Aggressive Defense Leads to Success for FHS Girls

Smiles adorn their faces as the Farmington High girls basketball players go through their practice paces.

It’s not like they’re on the brink of a state championship. A CCC West banner may also be out of their reach with three games to make up against Northwest Catholic and Hall also in the way.

But the girls are winning, having come together nicely under the auspices of coach Russ Crist. They broke into a post-practice birthday celebration with all the trappings. The bigger picture reflects a celebration of life, most notably when viewed through the eyes of the team’s lone senior, Ugne Vaiciulyte.

Vaiciulyte started for a 2010-11 squad that produced three college players – Kellie Nissen (Dickinson College), Michelle Truncali (Endicott) and Uju Momah (Amherst). She has no intention of playing college ball. She's just relishing an experience that's likely to serve as a foundation for a lifetime.

“[I want to] have a good year, move along with the team and enjoy myself,” she said. “This could be my last fling. I may play intramurals but all the schools I’m applying to are [Division I].”

The Indians have had to change on the fly. Crist, his 100th victory within sight in his seventh season, no longer has the luxury of dumping the ball into the low post for Momah or having savvy guards Truncali and Nissen run an intricate offense.

“We were coming off back-to-back 16-win seasons with pretty much the same starters,” Crist said. “We came in this year without a lot of varsity experience. We’ve battled the things that inexperienced teams battle – a low shooting percentage from the floor and the free throw line, and we were turning the ball over.”

To lose four strong seniors (Tiajah DeJesus also graduated) and maintain a winning program requires an open mind and a profound understanding of the game’s nuances.

“Every year we take a look at what we’ve got coming back and what we’ve got coming in and try to figure out what we think is the best possible option,” said Crist, whose family has helped write several chapters in FHS hoop history. He played in the mid-1990s and was followed by his brother Ryan. His sister Caitlin scored 1,335 points before graduating in 2001 and going on to a stellar college career at St. Bonaventure.

“We’ve been a half-court team the last couple of years. We really played a lot of half-court defense. We tried to control inside the three-point line. We blocked a lot of shots. We got stops because we’d contest shots and get the rebound and hold them to one shot.

“Now we’re taking a lot more chances. We pick up full court or three-quarter court and we trap. On probably about 75 percent of our possessions, we’re in some type of pressing defense.”

Effective pressure produces opportunities in transition. Earlier in the season, a high percentage of turnovers were not producing points, something that would have to change if Farmington were to become a winning team.

“As we capitalize on them, we’ll score more and more points,” Crist said. “We’re always looking to push and get uncontested layups. When the other team scores or misses a shot, we’re trying to get it out and up, get it up the floor and put some pressure on the defense. It’s worked pretty well. The girls are feeling good about it as we convert a lot of those opportunities.”

Defensive pressure and a free-form offense qualify as a significant change to Vaiciulyte.

“We have more defensive plays than offensive, I think,” said Vaiciulyte, whom Crist describes as a hard-nosed, blue-collar, strong player. “We’re just switching up defenses on our opponents all the time. … [On offense] it’s up to us to make plays happen. It’s more about playing smart basketball than passing the ball to a spot each time.”

Junior point guard Jamie Bartucca is a key component. The progress she’s made in her decision-making in transition has meshed with her general athleticism and the wisdowm she extracts from her field hockey experience. Bartucca was an All-State field hockey player last fall.

“She’s one of the best defensive players in terms of playing the passing lanes,” Crist said. “I think field hockey has a lot to do with it. She stays low to the ground, she great hands, great quickness and a great first step.

“She was one of the people who was throwing the ball away a lot. We sat down and had a talk and she’s cut her turnovers in half. She went from having six or seven to two or three. She averages 5.7 steals a game.”

Bartucca leads the team in scoring, largely by creating her own offense.

Brittany Belisle, who played extensively last year as a sophomore, and Cally Lombardi are Farmington’s best spot-up shooters. Lombardi lost time last year due to injury.

“They’re both good shooters who have really thrown themselves into our team defense,” Crist said. “What they need is to become as confident shooting in games as they are in practice. The pace kind of gets them in a rush but they’re getting more comfortable.”

Sophomore Bridget Kelly also sees time in the backcourt but a concussion has cost her four games this month.

“She’s constant motion. She plays the passing lanes and deflects like eight to 10 balls every game,” Crist said. “She also averages 5.5 rebounds a game from the guard position so she does a lot for us.”

Leading rebounder Ally Walsh starts in the frontcourt and has given Farmington an improved presence in the low post. Second leading scorer Sophie Borg has hit the ground running in her freshman year and gives the Indians a positive prognosis for long-term excellence.

“She’s going to be a very special player,” Crist said. “She’s just scratching the surface of her potential right now. She’s very coachable.

“The thing that I’m most impressed about is she goes without fear to the basket every single time. She creates contact and never shies away from going right at some of the best players in the conference.”

The result is lots of foul shots, an area where Borg needs to improve. She projects as a consummate forward.

“She’s not a true post, like a back-to-the-basket post. She likes to face up and go by people,” Crist said. “She utilizes her strength, she’s got an explosive first step and she can finish around the basket.”

Crist paid tribute to a fertile feeder system, one that he’s worked hard to nurture through his summer camp and making appearances at youth games.

“The coaches do a great job,” he said. “Chris Ramsay, whose daughter Tessa was a captain for me a couple years ago, has coached the freshman class for the last three years on the eighth-grade travel team. He also coaches our fall league and summer league teams. It’s just great to have the continuity and have someone that knows so much about the game of basketball working with them.”

Ramsay is the son of Dr. Jack Ramsay, who coached the Portland Trailblazers to the 1977 NBA title and is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.