Bonekovic’s burst keys Brookfield

The senior scored 33 points as the Warriors routed
Hubbard, 67-33.

By DOUG CHAPIN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

HUBBARD — As a league showdown, it wasn’t much. But as a showcase for Morgan Bonekovic, it was outstanding.

Brookfield High’s 6-foot senior post player erupted for 33 points Thursday, making 13 of her 14 shots from the field (2-for-2 from 3-point range) and all five of her free throw tries as the Warriors blasted Hubbard High, 67-33.

The teams were tied atop the Trumbull Athletic Conference at 7-1 entering the game. The Warriors had beaten the Eagles by a score of 69-38 earlier in the season.

“That was one of our better games, I mean overall team wins,” Brookfield coach Shawn Hammond said. “They made two runs at us and I told the girls at halftime that they were going to make another run and we had to just stick our feet in the ground and take it on.”

The Brookfield interior defense was outstanding, forcing Hubbard to go outside the 3-point line for its points.

Of the Eagles’ 10 made field goals, eight were 3-pointers. Hubbard shot 10-for-34 from the field and just 2-for-16 inside the arc.

The Warriors (12-2 overall) scored the first eight points of the game, but Hubbard (9-6) rallied to tie the game at 10-10. Brookfield then scored 19 points in a row, 14 by Bonekovic. The lead was 21-10 at the quarter break and 35-15 at halftime.

The lead reached 26 at its biggest and Hubbard never got closer than 17.

Lauren Gentile had an excellent overall game for Brookfield with seven points, eight assists and five steals. Kelly Jones added 12 points and Meghan Reiser recorded seven steals. Brookfield had 20 steals as a team and Hubbard committed seven turnovers.

The Eagles got 13 points from Brittany Bullock and eight points and five assists from Abbie Deluco.

Hammond said his Warriors are playing well as they approach the stretch run of the regular season.

“We had some ups and downs for a while there, but our bench people have become more comfortable coming in, and with the play of our starters we’re getting to where we want to be,” he said. “We know in the tournament it’s going to take more than five or six people.

“[Down the stretch] it’s not so much who we’re playing, it’s a matter of us executing. We just go one game at a time and we told the girls this is the time we want to get rolling.”