Middletown Shakes Slow Start, Downs Wethersfield

Middletown's Shadea Bushay inbounds as Wethersfield's Gabriella Amoddio guards baseline during the Blue Dragons 52-25 season-opening win

High school sports are back and the lady hoopsters at Middletown High School couldn’t be happier.
The Blue Dragons are equipped with a loaded lineup, which was on display during a 52-25 season-opening victory at Wethersfield last Monday night.

“The biggest thing is just playing,” Middletown head coach Robert Smernoff said following the convincing victory, “A lot of our kids play fall sports and at Middletown they got through nine games and then all the fall sports had to shut down. They’re much more appreciative of getting on the court and we told them to enjoy it every day.”

Junior Tyah Pettaway scored a game-high 15 points, all after the first quarter.

Middletown battled butterflies early on, scoring only three points over the first eight minutes of action.

“The first quarter I was kind of wondering who was on the court. Credit to [Wethersfield] they came out like gangbuster, but what we saw the last three quarters is what we’ve seen every day in practice,” added Smernoff.

Over the final three quarters, the Blue Dragons outscored the Eagles 49-13.

Pettaway and senior captain Kya Mayo took over in the second quarter, combining to score 14 points.

Mayo, who is coming back from a torn ACL, scored the final five of the second quarter when she went coast-to-coast on a layup and then nailed a straight away three in the waning seconds as Middletown closed the half on a 12-0 run.

“She was so excited to play,” stated Smernoff, who praised Mayo and fellow captain Aysia Henderson, “They’ve been as good of captains as I’ve ever had. We’ve given them so much leadership responsibilities and they’re really focused on some big goals this year.”
Following a 12-point opening quarter, Wethersfield had trouble putting the ball in the bucket.

“I think they needed to get those first game jitters out of the way. Our goal this season is to be as competitive as possible in every game,” said Wethersfield head coach Jeff Russell.

A season ago, the Eagles were prepping for a quarterfinals clash with St. Paul when the Class L tournament was canceled over COVID concerns last March.

The Eagles lost four starters and 97% of the team’s scoring output from last winter. All-conference studs Nicole Gwynn and Alice Kelly, along with sharpshooter Isabella Samse and utility player Grace Conneely all graduated, leaving a sizeable void.

Russell added, “I went into the season really excited for these kids, because they are hungry. It’s fun to be a part of that team that’s winning but sometimes you want your shot. I wanted practices to get back to teaching and skill development and the culture is there. This group is the foundation of the culture because they were the kids on the bench cheering on those players before but they were also being ask in practice to work just as hard as them.”

Gabriella Amoddio scored eight points to lead the Eagles in the opener and Vanessa Venditti came off the bench to spark a 10-0 to end the first quarter.

Venditti, who finished with five points, had several crisp passes to set up scores, including a pair Olivia Barnett who scored four of her six in the opening quarter.

Russell used nearly his entire bench in the first half, praising the team for their effort.

“Every single player came in hungry. Our practices have been competitive and these kids have been a part of winning these past couple of years,” said Russell, “We were outsized at every position on the floor tonight and we battled for rebounds, fought for loose balls, and we battled with a team that is incredibly talented.”

Wethersfield was without Alexa Grenier, who will be a major contributor when she returns, and Russell added that it will take some time for the new lineup to get comfortable, “Your shots mean a little bit more now then they did in the past. You were usually getting the fourth or fifth best defender on you and now some of our players are getting the best defender on them. They’re seeing what it’s like to make in-game adjustments and put in the work they didn’t necessarily have to do before. Every player on this group right now is fighting for the same spots. There is no line of demarcation on this group.”

Middletown cruised to victory in the second half, as juniors Jenaya Salafia and Shadae Bushay shined. Salafia scored scored 8 of her 11 and Bushay scored 5 of her 7 over the final 16 minutes.

“The first quarter did not go how we wanted but there was no panic. We knew our shots were going to start going in and we just had to pick it up on defense and they were as calm as I’ve ever seen a team. Usually that first game you’re on an emotional high or you hit that low and they just stayed nice and even-keeled the entire game,” said Smernoff.

The Blue Dragons made it two for two last week, knocking off Berlin 50-33 last Thursday behind 17 points from Bushay and 16 more from Pettaway.

Wethersfield dropped a 47-29 contest to Newington the same night. 

It may be a rebuilding year in Wethersfield but Russell remains optimistic, “They’ve come in hungry and we’ve had so much fun in practice. This group really gets along well and I’m fortunate because the dynamic is awesome.”

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