Vujs, Seniors Knock Off Platt

Its not so much how many shots you make but when you make them.

On an emotional Senior Night for the Berlin High School girls team, a junior hit the biggest shot of the game and put the clamps on Platt’s top player to lead the Redcoats to a 51-41 victory.

Berlin improved to 14-5 with the win with one game to play while Platt fell to 13-5 with two games left.

Chelsea Vujs, a junior, missed a three-pointer with five minutes left in the game and Berlin clinging to a 39-38 lead.

“Coach King and I have an inside joke that every time I make a three I get to tell her to shut up,” Vujs said. “I knew when I missed that three I had to make up for it. I heard her say something when I missed.”

So with 3:37 and Berlin leading 41-40 Vujs hit a straightway three to push the lead to 44-40. The Redcoats outscored Platt 7-1 the rest of the way, with all of the points coming from the free throw line, for an important 51-41 win.

“I hit it, looked at the bench an said ‘shut up Kinger,’” Vujs said. “It’s just a fun joke between us but it felt good.”

Vujs also had the task of guarding Platt’s sensational scorer Danika Martinez.

“We tried to faceguard her the last time but this time we played some zone and just tried to keep her in front of us,” King said of the defense on Martinez. “This time we challenged Chelsea to just keep her in front of her and when she made her move the rest of the players had to get to the paint faster to help.”

Martinez was on fire in the first half, hitting three 3-pointers on her way to an 11-point half and helping Platt to a 22-21 lead. Her three with 20 seconds left in the first half gave the Panthers a 22-21 lead going to the locker room.

The Platt lead grew to as large as 29-24 on another Martinez 3-pointer with 5:41 left in the third quarter. From that point, however, Berlin outscored Platt 13-4 to take a 37-33 lead into the fourth quarter.

Martinez hit a three off the inbounds play seconds into the fourth quarter to close the gap to 37-36. Platt would close to within one point one more time but that set the stage for Vujs’ big 3-pointer.

Martinez led Platt with 17 followed by Elisa Plaza with 15. The Panthers only got nine points, however, from the other players.

Alyssa Barrett led Berlin with 13 points, including four 3-pointers. Ashley Malloy added 11 points and Vujs nine points.

Berlin finishes the season at Middletown. Due to postponements and inclement weather, the CCC Tournament has been narrowed to eight teams.

“I think if we win Monday against Middletown, we get into the CCC Tournament, which is important,” King said. “These seniors have worked hard to make their own identity and they are who they are and they are unique. They are a gutsy group.”