tournament scheduling so its not going to have the same rhythm as the regular season and offense at any time can come and go.”

Confidence, too, can be factor. As fun as the conference tournaments are, all but one who participate go into the state tournament with a loss while the winner can use that as a springboard to a deep run.

For Portland, this year’s heartbreaking loss to Coginchaug in the final could present a challenge, but Chaconis doesn’t seem too concerned.

“We sill have that hunger,” he said. “Everyone is on the same page. We want to win. There is still one more goal.

“We will show up and they will be ready to play and I think the rest helps.”

The rest Chaconis brings up is the six days his team has had to regroup since the Shoreline final. Last year Portland lost to Cromwell in the Shoreline championship game and had two days before its opening state tournament game. The Highlanders won, barely.

“The postseason is a different mind-set,” Russell said. “If you don’t have kids that have been there and if you haven’t been there yourself, it’s not the same as every other game. It’s not the same as a game on Jan. 5.”

After first-round byes, Portland and East Hampton will host second-round games Thursday night.


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