The Conard girls hosted E.O. Smith Thursday night in West Hartford in the second round of the Class LL State Basketball Tournament. [Updated, March 1]

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Emily Knowles had a team-high 26 points, teammate Callie Cosgrove had 23, and guard Courtney McPhee added eight points and a bucket of assists as Conard dispatched E.O. Smith 74-57 in the second round of the Class LL State Basketball Tournament.

The fact that Cosgrove, Knowles, and McPhee – who were all just named to their second consecutive CCC All-Conference Team – had good games might be expected, but one of the highlights of the night for Laurie Cersosimo’s Red Wolves was the performance of the teams other two starters. Senior Kathryn Torla – the only senior on the team – and junior Nicole Gorman had huge games as Conard showed why they are one of the most complete teams competing for a title.

“We talk a lot about roles for all our players, and this was a perfect example,” said Cersosimo, whose team is now 21-4.

It was Gorman who hit some early 3s to get Conard on top in the game. “I’m so happy to see her overcoming some struggles and hitting those back-to-back 3s,”Cersosimo said.

“I had a rough patch scoring, so it felt good to start making some,” said Gorman of her game.

Torla was dominant on the boards at both ends and had perhaps her best game distributing the ball into transition. With Conard up 3-0 early, Torla grabbed a defensive rebound and fired a pinpoint, length of court pass to hit Knowles in stride in the lane for the easy 2. “It is nice to be back in the quarterfinals,” said the senior. “We just want to finish better this year.”

Early on Conard looked like a football team, relying on long passes to go over a pressing Smioth defense. After Torla’s long bomb to Knowles, it was Cosgrove and Knowles teaming up on the next two scores. Each time it was Cosgrove dropping the perfect pass, including a one touch to Knowles, which allowed her the hit some quick baskets. Cosgrove hit a lay-in, then it was McPhee, and finally Gorman nailing a 3 to make it 16-9 Conard in the first.

Smith scored the next four points before Cosgrove hit another 3, and McPhee dropped in a pair of free throws to build the lead to eight with :21 to play. But the Red Wolves were not done yet. When Smith missed a shot with time running down, Cosgrove rebounded and launched a long outlet pass to Knowles who dropped in the layup at the buzzer.

“That first quarter was a total team effort,” Gorman said. “Callie (Cosgrove) and Courtney (McPhee) got me started.”

Smith got back in the game starting early in the second quarter as Conard lost its way on offense, and the Panthers found theirs. Trailing by 10, Jeyla Hoang hit a 3, then following a Conard turnover it was Jillian Dingler scoring and in the course of one minute of clock time, Smith outscored Conard 5-0 and cut the lead in half. After a Red Wolves timeout, they turned the ball over again and Smith capitalized to make it a three-point game.

Two minutes and thirty-seconds went by before Conard  scored again and it was once again Gorman draining the 3. Joela Hanley then hit back-to-back 3s for the Panthers and it was back to a two-point game. It would go to the break with Conard up 36-34, but Smith carrying the momentum. Smith had been outscored by 10 in the first but turned the tables by outscoring Conard by eight in the second.

It took Smith just :29 to tie things up once the third quarter began. Conard turned the ball over on the next possession and Smith’s Jenna Boardman scored to put the Panthers up 38-36.Another Conard turnover was followed by a 3 from Paige Raynor who put it up standing halfway between the 3-point line and mid-court.

Behind Cosgrove and McPhee’s scoring, the hosts battled back to take a one-point lead on a catch and shoot 3 by Cosgrove. After Smith took the lead back at 43-42, Cosgrove drilled a 3 and then Knowles – on a heads-up hustle play – deflected the inbound pass forcing a turnover. The ball was worked back inside to Knowles who was fouled driving to the rim and dropped the two free throws with 2:48 to go to make it a four-point lead. Torla followed with a big basket inside the lane, and then Knowles showed her defensive game when she held the Smith ball handler for a five-second violation and turnover.

The payoff came at the other end when Cosgrove drilled another 3 and just like that it was a nine-point advantage. “The energy in this gym, we feed off that and off each other,” said Torla.

In the fourth and final quarter, Conard demonstrated just how dangerous they can be as they found another gear to put things away. A Gorman 3 and a Knowles left-handed lay-in on a McPhee cross lane bounce pass made it 60-48 just 2:02 in and Smith called a timeout.

Smith would get another 3 from Dingler out of the pause, but then Conard seemed to decide it was time to put the game away. “Between the third and fourth we said that it was time to end this,” said Cosgrove. Knowles scored Conard’s next five points, then Cosgrove hit a 2 to make it a 13-point game. At the other end, Cosgrove’s hustle knocked a Smith pass out of bounds. When the Red Wolves got the ball back it was McPhee with the steal. She drove the court and dished to Knowles for an easy 2.

Even when things did not go their way initially, Conard hustled to turn things around. With 2:24 to play and leading by 15, Conard missed a shot and Smith rebounded, but Cosgrove stole the ball and scored. That came just moments after Knowles went all out to try and save a ball and ended up sliding about 10 feet across the floor out of bounds. “Those two (Cosgrove and Knowles) always bring the effort,” said Gorman. “They are always looking for us with the ball.”

After the game, Cersosimo was beyond pleased with how her team performed in the final eight minutes. “That’s us in the fourth,” she said. “We talk about outing it together and trusting the process all year. Tonight, they trusted the process and it all came together.”

But it was Knowles who was quick to give Cersosimo credit for how the team played in the fourth. “We get our fire from our coach,” she said. “We lost a big lead and knew we had to get it back.”

The win earns the Red Wolves a third home game in the Class LL Tourney in front of fans, friends, and family. “We try not to focus on the crowd, but it is special to do this in our house,” Knowles said.

“It is great to have so many people here. People from the community, it’s amazing they come to watch us play,” added Cosgrove. It also moves the team one step closer to a trip to Mohegan Sun for the finals, and what could be a well deserved going away present Torla.

“It’s her senior year and she wants to go as far as she can,” said Cersosimo. “ Her teammates would love to do that for her too. She leaves it all on the court for us.”

Game Notes

• Conard – the fourth seed – will host 12th seed Fairfield Warde, a winner over Glastonbury Thursday night, on Monday. The game is listed as a 7:05 p.m. start, but the CIAC has also scheduled the Conard boys basketball team to host East Hartford on Monday at 6 p.m. One of those games will have to be moved either to a different day or a different time.
• The Mustangs were 15-5 in the regular season and they lost to Ridgefield in the regular season. That is the only common opponent between the two teams. Conard also lost to Ridgefield.
• This will be Conard’s fifth trip to the quarterfinals – and will be the second time in school history they have done it in back-to-back seasons ( 1973-74, 1974-75).
• In the game vs. E.O. Smith, Conard had three players in double figures. It was the first time Conard had two players scoring 20 or more points in a state tournament game.
• One more win and this year’s team will break a tie with the 2022-23 team for the second most wins in a single season.
• The 74 points means Conard teams have scored 60 or more points in eight games all-time in the state tournament.
• The 74 points is a record for a Conard team in state tournament game. The previous high came in the 1985-86 season when Conard scored 68 against Wilbur Cross.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to indicate that Emily Knowles was the high scorer with 26 points, and Callie Cosgrove had 23 points.

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