Cardinals defeat girls basketball FCIAC foes Fairfield Warde, Brien McMahon; Greenwich ready for FCIAC tournament

By David Fierro on February 28, 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

**Photo by Dan Utzinger:** Greenwich senior guard Juliette Pelham, left drives to the basket while being guarded by Ivy Feay of Fairfield Warde during an FCIAC girls basketball game at GHS, recently. The Cardinals won the game, 57-25.

The FCIAC Girls Basketball Tournament begins today and Greenwich High School is in the position it was hoping for – seeded No. 1 and playing at home.

The Cardinals earned the No. 1 seed in the eight-team FCIAC Tournament by finishing the season with an overall record of 18-2 and an FCIAC mark of 14-1, which was the best record in the conference. Top-seeded Greenwich hosts eighth-seeded St. Joseph in today’s 1 p.m. FCIAC quarterfinals.

Greenwich solidified the No. 1-ranking in the FCIAC by capping the regular season with eight consecutive victories, two of which sealed their top seed in the conference tournament. Playing lock down defense, while executing efficiently on offense, the Cardinals upended a formidable Fairfield Warde team, winning handily, 57-25, on Feb. 21st.

The Cards followed their home victory against Warde with a convincing 57-22 triumph over Brien McMahon on Feb. 25 in Norwalk. Against the Mustangs, the Cardinals jumped out to a 15-5 lead following the first quarter, led 35-11 at halftime and brought a 50-18 advantage into the final quarter.

**Photo by Dan Utzinger**: Senior forward Maddie Young of Greenwich takes a shot from the corner vs. Warde.

“I thought it was a great game, I thought we played well for the full game,” GHS coach Megan Wax said after the Cards topped Warde. “We’ve been focusing on setting the pace we’ve wanted from the beginning and keeping it to the last whistle. I thought this was one of our best games all season long of being able to do that. The girls executed and we played really intense the entire game.”

Sophomore center Zuri Faison scored a game-high 19 points, while Madi Utzinger totaled 13 points to power Greenwich’s offense against Fairfield Warde.

Faison scored 11 first-quarter points and converted a 3-point shot in the winning effort. Senior forward Mikayla Kiernan contributed 11 points and ignited Greenwich during the second quarter. Kiernan made three shots from 3-point range in the second quarter as the Cardinals added on to their substantial lead.

**Photo by Dan Utzinger**: Cardinals sophomore center Zuri Faison goes in for a shot against Fairfield Warde. She had 19 points.

“Mikayla’s shots were on fire, they stretched the defense out and that makes it really tough to defend,” Wax noted.

Elsa Xhekaj, a sophomore point guard, had seven points, including a 3-pointer and senior guard Juliette Pelham added four points in the winning effort.

“Warde is a great team, they’re well coached,” Wax said. “They play fast and hard, so it’s great to come out on top against such a great team.”

**Picture by Dan Utzinger**: Greenwich’s Madi Utzinger had 13 points in a 57-25 win over Fairfield Warde.

Avy Feay’s 10 points led Warde, which is seeded fifth in the FCIAC Tournament and will visit fourth-seeded Danbury in today’s quarterfinals at 1 p.m.

Second-seeded Staples hosts No. 7 Ridgefield and third-seeded Trumbull is at home versus sixth-seeded Stamford in the other FCIAC Tournament matchups.

**Picture by Dan Utzinger**: Greenwich High senior Emm Maasbach sings the National Anthem.

Wax was especially pleased with her squad’s defensive performance against Warde.

“I thought our defense was really good,” she said. “We got back to our man fundamentals. We focus a lot defensively on limiting them to one shot per possession and I think we did really well on that.”

**Photo by Rachael Stover**: Mikayla Kiernan, a senior forward, scored 11 points in a 57-25 GHS win over Fairfield Warde.

“The girls have worked hard all season long fighting to get that,” Wax said. “It will be great to have a home game this year with the new format. As always, we take it one game at a time and make sure we play a full game.”

Here are more photos of Greenwich’s recent wins against Fairfield Warde and Brien McMahon.