Somers girls fall in NCCC semis as investigation into racist comment continues

Feb. 23—SOMERS — Alan Walker was thankful to be back on the sidelines coaching the Somers High girls basketball team Tuesday after four tumultuous days of investigating an allegation of an inappropriate racial comment made during the Spartans' home game against Windsor Locks Saturday.

"Coaching and being with our kids is natural for me," Walker said after Somers' 45-40 loss to visiting Canton in the semifinals of the NCCC tournament. "I enjoy it. Being able to come into the gym the past few days has been good for me. And being with these kids is just a pleasure."

No. 3 seed Canton (12-10) will face top-seeded Granby on the Bears home floor in the championship game Thursday. Game time is slated for 6 p.m.

The Bears beat No. 4 Bolton 36-23 in Tuesday's other semifinal.

Jenna Cuniowski had 22 points to pace the Warriors, who have won four straight and six of seven. Sophia Mates added 16.

Deidre Dalessio scored 14 points to pace the second-seeded Spartans (16-6), who are expected to receive a first round bye in the Class S state tournament and host a second round game on Mar. 4.

Walker, who also serves as the school's athletic director, was alerted to the reported incident after the Spartans' 60-37 victory over the Raiders in the conference tournament quarterfinals and immediately reported it to the school's administration, which opened an investigation.

Somers Superintendent Brian Czalpa and Windsor Locks Superintendent Shawn Parkhurt each released a statement Monday saying that the schools are investigating the allegation.

Walker declined to comment on the investigation further.

"I was the basketball coach during the game doing my job," Walker said. "As athletic director, I'm involved in the process and we are taking steps to get to a conclusion. I'm not at liberty to discuss or really get into details because it's not fair to anybody. Somers is doing its due diligence. We're a part of the class act schools of the CIAC. That means you're going to do what you can to correct things if something happened. We're in the process of that."

The investigation follows two other recent incidents where fans were alleged to have used racist language at a game.

A Montville High cheerleader accused East Catholic students of calling her a racial slur during and after a football game in September.

East Catholic administrators apologized for the incident and conducted an investigation, though they said they weren't able to find any evidence of the incident so no one was disciplined.

In a Feb. 10 girls basketball game at Lewis Mills High in Burlington, the home team's fans allegedly directed profanity and language with "racist overtones" at visiting Platt High, prompting an apology from the district superintendent.

Somers led Canton 17-14 after one quarter but the Warriors closed the half on a 6-0 run to tie the score at 23 at the half and led 31-30 after three.

Cuniowski went on a personal 6-0 run to give Canton a 40-35 with 3:38 remaining. A Mates layup put the Warriors up 42-38 with 2:37 left.

Devon Dalessio hit a pair of free throws to cut Somers' deficit to 42-40 with 1:23 remaining. Cuniowski then split a pair of free throws on the other end to put Canton up 43-40 with 32 seconds left.

Halle Watt missed a shot on the Spartans' next possession and Mates grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

Mates then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Sydney Cassidy grabbed the rebound.

As Cassidy raced upcourt, Walker took a few steps onto the court to try to call timeout, but neither referee saw him.

"The unfortunate thing about playing a game with masks on is communication," Walker said. "It's tough for kids to talk to each other and it's been a big issue as far as I'm concerned trying to communicate with officials. That's why I was so adamant about trying to get it and I didn't get an explanation, so I assume they didn't see me. It is what it is. We tell our kids all the time, the correct call is the one that happened. Whether you disagree with it or not. And there's nothing you can do about it. It's unfortunate."

Cassidy drove to the rim but was unable to convert the layup and Mates grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

Mates hit both free throws to clinch the Warriors' place in the title game.

CANTON (45): Sophia Mates 7 2-4 16; Gabby DelSanto 1 0-0 2; Jenna Cuniowski 7 7-9 22; Ashelyn Cebollero 0 0-0 0; Avery Brown 1 2-3 5; Samantha Yanke 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 11-16 45..

Three-point goals: Cuniowski, Brown.

SOMERS (40): Sydney Cassidy 1 3-4 6; Deidre Dalessio 5 2-2 14; Devon Dalessio 3 2-2 9; Shea Cassidy 0 0-0 0; Eliana Wood 3 1-2 8; Erin Donohue 1 0-0 3; Hallie Watt 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 8-10 40.

Three-point goals: Sy. Cassidy, Dev. Dalessio, Wood, Donohue, Dei. Dalessio (2).

CANTON 14 9 8 14 — 45

SOMERS 17 6 7 10 — 40

GRANBY 36, BOLTON 23. Savannah Rijkse and Alyssa Bordonaro scored 12 points each as top-seeded Granby advanced to the NCCC tournament final.

The Bears (18-4) will host No. 3 Canton on Thursday for the tournament title.

Granby led 19-13 at halftime. The Bears held fourth-seeded Bolton (16-6) 11 points under its previous season low. Niya Islam had 10 points for Botlon. Julia Zimmerman added six points and seven rebounds. Makenna Graves grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Next for Bolton is the Class S state tournament with the Bulldogs expected to host a first-round game on Tuesday.

BOLTON (23): Emma Diehl 1 1-4 3; Niya Islam 5 0-0 10; Isabel Kenney 0 0-0 0; Julia Zimmerman 1 4-6 6; Makenna Graves 0 0-0 0; Emily DeNunzio 1 0-0 2; Riley Graves 1 0-0 2; Totals: 9 5-10 23.

Three-point goals: None.

GRANBY (36): Femke Jansen 2 1-2 6; Savannah Rijkse 3 6-8 12; Elizabeth Squier 0 0-0 0; Kayla Davis 1 2-2 4; Alyssa Bordonaro 5 2-3 12; Kenzie Garceau 0 0-0 0; Layla Bolduc 1 0-0 2; Totals: 12 11-15 36.

Three-point goals: Jansen.

BOLTON 8 5 4 6 — 23

GRANBY 13 6 6 11 — 36

For daily updates on high school sports in JI's coverage area, follow Kyle Maher on Twitter: @KyleBMaher, Facebook: Kyle Maher, and Instagram: @KyleBMaher.