Outstanding defensive play was one of the trademarks of the Greenwich High School varsity girls basketball team during its successful 2024-2025 season and judging from the results, it will certainly be one of the Cardinals strengths this winter.

Greenwich has earned four victories over its first five games and in all of its wins, the opposition has been held to under 40 points. Notre Dame Prep was the latest team to have trouble generating points against the Cardinals when the non-conference squads faced each other on Jan. 2 before a large gathering at Greenwich High School.

Playing strong defense, while also excelling on offense, Greenwich extended its winning streak to four games, upending visiting Notre Dame Prep, 66-49. The convincing win improved Greenwich’s record to 4-1 heading into its FCIAC-opener on Jan. 6th against visiting Fairfield Ludlowe. In the Cardinals’ victory against Notre Dame from Fairfield, the hosts led from start to finish.

Behind a game-high 19 points from sophomore center Zuri Faison, 13 points from senior forward/captain Mikayla Kiernan and 12 points apiece from senior guard/forward/captain Madi Utzinger and senior forward Maddie Young, Greenwich led Notre Dame Prep, 18-7, after the first quarter and 42-18 at halftime.

“I’m really proud of the girls’ hustle and resilience,” Greenwich head coach Megan Wax said following the Cardinals triumph against Notre Dame. “It was a fast game in tempo. It was a very physical game too and something that we’re working on constantly is making sure we don’t panic under pressure and that we can expect physicality and respond correctly through it. With that in mind, we did a really good job.”

Greenwich is coming off a spectacular season in which it advanced all the way to the championship game of the CIAC Class LL Tournament, where it was defeated by Southington. Southington lost to Sacred Heart Academy in the 2025 Class LL final and the Cards’ lone loss so far this season came against Sacred Heart Academy in the season-opener on Dec. 16th. Since then, the Cardinals have registered four straight wins, three of which have come by more than 20 points.

Against Notre Dame Prep, Greenwich’s man-to-man defense was on point throughout.

“One of our greatest strengths is how strong we are defensively, especially in man, because we are quick and we can read things and we are quick to help on defense,” Wax said. “I thought we did a really good job of that, I think we took away a lot of things they were looking to get on their offensive sets.”

Three-point shooting also sparked the Cardinals against the Lancers. The Cards converted nine 3-pointers in the first half, helping them build a 24-point advantage. Kiernan, guard Juliette Pelham and Utzinger are the Cardinals’ senior captains.

“Overall, I have an awesome senior class, I have six seniors who are great leaders,” Wax noted. “They have a ton of experience and every day they put out the focus and energy that we want to have. We are going to work relentlessly every single day and the captains lead by that every day.”

Said Kiernan of her captaincy: “I’m proud to be a captain of this team, because last year we had a lot of hype and people expected us to be good this year. At the beginning of last year, we flew under everyone’s radar and this year, everyone is expecting us to be good, so I’m proud that we’re living up to our own expectations and that goals that we set for ourselves.”

Sophomore guard Elsa Xhekaj opened the scoring for Greenwich, swishing a 3-point shot from the right side, setting the tone for the Cards’ impressive shooting from the perimeter. A basket from Utzinger, a 3-pointer from Kiernan from the right corner and a layup from Utzinger off a Kiernan pass quickly put GHS ahead, 10-0, prompting a Notre Dame timeout.

Xhekaj 3-pointer from the top of the key and Kiernan’s shot from beyond the arc from the left corner, upped the Cardinals’ lead on the Lancers to 16-2 late in the opening quarter. The hosts held Notre Dame to six first quarter points.

“I think we’ve been putting in the work and it’s paying off,” Pelham said. “We’ve stepped up to the challenge and we’ve pulled through. We’ve been putting extra work in on the defensive side. We’re working a lot in help defense, I think that may have been one of our weaknesses last year, we weren’t in help defense as much. But I think this year, we’ve patched up those holes and now, it’s working out.”

Faison scored eight second quarter points, including the first four, giving GHS a 22-10 lead. The Cardinals’ center made eight of her nine foul shot attempts.

“Everybody can shoot, everybody can shoot from mid-range,” Faison said of the squad’s diversity on offense. “Everybody has their own way of scoring and that’s what brings us together as a full team.”

Young came off the bench and instantly ignited the Cards with her standout 3-point shooting. Young’s 3-point shot from the right corner put the home team on top, 28-11. Faison then grabbed an offensive rebound and scored and Young swished another 3-pointer, making it 33-11 in favor of Greenwich. She made a trio of 3-pointers in the second quarter, while Kiernan converted two shots from beyond the arc in the period.

“It was definitely intense coming off the bench after there were a lot of fouls being called and the intensity was up in the gym,” said Young, who was a member of Greenwich High’s varsity girls soccer team, which won the CIAC Class LL state tournament championship this past November. “I just wanted to get my shot off and get it going and get a higher lead point wise.”

Stellar ball movement enabled the Cardinals to get open 3-point shots against Notre Dame.

“It was very nice, I was happy I got the shots off,” said Young, who also spoke of the team’s teamwork. “I think our team chemistry is awesome, we get along so well. We balance off of each other and have so many amazing strengths within the team and that’s what makes us an amazing team.”

For Notre Dame Prep (3-4), guard Aniona Brown scored 13 points and sophomore guard Kolbe McCray added 10 points. Greenwich outscored Notre Dame Prep, 15-11, in the third quarter to go ahead, 57-25, going into the final quarter.

“I feel really great, we have a lot of energy coming off the bench and with our starting five, we are all really close friends and we have really great chemistry and energy as a team,” Kiernan noted. We play really well together.”

Said Young: “We were able to push each other and even if we got in foul trouble, we have great girls coming off the bench that would help and just putting our hands up, closing out and doing the best we possibly could.”

The Cardinals host FCIAC rivals Fairfield Ludlowe and St. Joseph this coming week, then visit Wilton and Bridgeport Central the following week. Indeed, following last season’s highly successful campaign, Greenwich definitely has high expectations.

“We want to make it to Mohegan Sun, the state finals,” Faison noted. “To do that, we have to stick together and play as a team. It feels so good to see how well we’re playing. We just want to build more chemistry.”

Said Xhekaj of what will be some of the keys to the team’s success: “We have to work together, play as a team, not get into our heads, we tend to do that sometimes, so I think today we did a good job. I feel like we’re growing as a team and I feel like overall, we did a good job.”

“We’ve been putting in the work and this is just the beginning for us,” Pelham said. “Some of our goals are playing as a team, getting better as a team, working on our communication. We’re trying to work on our fundamentals, so we can build off that foundation.”

Indeed, during their home win against Notre Dame Prep, Greenwich exhibited the characteristics of a team that should be tough to top.

“We were able to push each other and even if we got in foul trouble, we have great girls coming off the bench that would help,” Young noted.

For even more pictures from Greenwich’s please visit: https://www.06878photography.com/girls-basketball-greenwich-high-school-vs-notre-dame-prep-fairfield-january-2nd-2025