Girls summer basketball team makes it to semifinals

The Housatonic Valley Regional High School girls varsity summer basketball team nearly beat undefeated Torrington in a back-and-forth nail-biter match in the Torrington Summer Basketball League on Friday night, Aug. 3,  in Torrington. The final score was 45-39.

“The girls played great,� said Coach Jim Belter. “We came into the playoffs not knowing how we’d end up, as we first defeated Shepaug on Monday night in the quarterfinals, and then beat Litchfield on Wednesday in the semifinals to make it here tonight. These girls are really coming together as a team and I’m looking forward to seeing them play this year during the regular school season.�

Housy, down only three points (16-19) at the half, came back strong, keeping the lead for most of the second half, but ahead by only one with 5:37 on the clock.

Torrington sunk a couple of threes and Housy responded with twos by Lily Belter, Sawyer Thornton and Paxton Thornton, who got in an under-the-basket shot and earned one from a Torrington foul.

Housy, tied with 1:32 on the clock, fell down by one on a Torrington foul shot, 39-40, with 54 seconds remaining. A close miss by Sawyer Thornton mixed with a couple of Housy errors on the floor and another three-pointer by Torrington put Housy down 39-42 with 18 seconds left.  

Belter nearly sunk a three at the buzzer, but Torrington’s final four foul shots had already ended the game with a final score 45–39.

Paxton Thornton led the scoring with 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Belter had 11 points and Sawyer Thornton scored eight points and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Hannah Savage, returning to the floor after a couple of years off to play soccer, had seven assists and six rebounds and Elissa Whitmore had four assists and handled the ball well under Torrington’s full-court pressure.

In Wednesday night’s semifinal game against Litchfield with a final score of 42-26, Paxton Thornton put in 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, had four blocks and four steals, Belter added nine points and two blocks, SawyerThornton added six points and two steals, Sarah Godburn had four points, Savage had three points, five assists and four steals, and Whitmore had a “triple twoâ€� — points/assists/steals.  

The summer team was rounded out by Jessica Taylor, Kayla Robinson, Keri Perotti and Shelby Baird.  

“We’d really like to thank Jim Belter for coaching us this summer while also coaching boys baseball, among other things,� noted Sawyer Thornton.

“We also owe a great deal of thanks to JoAnn Whitmore, who organized this year’s season,� added Paxton Thornton. “It was a lot of fun and we really benefitted as a team.�

— Becky Thornton

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