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B2 % Villager Newspapers % Town-to-Town Classifieds % Friday, January 16, 2015
A pick-and-roll in perseverance at Ellis Tech
BY CHARLIE LENTZ
VILLAGER SPORTS EDITOR
DANIELSON — A variety
of trades are offered
in the classrooms and
shops at Ellis Tech but
over in the gymnasium
the girls basketball team
is learning about perseverance.
The Golden
Eagles don’t have the
advantages of other high
school teams — no feeder
programs from the elementary-school
or middle-school
level. Most of
the players are teaming
together for the first time
when they reach high
school and many haven’t
played organized basketball
before. The varsity
also plays a full junior
varsity schedule.
“The philosophy is really
just to get these kids to
understand the game and
learn the game and then
develop their skills,” said
coach Brooke DiFormato,
in her second season.
The team went winless
last season and has yet
to post a victory through
its first nine games but
the players are sticking
with it.
“The fact that they
stuck through last year,
the way it went, is pretty
telling and the fact that
they came back after that
is, to me, a symbol that
it’s not so much about the
score and the wins and
losses but they’re here for
the long run,” DiFormato
said.
Diformato is doing as
much teaching as coaching.
“Obviously no one
likes to lose and we
would love to win but
they’re still taking baby
steps,” DiFormato said.
“We have kids that have
never played before and
the expectations are high
but at the same time you
can’t expect this level
from someone who hasn’t
picked up a basketball
until they were a freshman
in high school.”
DiFormato said the
student body is approximately
75 percent male
and that reduces the pool
of available players. But
the recent expansion of
the culinary program has
brought more girls to the
school — but not enough
to stock a full array of
girls sports teams. Girls
who are interested in
playing soccer at Ellis
Tech have to play on the
boys soccer team.
“The culinary program
has been good for bringing
in more females,”
DiFormato said. “Myself
and some other coaches
that coach here are very
good about almost nagging
almost every female
we see ‘Do you play basketball’
We try to find
out the kids who played
and definitely get them
on board.”
DiFormato, who teaches
science at the school,
tries to get an early start
on recruiting players.
There’s no middle school
sending a group of teammates
up to the high
school every season.
“Usually in the fall we
start having meetings
and calling girls that are
interested to let them
know that they need
to start working out,”
DiFormato said. “We
need numbers as well —
if they’re not experienced
we would like them to
still give it a shot.”
DiFormato tries to
encourage as many girls
as possible to come out
for the sport.
“We usually start with
a lot. We had 18 or 19
at tryouts,” DiFormato
Coach Brooke DiFormato gives instruction to Taylor Wentz. Far left, Hayley Evans, second
from left, assistant coach Steve DiFormato.
BY CHARLIE LENTZ
VILLAGER SPORTS EDITOR
DAYVILLE — With consecutive
seasons of just two victories
during her freshman and
sophomore years there haven’t
been a lot of wins for Meagan
Bianchi and her Killingly High
teammates. But the Redgals
defeated Wheeler 48-42 last
Friday to notch their third win
to stand at 3-7 at the halfway
point this season.
Bianchi scored a season-high
24 points to lead Killingly past
the Lions. Just like last season,
the junior guard is the Redgals
top scorer and she hoped the
team is on the upswing. Last
season the Redgals might not
have found the resources to
win a close game down the
stretch like they did against
Wheeler.
“I think we have better team
chemistry this year and we’ve
been working on moving the
ball around more,” Bianchi
said. “I’m just proud of this
win, when (Wheeler) got close
we kept ourselves together. We
just kept working hard as a
team.”
Basketball is her primary
focus and she wants to finish
out her high school career on a
high note.
“I’ve been playing basically
my whole life. It’s my No.
1 sport,” Bianchi sad. “I definitely
think we feel like we’re
getting better. From just my
point of view, I definitely feel
something is being created. I
feel a lot more confident than
the first two years.”
Bianchi said Killingly is an
improved team and they want
to show it.
“It’s definitely important for
all of us basically because we
want to prove to people that
we belong and we can actually
compete with these schools,”
said.
The team comes from a
variety of backgrounds.
The starting lineup
against Tourtellotte
on Jan. 7 was young
and included freshmen
Sydney Tetrault,
Kirstin Light and sophomores
Sarah Tellier,
Hayley Evans and Emily
Mead. The team also
includes sophomore
Alyssa Pignataro, junior
Taylor Wentz, sophomore
Schaleemar Alicea-
Leandry, sophomore
Hayley Evans, freshman
Alexxis Fultz, sophomore
Makaya Barrows, freshman
Shealyn Schroth,
sophomore Caitlin
Martelle and senior
Taylor Denning.
