Live Friday: Greenwich at Ridgefield girls basketball

Two teams that played a pair of memorable post-season games last season will resume their rivalry Friday night. And the HAN Network will be there to broadcast this latest installment live in high-definition streaming video.

Watch the game in the player below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7vuJWyzfiI

The Greenwich and Ridgefield girls basketball teams meet Friday night, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. in Ridgefield, with the contest available for free live streaming at HAN.Network and our affiate websites, including TheRidgefieldPress.com and FCIAC.net. The Tigers edged Greenwich, 48-47, in last year's FCIAC championship game, but the Cardinals got a measure of revenge with a 60-55 triumph in the second round of the Class LL state tournament.

Regarded by many as the conference favorite this season, Ridgefield got off to a disheveled start, dropping three of its first four games. But the Tigers appear to have patched their problems and enter Friday's contest on a three-game winning streak.

Following impressive blowouts of Nazareth (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and John F. Kennedy (Paterson, N.J.) last weekend in New Jersey, Ridgefield resumed FCIAC play by routing Staples, 56-19, on Wednesday night in Westport. The victory put the Tigers (4-3) over the .500 mark for the first time this season.

Ridgefield's go-to players are 6-foot-3 senior forward Rebecca Lawrence, senior point guard Jessica Camarda and junior swingman Meaghan O'Hara, all of whom started in 2014-15. Lawrence, who will play Division I college basketball at the University of Delaware, was the MVP of last year's conference tournament. Lawrence is one of two players in this game nominated for the HAN-FCIAC Athlete of the Week this week .

During their current three-game winning streak, the Tigers have received a boost from junior swingman Grace Goodwin. Goodwin has reached double figures in all three games, including a team-high 11 points in Wednesday's victory over Staples.

While Ridgefield has struggled, Greenwich has surged. The Cardinals bring a perfect 7-0 record into Friday night's game and have scored 60-plus points in five of those contests.

Greenwich features one of the state's most imposing post players in 6-foot-4 senior center Abbie Wolf. Wolf, who has committed to Northwestern, is coming off an 18-point, 16-rebound effort in the Cardinals' 66-55 road win over Wilton on Tuesday night. She is the other player on Friday night among the HAN-FCIAC Athlete of the Week nominees.

Wolf has help, though: Senior shooting guard Caroline Beneville and sophomore guard Kim Kockenmeister are two of the FCIAC's better players, while juniors Shaye Galletta and Emma Banker have also contributed this season.

If recent meetings are an indication, expect a tight, entertaining game on Friday — with the winner determined by which team executes at both ends of the court in the closing minutes.

How to watch

The HAN Network live broadcast of the game can be seen on our homepage, HAN.Network, and on affiliate websites including FCIAC.net. The stream usually begin 10 minutes before the event is scheduled to begin. Rob Adams and crew join you five minutes before the contest begins. Keep in mind that start times are subject to change. Keep an eye on our Twitter feed for the latest updates.

It's easy to watch HAN Network broadcasts on your smart televisions or with Apple TV and Google's Chromecast.

Upcoming games and more

The HAN Network's winter season schedule includes many FCIAC teams boys and girls ice hockey, boys and girls basketball and wrestling. Some facility restraints have prevented us from covering swimming and gymnastics so far this season. We'll also be covering much of the FCIAC postseason playoffs and most championships.

Next up is boys ice hockey: Trumbull at Masuk on Monday; and Darien at St. Joseph on Wednesday. Next Friday, we'll have Trinity Catholic at Stamford boys basketball. Check out the complete broadcast schedule here.

The HAN Network, formerly known as Hersam Acorn Newspapers, is the exclusive FCIAC broadcast partner through the spring of 2018. HAN Network’s broadcasting division replaced HANRadio.com with a new focus on live video streams of high school athletics along with the Network’s news and lifestyle programming.

Along with Connecticut high school sports contests, HAN broadcasts a daily news program, Coffee Break, focusing on southwestern Connecticut at 11 a.m. and a sports talk show, Nutmeg Sports, Monday-Wednesday. You can watch all the shows at live.HAN.Network or on demand at live.HAN.Network/han-on-demand/.

You can check out more of the winter schedule at this link. And be sure to follow the HAN Network on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates.