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TRUMBULL — If there was one team in the FCIAC which has been a thorn in the side of the Ludlowe girls basketball team he past few seasons, it has been St. Joseph.
St. Joseph, the defending FCIAC champion, had won 10 straight games coming in, had not lost in the FCIAC and was ready to give the Falcons their toughest fight of the season.
St. Joseph stayed close to the team ranked No. 2 in the GameTimeCT Poll, getting within six points in the fourth quarter before the Falcons pulled away, closing the game on a 13-0 run and winning 54-35 to improve to15-0.
“We always say ‘control the controllables’ and we tried to utilize what we had, using our bigs down low and all of our guards can shoot and we capitalized on that,” Ludlowe senior Rory Kudzy said. “Every single person on and off the court can play. We are a senior-oriented team and we really want to win this.”
Kudzy and Kaleigh Sommers led Ludlowe with 15 points apiece, Madison Roman had 12 points and 16 rebounds and Caitlin Finnegan had nine blocks for the Falcons.
The St. Joseph game kicks off the toughest part of Ludlowe’s schedule with upcoming consecutive road games at Danbury, Stamford, Warde and Ridgefield before closing the regular season with a home game against 10-4 New Canaan.
“I didn’t plan the schedule, but thank you to the FCIAC,” Ludlowe coach Sara Kinsley said. “We have confidence going into these games and we are working well together. You want to be playing the toughest teams heading into the playoffs and we are in a good spot. We just need to keep working, one game at a time.”
Ludlowe took double-digit leads in each quarter and every time, St. Joseph came back and closed the gap, though the Cadets only led once in the game at 3-2 in the first quarter.
“They are No. 2 in the state for a reason. Sara is doing a magnificent job with those kids and Madison (Roman) is probably the most improved player in the state, Kaleigh (Sommers) is so tough and Rory (Kudzy) was the difference maker in that run with those two takes to the basket,” St. Joseph coach Chris Lindwall said. “We came in very prepared and nobody expected us to be in this position with the kids we lost to graduation. They are doing everything we are asking them to do every day. I could not be prouder.”
St. Joseph (12-3) hosts Greenwich Friday at 7 p.m.
Erin Lovett led St. Joseph with 10 points while battling inside with Roman and Finnegan all night.
Player of the game
Rory Kudzy, Ludlowe: Kudzy twice drove to the basket and scored in the fourth quarter, taking control of the game from her point guard position throughout the contest.
Quotable
“Defense translates to offense and f you play good defense, it brings the energy up and that’s how we get our points,” Kudzy said.