Denning, a senior,
is usually a starter but
missed the Tourtellotte
game due to illness.
Tetrault played basketball
for Plainfield Central
School. Tellier played
for Thompson Middle
School. Mead did not play
in middle school. Light
previously played recreation
basketball. Fultz
is in her first year playing
basketball. Alicea-
Leandry is in her second
year playing basketball.
“We are essentially
a junior varsity team
playing a varsity schedule,
not to mention we
are playing junior varsity
games too, on top of
varsity schedule with
only 11 playable girls,”
DiFormato said. “They
work hard every day and
come back with a smile
on their face, that’s all I
can ask for. In order to
get the improvements we
Bianchi fires away for Killingly Redgals
Bianchi said.
Bianchi is a scorer and coach
Mark Lowell gives her the
green light.
“I don’t put any restrictions
on her. Every once in a while
she’ll put up a not-so-great shot.
I’ve pulled her off the court a
couple of times and talked to
her about making better decisions,”
Lowell said. “But you
know what She’s got to take
those shots to experience what
she needs to do. She’s smart
enough. Obviously, in the end,
I trust her.”
Bianchi appreciates her
coach’s confidence.
“I’ve been struggling lately
because (Lowell) wants me to
shoot more. I just don’t want
to keep taking shots and missing
them, that’s definitely frustrating
for me,” said Bianchi,
the daughter of Sue and Scott
Bianchi from Brooklyn.
She found her range against
the Lions last Friday. Lowell
hoped the Redgals could continue
the early-season momentum
after the win over Wheeler.
“We’re hoping to build on
this. I’m a little upset with the
record because I’d like it to be
better than that,” Lowell said.
“But (after beating Wheeler)
I told them we learned a lot of
lessons. It was a close game
and we learned how to take a
game down to the wire and win
a game at a wire. And with this
group that I have right now
we’ve never done that.”
Lowell expects continued
improvement this season and
next.
“They’re getting older, now
they’re juniors — the core
group — we’re getting more
experience and hopefully we
can run this through until the
end of the season,” Lowell said.
Bianchi will likely be a big
component of Killingly’s fortunes.
And when junior guard
Charlie Lentz photos
Ellis Tech’s Sidney Tetrault, white jersey, tries to get a shot off over Tourtellotte’s Deanna Lazzarra on Jan. 7 in Danielson.
Meagan Bianchi’s is Killingly High’s top scorer.
Karissa Slowik can complement
Bianchi it makes the
Redgals more versatile. Slowik
scored 14 points in the win over
Wheeler.
“Meagan’s definitely one of
the upperclassmen where basketball
is basically her sport,”
Lowell said. “Meagan and
Karissa, if they’re working
together like that — that’s what
we need to win. I’ve been telling
them since their freshmen
year that they have to work
together. When they’re both on
the same page then it’s great
for us. Those are the two that
need to take care of us offensively.”
Bianchi said both she and
Slowik have to score for the
Redgals to succeed.
“I think that we both need to
be at least double digits for us
to pull off a win,” Bianchi said.
Bianchi intends to do her
part.
Bianchi knows shooters have
to keep shooting. She recently
watched a TV show and saw
UConn coach Geno Auriemma
encourage his top scorer —
senior Kaleena Mosqueda-
Lewis.
“Geno Auriemma said
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis shot
need though, it’s not just
a focus on skills — there
needs to be a huge focus
on the mental aspect.”
In the coming years
the lineup is expected to
profit from their playing
time as underclassmen.
For now they’re learning
about pressure defense,
the pick-and-roll, and perseverance.
“If anyone’s learning
that, it’s us,” DiFormato
said. “They’re just nice
kids. They’re enthusiastic
and they have fun.
That’s all you can ask for.
Hopefully the basketball
comes with time. After
all, it’s a marathon and
not a sprint.”
Charlie Lentz may be
reached at (860) 928-1818,
ext. 110, or by e-mail at
charlie@villagernewspapers.com.
Charlie Lentz photo
one, she missed it. She’s like
the best three-point shooter in
the country. He said she kept
missing her shots but kept taking
them and taking them —
and now her confidence level
is sky high. That’s what I just
think about now,” Bianchi
said. “You have to think the
next shot is going in. If you
don’t have confidence in yourself
it’s not going in.”
Charlie Lentz may be reached
at (860) 928-1818, ext. 110, or by
e-mail at charlie@villagernewspapers.com.