With seven freshmen moving up to replace disciplined players, the Orion girls built a 16-12 lead over Wethersfield in the first half of the varsity game on Saturday, Jan. 30.

But after halftime the Flying Geese flew off to a 55-40 win. The hosts outscored the Chargers 23-10 in the third quarter and 20-14 in the fourth.

Following the discipline of five seniors and one junior, Orion coach John McBride was left with one senior, Kelly Hutton; one junior, Brittany Scott; and one sophomore, Randi McMullin.

To finish the season, he brought up freshmen Ann Samuelson, Katie Garrity, Laura Hamilton, Morgan Dahl, Cassidy Clark, Anni Keleher and Abby Taets to the varsity team.

One bright spot for the team is that the younger players are getting a lot of experience, McBride said.

“They do a really nice job,” he said. “For two games in a row, we have had the lead at halftime.”
Opponents have been able to make adjustments at halftime, McBride said.

The seven freshmen barely played in sophomore games, and they are finding players in varsity contests are bigger, faster and stronger, the coach said. Such young players get tired in the longer varsity games.

Wethersfield’s Shelby Stegas “broke us down,” McBride said. She scored 23 points.

The coach is getting a glimpse of the future of Orion basketball.

“Our big girls, Cassidy Clark and Katie Garrity, have a chance to be something special,” he said.

Given more playing time, McMullin is showing what she can do, McBride said. She plays hard, and, like the younger players, she has a chance to learn the varsity game.

“These girls are standing up tall, not backing down from anybody,” he said of his team. “Somehow we have to make a bad situation better.”