West Hartford’s Conard High School girls basketball team has broken records this season, and defeated top-ranked and two-time defending state champion Northwest Catholic.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

There were a lot of expectations for the Conard girls basketball team entering the 2024-25 season.

Two seasons ago they advanced to the quarterfinals of the State Championship, and last year they bowed out in the semifinals. Much of the success has been based on the play and leadership of three players in their senior season this year – Nicole Gorman, Emily Knowles, and Courtney McPhee.

Courtney McPhee scored 15 points, including career point 600 in the win. Photo credit: Paul Palmer

In 2024-2025, Conard dropped its second game of the season to Glastonbury before going on a nine-game win streak interrupted by a loss to powerful East Catholic. The Red Wolves responded with another run of wins-four straight – three last week alone including a huge 64-45 win over previously unbeaten and defending Class MM Champion Northwest Catholic – to move to 14-2 on the season heading into Monday’s home game with Avon.

Max Preps – a national high school sports website owned by CBS – has Conard ranked third overall in the state after winning over the Lions. Prior to the game the Red Wolves were ranked eighth overall in the state by GameTimeCT.com, but that will change when the new poll is released on Tuesday.

Coach Laurie Cersosimo’s team was down 8-2 to Northwest Catholic in the first before going on a 19-2 run that gave them a lead they never relinquished. The trio of seniors once again lead the way with Knowles going for 36 of her teams 64 points as well as six rebounds and four assists. Gorman had a big game with 18 points and five boards, and McPhee, the play-setter of the team, had 16 assists to go with seven points, 10 rebounds and four steals.

Conard’s Nicole Gorman is fouled as she heads to the hoop. Photo credit: Paul Palmer

The effort by Knowles was her third game with 30-plus points this season. Those three, combined with eight others last season, gave her the record for Conard for 30-point games.

The win over Northwest Catholic  is the first time in program history that the Conard girls team has beaten a No. 1 ranked team in Connecticut. It also marked the third time in Conard history that they beat a defending State Champion (Northwest Catholic and E.O. Smith last season).

Over the last two weeks, Knowles has scored 109 points and moved her career total to 1,686. She not only holds the record for most points for a girls basketball player at West Hartford’s Public Schools but also surpassed Sarah Gaspar’s mark of 1,629 during her career at Northwest Catholic, giving Knowles the title of highest scorer by a female basketball player in town history.

In the same two weeks, McPhee has moved up to 677 career points  and will pass Paula Clough for 10th all-time at Conard and can go by Casey Carpenter’s 667 career points to take ninth place when she scores 11 more points this season.

Emily Knowles led all scorers in the Conard win. Photo credit: Paul Palmer

Knowles is also closing in on climbing some all-time school records. She has sunk nine 3-three pointers over the last two weeks, giving her 42 triples this season alone. She needs four more this year to move into sixth place all time and a total of seven more to get to fifth on the Conard all-time list. In her career, Knowles has made 131 3-point shots, second only to Callie Cosgrove’s career mark of 175.

Between the loss to East Catholic and the win over Northwest Catholic, the Red Wolves racked up wins against Windsor and Simsbury. Gorman totaled 36 points and 13 rebounds in the wins. McPhee gad 17 assists, seven steals, and 11 rebounds. Knowles had 36 points, 23 in the 51-32 win over Simsbury that saw Conard break open a game that was tied at 19 at the half with a 26-6 run.

Knowles was also the winner of another big accolade when she became the first player in program history to be named the Player of the Week for Connecticut. She was also named the CCC Player of the Week when the Red Wolves beat Bristol Eastern on Jan. 14 and E.O. Smith on the 17th. Against Bristol, she scored 40 points, breaking her own team record for most points in a single game of 38 and tied the school record for most 3-pointers in a game with seven. In addition, her 29 points in a half broke a record and she tied the mark for most points in a quarter – 19 – in the first.

Right now, Conard is seeded fifth in Class LL in Connecticut with four regular season games to play, including  a rematch with Bristol Central (13-3 and No. 2 in Class L) on the 21st and ending the regular season with a Senior Night tilt with Hall. Conard beat Bristol Central 52-42 back on Jan. 2.

Monday night at the game with Avon, Conard will once again celebrate Women In Sports. The night will not only feature the basketball game, but also allows young girls players to hang out with the Conard players before the game and during warmups. It will also feature some special activities at halftime. The game starts at 6:45 p.m. Monday at Conard.

Team record information and stats are courtesy of Eddie Litos of Conard Basketball.

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