Norwich — Kayley Ericson isn't sure that basketball is even her best sport. She was a second team Class LL all-state selection in volleyball this fall as Norwich Free Academy's setter.

There's just something that seems right about Ericson wearing a white jersey, red trim, with the No. 2 on the back, something right about the fact she makes her home at NFA's Alumni Gymnasium.

Ericson is the granddaughter of former longtime NFA girls' basketball coach Paul Giardi, under whom current coach Bill Scarlata started out as the junior varsity coach. She is the daughter of former NFA three-sport athlete Kate Giardi Ericson, who along with her dad has been inducted into the Norwich Sports Hall of Fame.

"It's living a dream," Paul Giardi said Friday night as he entered the gym to watch Ericson play. "She always was athletic, but to project that to able to do this? For me, it makes the winters very short. ... (Watching her) is as good as coaching. You're into it. It affects you."

NFA won the game, too, getting the game-winning shot from freshman Makayla Poirier-Vaughters with 3.5 seconds remaining to topple Waterford 38-36, a rematch of last year's Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament championship also won by NFA.

Ericson, the NFA junior point guard, hit three clutch shots, one to give the Wildcats the lead with 55 seconds remaining, grabbing a loose ball and hitting the bottom of the net dead on. She also, perhaps most importantly, defended Waterford star and 3-point shooting danger Mia Brennan, holding Brennan scoreless in the first half and to six points in all.

Ericson, who returned to the bench and sat reclined in a resting position following the postgame handshake, never left the floor.

"She's a competitor," Scarlata said of Ericson. "She's a flat-out competitor. She is in games, drills. She has that bulldog mentality. She gets that from her grandfather. ... It's fun to coach any kids that work that hard."

"I like living up to the expectations," Ericson said of her family's lineage. "They coach me on and off the court all the time. When I started (playing) in middle school, I would come to watch the games (at NFA). I knew I wanted to be out there just like them. I loved Courtney (Gomez, now NFA's assistant coach)."

Kate Giardi Ericson is a 1992 NFA graduate, having earned 10 varsity letters for the Wildcats in soccer, basketball and softball, being named a two-time all-state selection in softball and earning three All-ECC selections in softball and two each in basketball and soccer.

Kate went on to play softball as a walk-on at Boston College, only missing one start in four years. A former teacher, she is now the associate executive director for LEARN Regional Educational Service Center.

Paul, meanwhile, gave up coaching basketball at NFA following the 1992 season, a season for which he was named the Connecticut High School Coaches' Association girls' basketball coach of the year. He handed the reins to Scarlata, his friend and JV coach for 13 seasons.

Giardi and his wife Robin, who live in Norwich, now attend all the Wildcats games. Giardi has a blast, he said, watching his grandaughter play for his old friend Scarlata, whom Giardi is trying to get to stay in coaching until Kayley's younger sister Sarah — now in eighth grade — comes through the program.

Ericson started for the first time during the ECC tournament last year due to an injury and helped the Wildcats, the No. 3 seed, win their fourth straight tournament title.

"By the time the first minute was over, I felt comfortable," Ericson said of that first game.

"Bill did a great job," Giardi said. "She wasn't strong enough (to start) as a freshman. At the end (of last year), she was in there. He gave her no pressure. ... I'm happy she's playing for him. You can't imagine how enjoyable this is."

Hailey Conley finished with 15 points Friday for NFA (7-4) and Poirier-Vaughters had 10. The game was tied 25-25 after three quarters and remained deadlocked 36-36 after a basket by Waterford's Rebekah Sanders with 34 seconds to play, setting up Poirier-Vaughters for the game-winning shot. Kayla Jean-Pierre led Waterford (7-3) with 15 points.

Ericson, who said she hopes to play volleyball in college and to make a profession as an environmentalist, says her granddad picks her up from practice a couple times per week and they talk about whatever season she's in.

"He'll tell me what I did well this game," Ericson said. "I'm grateful for them. I'm grateful for him to come to the games. Not everyone has that."

v.fulkerson@theday.com