By Andy Hutchison

WESTPORT–Staples girls basketball improved to 8-0 with home wins over previously-unbeatens Torrington and Stamford on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The Wreckers beat Torrington 54-37 and stalled Stamford 58-39.

Stamford

Against Stamford, the Wreckers were in control from start to finish. They jumped out to a 17-7 lead after one quarter and pulled ahead 37-17 at the half. The Wreckers built a 42-19 lead and finished the third ahead 46-29.

“Great win. Probably one of the best wins in the program in the last five years,” said Staples Coach Tommy Sparks, noting that Stamford came into Westport as one of the state’s top 10-ranked lineups.

Stamford chipped away to get the deficit down to 14 but could not get any closer. Freya Harvey led the way with 22 points, Emma Asiel scored 16, Chloe Smith and Marley Belzer both had eight, and Addie Talbott added four to go along with some nice passing to help set up the offense. Asiel drained four 3-pointers and Harvey made three shots from long range.

Harvey had six rebounds, two steals and three blocks. Talbott racked up eight assists, six rebounds and seven steals. Belzer had five rebounds, three assists and two steals along with a pair of blocks. Asiel had three assists, two rebounds, four steals and a block. Riley Caney compiled six rebounds and a steal in 12 effective minutes off the bench.

The Wreckers had a solid game on both ends of the court and scored in a variety of ways.

Early in the second quarter, Smith’s runner in the paint was followed up by Belzer blocking a shot and creating a tie-up and possession change which led to Harvey’s 3-pointer following Talbott’s offensive rebound.

Harvey made a nice spin move in close and scored and, moments later, Talbott turned a turnover into two more points as the Wreckers made it 32-11 midway through the second. Asiel answered a Stamford 3-pointer with one of her own. The Wreckers kept the visitors from cutting into the lead for most of the night.

Torrington

In the Torrington matchup, the Wreckers trailed by a point after one quarter and went ahead 20-16 at the half. Staples blew the game open by outscoring Torrington 25-8 in the third for a commanding 45-24 lead going to the fourth.

Harvey had 15 points, three assists, five rebounds and three steals. Smith scored 13 to go along with four assists and six rebounds. Talbott had eight points, seven rebounds and four steals. Asiel added seven points and a pair of steals. Marley Belzer had five points along with five rebounds and six blocks.

The Wreckers have received contributions from several players off the bench in recent games with Riley Caney, Sam Selig, Sadie Katzer, Maeve Best and Kennedy Do playing some minutes and, collectively, getting on the stat sheet with plays on offense and defense,

Sparks likes his team’s perseverance.

“Nothing has been rattling us. We’re handling adversity well,” the coach said.

Staples will host Darien Tuesday and visit Greenwich Friday, Jan. 23 in what stands to be a difficult matchup. Greenwich is 8-1 overall and 4-0 in FCIAC play.

Andy Hutchison

^{_{Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories, since the 1990s. He is the sports editor at the Newtown Bee. He writes for the Monroe Sun. He was director of communications and radio color commentator for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (now Islanders) hockey team. He has won numerous writing awards, including regional and national first-place honors.}}