Panthers Roar into State Quarterfinals With 62-28 Victory over Windsor Locks

The East Windsor High girls basketball team advanced to the Class S quarterfinals for the first time in 10 years with a 62-29 victory over rival Windsor Locks in the second round of the state tournament Thursday evening.

It was a dominant performance by the 10th-seeded Panthers (15-7), whose stifling defense held the Raiders to just two points in the final quarter.

“One of the things I preach is playing 32 minutes of basketball,” East Windsor head coach Robert Lengyel said. “No matter what, you play hard when the ball is in the air. It’s something we’ve gotten much better at.”

Indeed, East Windsor worked just as hard on the offensive end, fueled by Madison Carolus’ game-high 17 points, while Molly Gallant had 13, Makinsey Carolus had 11, Melissa Wabble had 9, Ashley Gallant and Allison Rodrigue had 4 and Gabrielle Fiaschetti and Danielle Sassi had 2.

“They have some tremendous shooters on their team,” Windsor Locks head coach Doug Knowe said. “We really concentrated on shutting down [point guard Melissa Wabble] tonight. She’s the player whose dynamic brings the team together.”

That opened the door for the Carolus twins to take over. Madison did most of her damage in the first half, while sister Makinsey poured in 8 points in less than a minute in the fourth quarter on two threes and a jumper to give the Panthers a 52-28 lead.

“We’re a team that’s six to eight players deep and on any night, any one of those kids can lead us; tonight it was Madison’s turn,” Lengyel said. “Other kids like Makinsey Carolus and Melissa Wabble stepped up in the second half. We’re not about one individual. We’re about the whole team.”

The venue also played a huge part in the game, as the gym at East Windsor High was packed with a raucous crowd, the majority of which were Panthers fans.

“Our team doesn’t get a lot of town-wide support, which has been awesome so far in the first two rounds of the tournament,” Lengyel said. “The gym was outstanding tonight, and I think that was a huge difference in why we were able to come out tonight and play the type of basketball we played.”

Windsor Locks was led by Amber Curran’s 10 points, while Dominique Boyd, Shayla Cruz and Jessica Kuzmickas each had 6 and Megan Dimick scored 3.

“We just had a tremendous season,” Knowe said. “To come from where we were at the beginning of the season - to have our starting point guard tear her ACL - and to go into the second round of states, we came together as a team.”

The East Windsor players, for their part, were all smiles at the final buzzer.

“I told them to go out and enjoy this moment,” Lengyel said.

The Panthers will play No. 2 Cheney Tech (19-2) in a quarterfinal game on the road on March 4 in Manchester.