By Andy Hutchison

TRUMBULL–In a season loaded with blowout victories, and with the conference playoffs just around the corner, Staples girls basketball got a nice postseason tune-up — and passed the test — with a nail-biting 65-59 win over visiting St. Joseph of Trumbull on Tuesday. This was a battle of 10-2 FCIAC teams jockeying for playoff positioning and looking to bolster their state playoff seeding. Staples is third in the state’s Division II rankings; the Cadets ninth in D-III.

Wreckers trailed 18-17 after one quarter and were all even with the Cadets at 32 apiece at the half. Staples trailed just 44-43 after three and took control of the game in the fourth.

Emma Asiel led the Wreckers with 19 points to go along with three assists, five rebounds, a block and a steal. Freya Harvey logged 16 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals. Marley Belzer added nine points, five rebounds and a trio of blocks. Chloe Smith had five points, two assists, six rebounds and a steal. Sadie Katzner tacked on three points, two assists and a pair of steals. 

The Wreckers improved to 11-2 in conference play (16-2 overall) and moved into sole possession of second place behind Greenwich (12-1); they own a head-to-head tiebreaker over 11-2 Trumbull. St. Joseph is in fourth. There are two games to go, with the Wreckers set to host Westhill (winless in 13 conference games) Friday at 6 p.m. and will visit Ridgefield (currently 9-4) to close out the regular season on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

The FCIAC playoffs begin Wednesday with quarterfinals; semis will be at neutral site Wilton High on Saturday, Feb. 28 and the title game is slated for Fairfield University on Wednesday, March 4 at 5:30 p.m.

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.}}