@DavidGlovach
WINDSOR - For the first time in the program’s history, the Innovation girls basketball has a postseason victory - either conference or state.
Aryanna Townsend made sure of it.
With time running out, the junior hit a buzzer beater from just inside the half-court line to give the Ravens a 27-24 win over Aerospace Friday night in the CRAL semifinals.
“I’m so proud of Ary,” Ravens head coach Michael Jessie said. “She’s grown so much as a player since she first started here. She did a little bit of everything tonight.”
Townsend finished her night with a game-high nine points and had eight steals, four assists and three rebounds to help Innovation reach the conference championship game, which will be played Tuesday at top-seeded Parish Hill.
Bailee Nardi tied the game up at 24-24 on a put back off a missed free throw from Katerina Rodriguez.
Aerospace had a chance to win the game, but missed the game-winning shot with five second remaining, allowing Townsend to grab the rebound and run down the right-side of the court.
“I’m just proud of my kids,” Jessie said. “Just the fight first my kids had, to stay with it, a lot of teams would have quit and they just kept going at it. At one point we were down eight and I kept telling them to just chip away and we did.”
BOYS SWIMMING
Plainville 96, Northwest Catholic 74: The Blue Devils are looking to finish out their regular season on a strong note.
Friday night was a good start.
“It was a good meet as a team,” Plainville head coach Chris Zagorski said. “We have a tough met against Farmington coming up and it was good to have a good meet against a competitive Class S school like us in Northwest Catholic.”
Once again, senior Taegan Brochu led the way for the Blue Devils. T