By Andy Hutchison

TRUMBULL — Coming off a massive comeback victory over St. Joseph of Trumbull in the FCIAC tournament quarterfinals, Staples girls basketball team nearly repeated the feat Monday in a hard-fought 42-38 setback to top-seed Ridgefield in the semis Monday.

No. 4-ranked Wreckers trailed by 13 points in the third quarter before storming back to tie the game late behind a strong defensive effort. The game was played at neutral site Trumbull High.

But the Tigers narrowly escaped, advancing to face No. 3 Fairfield Warde, a 45-43 winner over No. 7 Trumbull in Monday’s other semi. The title game will be played at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Fairfield University. (Game schedules are subject to change; click for the latest CIAC updates.)

Staples trailed 38-28 to start the fourth quarter and locked in defensively, preventing the Tigers from scoring a point for the first six and a half-plus minutes of the final stanza.

Sadie Katzner once again came off the bench to contribute late with a basket to help the Wreckers chip away. Freya Harvey and Marley Belzer had baskets and Chloe Smith converted a 3-point play the old fashioned way to get the score even at 38-apiece with 1:51 left.

Ridgefield got its first points of the quarter with only 1:19 to go. The Wreckers had a couple of chances to tie or go ahead, but the Tigers eventually sealed things from the foul line in the waning seconds.

Smith finished with 13 points, Harvey had 12 and Belzer six to lead the Wrecker offense.

Staples forced a shot clock violation and came away with some tie-ups, steals and big defensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.

“The girls played well. We played a great game against a really good team. We were able to match their intensity today,” said Staples Coach Tommy Sparks, whose squad lost to Ridgefield by 20 points in the regular-season finale.

The Wreckers will look to bounce back in the upcoming state tournament.

Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories in Fairfield County, since the 1990s.