North Branford — All-star games are a good fit for Lindsay Stergio.

Protective masks, too.

Stergio, Montville High School's senior guard, played Friday in what was her second game back since having surgery on her broken nose.

Wearing a protective mask, she scored 12 points and was named team MVP for the East in an 84-78 win over the West in the Small and Medium Division game at the Connecticut High School Coaches Association girls' basketball All-Star Festival.

“(Stergio) looked phenomenal tonight,” said Montville coach Derek Wainwright, who co-coached the East. “This is her type of game where she can get out and run. She's so athletic, and when she can get out there and run and do her thing, she's going to excel in a game like that.”

“It was a lot of fun,” Stergio said. “It was a great memory.”

Stergio broke her nose during a Feb. 5 game against Stonington, and she worried about wearing a mask.

“It's really hard because I'm deaf and I need to be able to see the whole court,” Stergio said. “Luckily, I was made a special mask that is bigger and wider around the eyes, so I was able to see well. It's more comfortable than I expected it to be.

“(My nose) used to be black-and-blue, but it's gotten a lot better. I can breathe better. Finally. I couldn't breathe.”

Oddly enough, playing with a broken nose was what Stergio will remember most about her senior year.

“I got knocked down and I was bleeding, and I did not want to be out because it was a big game for us,” Stergio said. “I went to the locker room and my mom came in and helped me get cleaned up. One minute later, I came right back on the court and never gave up. I kept playing. Coach put me back in. I still had trouble breathing and had blood in my nose, but I just kept playing my hardest and did the best I could.”

Stergio played five games with the injury, then had surgery prior to the CIAC Class M tournament. She missed two tournament games, but returned on March 5 in a 47-35 semifinal loss to eventual champion Avon.

Stergio, along with fellow senior guard Caitlin Quinn, helped put Montville girls' basketball on the map. They played as freshmen when the team was 3-17. The Indians, over the next three seasons, went 9-13, 17-7 and 20-6.

“To me, the thing with those two kids is how they play the game and they act like the way you're supposed to,” Wainwright said of Quinn and Stergio. “They're both the two hardest workers I've had on the team for four years in a row. Caitlin was a three-year captain, Lindsay was a two-year captain. Looking towards next year, we've got (center) Nikkia Smith back, and I've got a group of young kids that have learned how you're supposed to act, how you're supposed to practice, what you're supposed to do during the game and the amount of effort you're supposed to put in from those two kids right there.

“The young kids in town, what better role models could you have in those two girls right there? They're both National Honor Society members. They excel in school. They excel on the court. Those two kids are going to be successful in anything they do.”

Quinn, who scored seven points for the East, will play at Saint Michael's in Vermont next season. Stergio is headed to Southern Connecticut State. Both are Division II schools.

Old Lyme's Calli Coffee and Kailee Grasso of Lyman Memorial both scored 11 for the East while Keyokah Mars-Garrick added seven points.

In the L-LL game, Stonington's Heather Buck scored 14 points as the East beat the West, 89-85.

n.griffen@theday.com or 701-4346

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