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New Canaan Girls 6th Grade Basketball won both its games Dec. 20 and 21. Contributed photo
New Canaan 29, Darien 9
New Canaan 6G basketball team continued their winning streak with a 29-9 win at Darien Saturday afternoon.
Darien won the tip-off and quickly converted it into a basket, but that was their last lead of the day.
Cameron Murphy started the scoring with an inside jump shot after a defensive steal by Emma Gibbens, and Chloe Reidy continued the scoring by winning an offensive rebound off a Tyler Towers jumper.
Baskets by Julia Bazata, Quinn McKiernan and Gibbens brought New Canaan to a 13-6 lead at the end of the first. The second quarter started as a defensive battle, with neither team scoring for the first five minutes.
Marlee Smith kicked off the scoring with a backcourt steal which she converted into a fastbreak and layup, and she ended the quarter with a half-court pass to Bazata, who converted a jumper from the paint.
The second half started with a steal by Elizabeth St. George, which she converted to a quick basket. The team showed strong ball control, with rebounds by Olivia West, Brynne Harris, and McKiernan, keeping the game in hand.
Darien threatened with a flurry of activity underneath, but a strong offensive block by St. George took back the momentum.
Most of the activity for the rest of the game was in the Darien end of the court. Precision passing by the team helped preserve its scoring momentum.
Smith scored two consecutive baskets, off of a fast break and then off a St. George dish underneath. The third quarter ended with a Towers offensive rebound, followed by a basket from the key. The girls kept Darien scoreless in the fourth quarter, while baskets by Smith and Bazata brought the final score to 29-9.
New Canaan Girls 6th Grade Basketball won both its games Dec. 20 and 21. Contributed photo
New Canaan 30, Weston 15
Cameron Murphy started the scoring on Sunday with a layup from a nice back door pass from Quinn McKiernan.
New Canaan’s strong offense continued with another two baskets by Emma Gibbens and Marlee Smith assisted by Murphy. Gibbens would score again from an inbound pass from McKiernan to give the girls a comfortable 8-0 lead. Several steals from Elizabeth St. George, Smith and Julia Bazata enabled New Canaan to keep control of the game.
In the second quarter, New Canaan went on another scoring tear starting with a basket from Gibbens assisted by McKiernan and then Gibbens would score two more points on a free throw conversion.
A steal from McKiernan and a push up the court to Murphy then to Smith would lead to another quick basket and force Weston to take a time out.
Another Gibbens basket and strong rebounding from Chloe Reidy, St. George and Olivia West would help New Canaan maintain possession and keep the team ahead 16-8 at the end of the half.
New Canaan continued to dominate in the second half.
Tyler Towers, Reidy and West battled under the boards to grab several key rebounds and Brynne Harris kept up the defensive pressure.
Quick anticipation from Smith led to a steal and then she converted with a layup. A strong defensive rebound from Gibbens allowed her to put the ball back up and score. Smith then passed to Murphy underneath for another New Canaan basket. Smith would score two more buckets before the third quarter ended with an assist from McKiernan and again at the buzzer off a nice dish from Harris.
Quinn McKiernan and Julia Bazata both scored two nice outside shots with an assist from St. George in the fourth quarter which would give New Canaan its largest lead of the game and secure their win at 30-15.