Sagay, Duncan-Clarke Dominate As MCC Beats #4 Brookdale CC

Sagay, Duncan-Clarke Dominate As MCC Beats #4 Brookdale CC
Cougars Win Both Weekend Games; Remain Undefeated (4-0) After 79-62 Victory

Sagay, Duncan-Clarke Dominate As MCC Beats #4 Brookdale CC

Cougars Win Both Weekend Games; Remain Undefeated (4-0) After 79-62 Victory

MANCHESTER – Ericka Sagay had a triple-double and Shenielle Duncan-Clarke had 22 points as Manchester CC (4-0) beat #4 Brookdale CC 79-62 Sunday afternoon at the Great Path Academy gym.

Sagay had 14 points, 14 rebounds and 11 blocks while Duncan-Clarke, who converted 10 of 11 free-throw attempts, had eight assists, seven steals and five rebounds. Both are sophomores from Bloomfield.

“Shenielle controlled the tempo of the game and Ericka made it very difficult for them to score inside,” sixth year MCC head coach Robert Turner Jr said. “With a lot of blocks, it changes your shot. And when you change your shot, you change the game.”

The Cougars went on a 12-point run midway through the first half and took an 18-point lead into the break. Brookdale (0-1) fought back with a barrage of three-pointers in the second half, cutting the Cougar lead down to eight points with four minutes play before MCC pulled away for the 19-point victory.

“They are a national level team, so i didn’t expect them to roll over.” Turner Jr said of Brookdale. “Some of our players got in foul trouble and it kind of changed our game plan. What was working for us in the first half, we had to adjust a little bit for in the second half.”

Jazlynn Canino (East Hartford) had four fouls and the first half and played sparingly in the second, but managed to pull down seven rebounds over 20 minutes of play before fouling out in the game’s final minutes.

Brookdale CC, located in Lincroft, NJ beat MCC in the National Championship Tournament in Rochester MN last March by an 80-70 score. The Jersey Blues returned three players from their NJCAA Region 19 Championship team while the Cougars have eight returning sophomores.

“(MCC) was packed in the zone pretty tight and we were getting our shots blocked inside,” Brookdale co-head coach Marianne Campacci said. “We couldn’t match their height, so all we could do was maybe force their girls on the outside and start hitting, which would free up some of our girls on the inside. That’s what we were hoping.”

Nicole Collins led Brookdale with 15 points, all of which came on three-pointers. 33 of Brookdale’s 62 points came on threes. Brielle Martinez had 13 points for the Jersey Blues.

“We have eight freshman,” co-head coach Joanne Cobb said. “This is good for us to see. We lost their composure at times – sometime it was self-inflicted sometimes it was the other team. Every time we got into a rhythm, they (MCC) would come back. That’s stuff they have to work on and hopefully with the first game under the belt, we will improve from there.”

Callie Tambling (Manchester) and Jaleesa Roy (Waterbury) each scored 11 points for the Cougars, who travel to Holyoke CC on Thursday for a 6 PM Region 21 game.

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