MARIANNE KILLACKEY/Register Citizen Correspondent

The No. 5 Torrington girls basketball team defeated No. 12 Daniel Hand 57-41 in a Class S second round game on Friday night at Torrington High School.

The Lady Raiders move on to play No. 4 Berlin in the quarterfinals next Thursday in Berlin at 7 p.m. The Redcoats defeated No. 13 Joel Barlow 54-41.

Aly Otis had a monster game for Torrington with 32 points, 13 rebounds (8 offensive) and 2 steals. Caycee Williams added 10 points, 15 rebounds and a block to forge a potent 1-2 inside punch with Otis. That combination was too much for the Tigers to handle. Torrington improves to 20-4 while Hand finishes its season at 13-9. 

To watch highlights and postgame interview, click here.

Hand head coach Tim Tredwell had this say to say about Otis and Williams.

“That front line is brutal, between Williams and Otis. They’re big, they’re strong, they’re tough. We’ve been kind of relying on speed and quickness all year, and trying to turn people over in our press and trying to get points out of that.”

Tredwell also sees more success coming for Torrington.

“All the best to them,” Tredwell said. “They earned it. They’ve certainly got the makings for a deep run.”

To read more about the game, click here.

HERE ARE SOME CLOSING THOUGHTS ABOUT FRIDAY’S GAME

•  Aly Otis was unstoppable for Torrington. She got to the basket whenever she wanted and even muscled her way through defenders to score.

• Sophomore guard/forward Mika Howard came up big after entering the game when starting point guard Caroline Teti left with a wrist injury. Howard hit a big 3 to get the Lady Raiders going in the second quarter. She also helped handle the Daniel Hand full-court defensive pressure.

• Otis and Williams were huge inside, but they got help from teammate Megan Calabrese in the middle. Calabrese may have had just 4 points and 4 rebounds, but she was active underneath.

• Daniel Hand will be back. The Tigers graduated three players, including 6’0” forward Kelsey Cuddy, but they bring back plenty of players who want to fight for their minutes, according to head coach Tim Tredwell. Add to that the fact that their freshmen team went undefeated this year, and you can bet Hand will be heard from again.

MORE ON BERLIN

The Redcoats got a huge night from senior 5’11” guard/forward Chelsea Vujs. Vujs scored 25 points to go along with five steals and five assists, according to results reported on the Hartford Courant’s website. Teammate Courtney Tzasko, 5’6” junior guard/forward, added 13 points in the win. Like Torrington, Berlin also had a bye in the first round.

MORE COVERAGE FROM THE REGISTER CITIZEN NEXT THURSDAY

I will be covering next Thursday’s game between Torrington-Berlin. Expect another live chat at registercitzen.com/sports. You can get updates on the live chat, or tune in on Twitter @kroberts23.

-    - Kevin D. Roberts