When you watch the Newington girls basketball team, Lilly Ferguson is easy to spot.
Ferguson is a 5-foot-9-inch guard who can handle the ball, shoot from beyond the 3-point line and drive to the basket with either hand, scoring herself or dishing to open teammates.
She quickly stands out and there is no mistaking which player on the floor was named to the GameTimeCT All-State First Team as a junior.
“Lilly is the whole package,” Newington coach Marc Tancredi said. “Offensively, she can score from anywhere on the floor. We have seen a lot of growth defensively from her. She’s also just a great leader for us. It’s her second year in the program and the players voted her as captain. That speaks volumes as to what kind of personality she has and what a high-character person she is.”
However, if one were to assume Ferguson is the sole reason Newington is unbeaten and the No. 1 ranked team in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll, they would be making an error in judgement.
In fact, it is the skill of the other players around Ferguson that allows her to be so dominant and why no team has finished within single digits of the Nor’easters.
Saturday against Trumbull, the Eagles tried denying Ferguson the ball, but a few adjustments after a timeout by Newington and Ferguson was able to get the ball in her hands, in part due to her teammates hitting shots.
It was not the first time opponents have denied, fronted, doubled or even triple-teamed Ferguson this season.
“I don’t think she has to adjust when that happens. She has so much confidence in the other players around her,” Tancredi said. “We have some really good guards on this team other than Lilly. We have confidence that if we can’t play through Lilly the way we typically do that somebody will pick up that slack and we will be able to run our stuff the right way.”
Two of those guards helping balance the offense are sisters and fellow seniors Marlie and Karissa Zocco.
Both Zocco sisters are apt at knocking down outside shots and with the attention Ferguson draws, those shots are often with good looks at the basket.
“We have a lot of good players who can score,” Ferguson said. “It helps to free me up at times. If I can get them the ball, they can knock down shots and the defense has to pay attention to them and then, if I’m open, I can knock down shots as well.”
Senior Adriana Romano and freshman Bella Cucuta round out the starting five with the bench rotation featuring the other senior on the team, Arianna Barnes, and a group of sophomores and freshmen, including freshman Kendall Miller who scored 10 points against Trumbull.
Newington is 9-0 with the two closest games being an 11-point win at No. 4 ranked Ridgefield and the 12-point win at Trumbull, two teams out of the FCIAC.
Trumbull was the first team all season to be within single digits of the Nor’easters in the second half of a game.
“We want to play the best in the state and I think we are doing that by playing three really good FCIAC teams, Newtown and Cromwell,” Tancredi said. “We haven’t had a game that’s been within single digits so it was good to be in that situation where they are pushing to get back in the game and we just have to close it out. We will use this as a learning opportunity. It gives us an opportunity to play against really tough competition. We find out more about ourselves through that competition. We get a better understanding of things we need to work on moving forward so we can get ready for the state tournament.”
Newington is currently the No. 1 ranked team in the CIAC Class L standings.
Also in Class L is the No. 2 team in the state, Notre Dame-Fairfield as well as a loaded field of contenders in what may arguably be the toughest division in the CIAC tournaments this year.
“Playing tough teams is good for us and helps build us for when get to the state tournament,” Ferguson said. “I am happy we have been playing away games. We haven’t even been playing home games at all. We have been getting the work we need to get to become a better team.”
The Trumbull game was the seventh-straight road game for the Nor’easters who could not get teams to agree to come to them, so they hit the road.
The CCC schedule also worked out to be front-loaded with road games.
After beating Berlin at home Tuesday night, the Nor’easters have played seven road games and two home games.
They have three more straight road games before closing the season with six of their final eight games at home.
Sericson@stamfordadvocate.com; @EricsonSports
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No. 1 Newington’s girls basketball team is more than just Ferguson, though she is really good - CT Insider
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