Waterford girls run away from Montville

Waterford - Sometimes Waterford plays a little too quickly for its own good. Adily Martucci will pull up for a jump shot on the fast break and miss. Alyssa Hancock will get the ball on the front end of a break, one-on-three against the defense, and try to drive the ball to the basket anyway.

But it's a sense of urgency you really can't argue with.

Not after Friday night's 49-31 victory over Montville in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division, the Lancers' 10th straight victory.

"All the time," said Waterford coach Rob Von Achen of when, exactly, his team has the green light. "Except at the end. Then we just try to slow it down. A win's a win.

"But we came out in man (defense). We wanted to put the pressure on. We wanted to run the ball. We wanted to tire some people out. And we did."

Waterford sprinted to a 10-0 lead in the first 2 minutes, 44 seconds, getting a three-point play from Christine Hadfield, five points from Hancock including a 3-pointer and a steal, and layup from Martucci.

Montville pulled within three late in the second quarter, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Hancock and Martucci in the last minute-plus of the first half pushed it back to 25-16 Waterford at the break.

"I honestly felt like when we got it down to three, the pace of the game was moving back in our direction," Montville coach Derek Wainwright said. "They hit two straight 3-pointers ... after that we put our heads down a little bit."

The win made Waterford 13-3 overall, 7-0 in the Medium Division. The Lancers, who beat Montville 38-36 on Dec. 16, have now topped ECC Large co-leader Bacon Academy, ECC Small leader Plainfield and NFA in its most recent string of victories. Montville is 12-3, 5-2.

Martucci and Hancock finished with 14 points each for Waterford, with Hancock scoring 12 in the first half. Hadfield, coming off a 22-point performance against NFA on Wednesday, finished with 11.

"This was a huge game for us. It put us in a great position," Martucci said. "We knew we had to come out from the beginning. We had to push the pace."

Martucci, who was off target somewhat in the first half, scored seven points in the third quarter as the Lancers extended their lead to 38-21.

Adding to Montville's misfortunes, the Indians missed several free throws at the start of the fourth quarter, finishing 12-for-21 from the foul line, and sophomore center Cassidy Bundy fouled out with 6:21 remaining and six points, all on free throws.

Waterford slowed things to a walk late in the game, just interested in preserving the lead, much to the displeasure of the players.

"I hate that," Martucci said. "I love to push the ball, even when we're up 20. I feel like I don't play up to my potential slow."

Von Achen said with a laugh that 15 years ago he would have gone "berserk" watching his team making mistakes at a breakneck pace. But not with this team, which always seems to make something good happen the next time down the floor.

He also credited assistants Ed Kolnaski, Megan Gwudz and Dan Spellman.

"This was an assistant coach game," Von Achen said. "Spellman puts his arm around me. I have one of them tugging on my pant leg. Megan just sort of whispers, 'She needs a rest. Get her out.' I have three people behind me helping to figure out what we're going to do. ... That's a great (10-game) run for us. The kids are coming together."

Said Wainwright: "Waterford played great. They might be the best team in the ECC right now."

v.fulkerson@theday.com