Farmington Girls Win Class L Basketball Championship

Farmington High School captured the Class L girls basketball championship Saturday, defeating defending champion and top-seeded Bacon Academy 49-44 at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

A three-point basket by Brittany Belisle gave the Indians a 4-1 lead just over a minute into the contest, a lead they would never relinquish.

"We just wanted to play our style of basketball, and we did right from the tip," Farmington coach Russ Crist said. "This is awesome - I can't even put it into words."

The Indians grabbed a 15-7 lead after one quarter, then opened up a lead of 12 before the Bobcats came back with seven straight points to close the margin to 23-18 heading into halftime.

Defense took over after intermission, as Farmington held Bacon to just three points in the third quarter, all by senior Taylor McLaughlin.

A three-pointer by Bacon's Carlee Putnam to open the fourth quarter cut the Indians' lead to six, then the Bobcats got within five with 5:03 left. Farmington got the game back under control, though, pushing the advantage to as much as 11 in the final two minutes.

Belisle and Sophie Borg led the balanced Farmington scoring attack with 11 points each. Courtney Hofer had 7 points in the victory, while Ally Walsh had six, Cheray Saunders and Jamie Bartucca each had four, and Bridget Kelly and Cally Lombardi had 3 points each.

Farmington played terrific defense all game, with Hofer grabbing 10 rebounds, while Bartucca and Belisle each had three steals.

McLaughlin led all scorers with 25 points, while Putnam added 15 for the Bobcats.