All-Area Girls' Basketball Profiles

• A two-time All-Area selection in softball as Waterford's third baseman, Alyssa Hancock helped lead the Lancers' girls' basketball team to an ECC Medium Division championship and a berth in the Class M quarterfinals. Waterford's senior co-captain and point guard, Hancock averaged 10.7 points, three rebounds and four assists per game and was named to the Eastern Connecticut Conference All-Tournament team. "Alyssa is a born leader," coach Rob Von Achen said. "She will lead whatever she does. When we started the season, she was absolutely so fired up to start ... more than most kids are. If you called a timeout, she would take half of it. And she was right on all the time." Hancock is an honor roll student who lists Eastern Connecticut State and UMass-Dartmouth as her college choices.

• Adily Martucci made a considerable impression in her senior season at Waterford, helping to align a 16-game winning streak for the Lancers (21-5) on the way to an ECC Medium Division title and a Class M quarterfinal bid. A future Division I guard headed to Quinnipiac University, Martucci averaged 16.2 points, seven rebounds and three assists per game, finishing her career with 915 points, 352 rebounds and 277 assists. In the second round of the state tournament, Martucci had 27 points and 10 assists in the Lancers' 73-63 victory over Sport Sciences and she closed her career with 15 points in a hard-fought quarterfinal loss to Ellington, in which Waterford trailed by 16 at halftime yet pulled within three. "She wasn't afraid to put the team on her back," coach Rob Von Achen said. Martucci, who was named to the ECC All-Tournament team, is an All-ECC Medium Division and Class M all-state pick, as well as an honor roll student.

• Old Saybrook's Kayla McAvoy became the third girls' basketball player in program history to be named to the Class S all-state team, the first since 1983, averaging 16 points and 11.5 rebounds as the Rams finished 14-9 with a berth in the Shoreline Conference tournament semifinals. A 6-foot senior center, McAvoy finished her career with 1,134 points, eclipsing the 1,000-point mark on Jan. 26 against Hyde of New Haven at Old Saybrook. "As soon as she arrived she was pressed into action," Old Saybrook coach Steve Woods said. "She's been a great post presence for four years." McAvoy is a two-time All-Shoreline pick, a two-time member of The Day's All-Area team and a scholar-athlete selection.

• On a team with a number of proficient 3-point shooters, East Lyme could also get to the basket, a specialty of Vikings' three-year starting point guard Allison Stoddard. It was never more evident than Stoddard's length-of-the-court charge with 8.7 seconds remaining in the quarterfinals of the ECC tournament, as East Lyme toppled eventual state champion Bacon Academy for the second time on Stoddard's buzzer-beater. Stoddard, a junior, averaged 13.5 points and 5.6 assists per game for the Vikings (15-8). She was an All-ECC Large Division and Class L all-state selection. Stoddard is also a three-year member of the girls' soccer team and an honor roll student, as well as being named to the all-tournament team at the AAU basketball GymRat Challenge during the offseason.

• ECC tournament Most Valuable Player Alyssa Velles had 25 points, 14 in the fourth quarter, and was carried off the court by the student section after helping fifth-seeded Norwich Free Academy vanquish No. 2 Waterford in the championship game. And, hypothetically, there's a lot more where that came from, as Velles is only a sophomore. "I think she's got a high ceiling and she's just starting," coach Bill Scarlata said of Velles, a guard. "She's got a long way to go before she's finished." Velles, who can score from 3-point range, as well as driving to the basket for her trademark runner, averaged 15.7 points, six rebounds and two steals per game for the Wildcats (16-8). She was named to the All-ECC Large Division team. Velles is also a member of NFA's volleyball team and a high honors student.