UNCASVILLE – Sheehan girls basketball coach Mike Busillo kept looking at the scoreboard. The Class MM championship game against top-seeded East Catholic was winding down but the clock seemed to be moving very slowly.
“I just kept looking up there and we seemed to have more points,” Busillo said. “As long as that was the situation I felt good. We kind of hung on there by our fingernails.”
The third-seeded Titans watched a 22-point first half lead evaporate against top-seeded East Catholic but they hung on for a 56-51 victory, Sheehan’s first title since 1976.
East Catholic cut the lead to one, 42-41, early in the fourth quarter and then four, 52-48, with 1:47 left in the game.
But Sheehan junior Megan Wresien, who led the team with 22 points and eight rebounds, made four free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
“You’re just telling the kids, ‘We’ve got to relax, we’ve played a lot of close games,’” Busillo said. “Basically, I’m lying through my teeth because we’re all nervous wrecks. Somehow, we held on. I don’t know how we did it.”
Megan’s twin sister Jenna scored 13 points for Sheehan. Urielle Abrokwa had 18 points and Morgan Bridgeforth had 16 points and five steals for East Catholic.
“It’s relief, pure joy,” Megan said. “Just being able to grind it out in the tough moments is awesome.
“It’s a game of runs, we made a run in the first half, they made one in the second half. We knew they were a really good team.”
Sheehan hit seven of 12 3-pointers in the first half and led 34-17 at halftime. The Titans’ biggest lead was 34-12 late in the second quarter.
But East Catholic started to play pressure defense and threw on a full-court press, forcing Sheehan turnovers. The Titans hung on but the lead…
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