Lady Colts top Lady Pacers, 49-36
By Nate Rosenthal
CHICOPEE – For the second night in a row, Chicopee Comp played host to Chicopee High. On Tuesday, it was the girls’ basketball teams that met and once again, Comp came out on top, this time by a 49-36 score.
Following the excitement of the previous night, the two rivals appeared to be on the same path after a highly entertaining first quarter that left the Lady Colts ahead by a point. But they took control in the second quarter and entered halftime with a 14 point lead. Another left in the third gave them a 21 point lead and effectively put the game on ice.
Comp jumped out to a 4-0 lead on a put back by JC Pickett and a layup by Erin Sweeney. Two minutes had gone by before Chicopee got on the board, that coming on a three pointer by Brittany Urban. She would have a big night, as Chicopee’s biggest scoring threat. The teams traded hoops, but when Brittany Taylor hit a short jumper, the game was tied at 7-7 with 3:25 to go in the quarter. After Alexis Wegrzynek answered that with a lay in, Taylor buried a three to give Chicopee their first lead at 10-9. Pickett made two free throws to put Comp back in the lead, but another three by Urban, made it 13-11. The fast pace continued until the final seconds, when Ashley Assarian made a three to give the Lady Colts the lead once again at 14-13.. They would never trail again.
Marisabel Santiago’s two free throws offset a layup by Vanessa Stefanelli in the first minute of the second quarter, but after that the Lady Colts took control. Wegrzynek scored two baskets fifteen seconds apart to make it a 5 point game. Nikki Parenteau got two back at the six minute mark. Those would be the last points scored by the Lady Pacers in the half. A minute later, Assarian hit another three, followed by a Wegrzynek layup. The Lady Colts continued their run to 11 straight points and led 31-17 at the break.
Urban opened the second half with her third trey of the night to cut the Comp lead back to 11, but Wegrzynek started another 10 point run that left Comp with a their biggest lead of 21 points with 4:09 to go in the third. In fact, she and Assarian scored 5 apiece in the quarter for all ten Comp points. The Lady Pacers broke the string with a free throw by Janea West and a trey from Jen Belanger. Neither team scored in the final 2 minutes and 43 seconds after that.
The lead went back to 21 in the opening minute of the fourth as Amber Legare scored on a layup and two free throws. It was still a 20 point margin, 49-29, when Erin Maroney scored Comp’s last basket at 3:15. Belanger sandwiched two baskets around Urban’s fourth three and end the game.
Urban was the game’s high scorer with 14 points, hitting four from beyond the arc. Wegrzynek led the Lady Colts, as she was dominant in the inside game. Right behind her was Assarian with 11 and Legare at 10. Rounding out the Chicopee Comp scoring was Pickett with 5; Stefanelli and Sweeney, each with 4 and Maroney with 2. On the Chicopee side Belanger was in double figures with 10, followed by Taylor with 7, Santiago and Parenteau with two apiece and West with one.
The win lifted the Lady Colts to 6-6 overall and 2-1 in the Suburban League. Chicopee fell to 2-10 and is 0-3 in the Suburban.
