What a season opener! VA started strong pulling ahead 5-0 after the opening tip, but the Wildcats from Meriden came storming back when Tori Agel '10 netted 3 quick hoops, Ainsley MacDonald '10 swished a trey and Bianca Brenz '11 added an old fashioned 3-point play. KUA headed into the locker room at half-time with a slim 2-point lead (24-22). It was a see-saw battle throughout the rest of the contest, including a 4-minute overtime period. Vermont scored first in OT, but co-captain Agel was determined to take the ball strong to the hoop and found herself on the foul line each time. Despite the jeers from the VA fans, Agel coolly sank 4 freebies. Classmate Shelby Pillsbury scored a big bucket, made a huge steal and grabbed some key rebounds in the waning moments to protect the lead for Kimball Union. With less than 10 seconds on the clock, Brenz stopped any chances of VA scoring again by nabbing a steal and passing the ball off to freshman point guard Gabby Diaz who finished the lay-up and sealed the victory for the NH wildcats.
Bianca Brenz '11 had a break out game scoring a KUA career-high 16 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Agel nearly missed a double-double with 16 points, 9 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Diaz contributed 10 points and 5 assists in her first high school outing. Ainsley MacDonald (Plainfield, NH) was the X factor tonight as she got things done on both ends of the court. She netted 7 points and hauled down 6 rebounds. Pillsbury (8 points, 5 rebounds and a team-high 4 steals) and Jillian Fitzgerald (Enfield, NH) played with confidence while playing stingy defense and ripping down rebounds despite a distinct height disadvantage.
Many thanks to Melissa Lester for joining us. She contributed to our team victory more than she realizes. Congratulations to the entire team for pulling out an overtime win on the road in their season-opener.
Julie Comstock led Vermont with 27 points, including 4 threes. While Amber White chipped in with 17.
