Milford Mirror

Kochiss key to OT win (girls hoop)

Tuesday, 31 January 2012 15:23

Jackie Kochiss thrives on pressure. After all, she has to. Her mother, Kathy, is a member of the New England Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, and she’s had brothers and sisters who preceded her as athletes at Jonathan Law.

Last Friday night, Kochiss, a senior captain on the girls basketball team, hit the high notes, making two crucial free throws with 11.1 seconds left in overtime, enabling her team to win a 59-58 Southern Connecticut Conference Hammonasset Division home game over Guilford.

The victory evened the Eagles’ divisional record at 3-3 and gave the team its first sweep of the season. Earlier in the year, Law defeated the Indians, 51-46, in Guilford.

Even though it was only the 14th game for the Eagles, it was their final regular-season contest in the James Riccitelli Sr. Gymnasium and it was Senior Night.

Six seniors — Kim Legen, Phoebe French Kochiss, Nya Ramos, Ashley Kirkland and Emily Sabo — were honored before the game.

Kochiss scored eight second-half points, all of them coming at critical times for Law, which saw an 11-point first half lead evaporate as the Indians switched defenses (going from a zone to a man-to-man) which allowed them to get back in the game.

Kochiss stepped to the line with the game pretty much on the line and her team trailing by one, 58-57.

She was fouled by Guilford’s Courtney Miller in the defensive end of the court and had a two-shot foul.

“All I kept thinking about was, ‘God, please help me to make these foul shots,” Kochiss said with a laugh.

“I took a deep breath and relaxed. We had fought back so hard in this game, which is typical of this team, so I had to do this for them.”

After the pair of converted free throws, Guilford still had one last chance, but its shot on an attempt off the drive by Presley Altieri came up short.

“Jackie is a very good pressure player, so having her in this situation was a good thing for us,” said Law coach Heather Borges, whose team pulled its overall record even at 7-7, before heading on the road this week for games at Branford (Friday night) and Foran (Saturday night).

“She is our perfect role player. Ask her to rebound, and she goes out and does it. Ask her to make layups, and, she goes out and does it.

“She’s a basketball girl who loves the game. Her intelligence helps her out on the court.”

Law opened up its big, early lead on the strength of it’s outside game.

The Eagles made nine 3-pointers (out of 12 attempts) in the opening 16 minutes in burning up the nets from the perimeter.

Legen, a high-scoring guard, had 15 of her game-high 19 points, all on threes, in the first half.

Helping out Legen were Ramos with 10 points, French and Murphy with nine points each, and Kochiss with eight.

“They were unconscious in their shooting,” Guilford coach Bob Welch said. “We couldn’t afford to stay in a zone after that.

“We had to come out and challenge them. I’m really proud of my kids for what they did in the second half. I saw so many positive aspects to our game.”

The 4-10 Indians made their first run midway through the third quarter.

It was Kochiss’ first field goal, with a little over a minute remaining, that boosted Law back into a five-point lead, 38-33.

Down 36-30, they used a pair of 3-pointers by Altieri and Lucy Faulkner, and trailed by only two going into the final quarter.

Law then managed to go up by as many as five points, with Kochiss making a pair of free throws and another field goal, 45-40, with 4:20 to play.

Guilford rallied back. Behind 54-50, with 32.1 seconds left, the Indians’ Kate Sobolewski hit two free throws and Faulkner made a lay-up with 11.6 seconds to play, drawing the two teams even at 55-55 and sending the game into overtime.

Ramos’ basket with 2:46 showing in OT gave Law a 57-55 lead, but once again Guilford came back.

Altieri scored with 1:18 left drawing her team even, 57-57, before she converted a free throw with 21.6 second to go, giving Guilford a 58-57 lead.

Kochiss then put the game away.

“All six of our seniors contributed tonight and that’s a really good sign,” Borges said. “I’m constantly telling my players that one play never decides a game. It’s the pieces that you put together.

“For us, this is the type of win that builds character. This is a type of game where the girls had to fight to win. If we makes the playoffs, and it looks like we should, we’ll have more games like this before the season ends.”

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites