The 2025-2026 Greenwich High School varsity girls basketball team will be remembered as the Cardinals squad that brought the program back to championship glory, after the school went decades watching other teams capture the winner’s trophy.

From an exceptional regular season in which it went 18-2, to three more victories in the FCIAC Tournament, including a outstanding performance in the game it had been thinking about all season long, Greenwich proved that this was indeed, their season and their time to garner the championship hardware.

Imposing its will from the outset, No. 1-seeded Greenwich seized a double-digit first quarter lead and never looked back, cruising to a convincing 65-49 victory over second-seeded Staples in the 2026 FCIAC Girls Basketball Tournament final at Fairfield University.

The win was certainly an historic one for the Cardinals, who captured their first FCIAC Tournament title since the 1987-1988 season. Greenwich also claimed the conference tournament championship during the 1986-1987 season, so it now has three FCIAC titles to its history. Sophomore center Zuri Faison scored a game-high 27 points on her way to helping power the Cardinals past the Wreckers in the FCIAC final and earning the game’s MVP honors. Faison also received All-FCIAC First Team accolades and was named the FCIAC Player of the Year for the 2025-2026 season.

Faison scored 17 second-half points and was clutch from the foul line, converting 11 of her 12 free throw attempts.

“It feels so great, we came this far working hard the whole season – we played good competition, but I’m glad we came away with the win,” Faison said.

Senior guard/forward/captain Madi Utzinger enabled Greenwich to thrive on both ends of the court throughout this much-anticipated championship matchup in Fairfield. Utzinger poured in 21 points, including two 3-pointers and consistently set her teammates up for baskets with impressive passes. Besides Faison and Utzinger combining for 48 points, the Cardinals exhibited tenacious defensive play against the Wreckers, playing a solid man-to-man defense.

“I think our defense was key,” Utzinger said. “We knew they were they were great shooters, so we knew we had to close out on their shooters and I think we worked really hard on defense and our defense would lead to our transition offense and I think it worked pretty well.”

Senior forward/captain Mikayla Kiernan totaled nine points with two 3-pointers and played her normal strong defense for the FCIAC champion Cardinals.

“It’s been a really long time,” Kiernan said, referring to the last time GHS claimed the FCIAC Tournament title. “Last year, we were really close, we fell short and this year we got the ‘W’ and I’m really proud of our team.”

Staples was paced by junior captain/forward Chloe Smith, who scored 22 points and sank a pair of 3-point shots. Freya Harvey, a senior guard/captain, added 17 points, including three 3-pointers for the Wreckers, who faced a 12-2 deficit against the Cardinals after the first quarter and trailed 28-14 at halftime.

“We knew that to win this game we had to play outstanding defense and when we do that our offense typically flows,” said GHS coach Megan Wax, whose Cardinals have won 11 straight games overall. “To hold an outstanding team to two points in the first quarter is insane.”

Senior guard/captain Juliette Pelham had four points and provided standout defensive play, while freshman point guard Elsa Xhekaj added three points and helped run Greenwich’s offense efficiently. Senior forward Maddie Young also contributed solid minutes off the bench for the 21-2 Cardinals.

“I am so proud of the team,” Pelham said. “It’s been a long time coming. A lot of hard hours put in, a lot of hard work. We’ve been wanting this for a while now – years in the making, so I’m very proud.”

“It feels great, we played as a team, we worked all season for it,” Xhekaj said. “We practiced very, very hard. We were prepared for this game and we came out and got the ‘W.'”

Xhekaj gave kudos to the Cardinals’ seniors.

“For my seniors, I’m very happy,” Xhekaj noted. “We have a lot of seniors on the team, so they get to graduate with a win. They are all my best friends, so the fact that they get to end the year off strong is amazing.”

In this title tilt, Staples scored the first basket off the game, but that’s the points they managed in the opening quarter. Kiernan banked in a 3-point shot, Faison scored off a pass from Utzinger, who then drove left and converted a layup, giving Greenwich a 7-2 lead with 1:46 remaining in the first quarter.

Utzinger swished a 3-pointer from the right corner and beat the buzzer with a mid-range jumper, putting the Cards on top, 12-2, after the first quarter of action. Indeed, good feelings were in the air for the Cardinals early on in this championship affair.

“We were really locked in,” Utzinger said. “We were always ready to catch and shoot and attack whenever we needed to.”

Greenwich extended its advantage to 16-2 once the second half commenced behind a pair of foul shots by Faison and another basket from Faison off a pretty pass from Utzinger. That combination teamed up again, as Faison’s layup made it 18-2 in favor of the Cardinals.

“I felt that first quarter we really executed a lot of the game plan that we wanted to do, but also things that are so natural and highlight each of our individual players strengths,” Wax said.

Kiernan connected for a 3-pointer from the corner, giving GHS a 24-7 edge late in the second quarter, Pelham swished a mid-range shot and Faison scored off a pass from Xhekaj, putting the Cardinals in front, 28-10 in the second quarter. Wax was, indeed, pleased with how her Cardinals built their first-half lead.

“It’s unbelievable,” Wax said. “We knew this game was going to be so hard and we were disappointed with how last year’s FCIAC went. We knew we were not only going to have to execute really well on the court offensively and defensively, but also that we needed to come in with a better mindset. We had to be a little bit more resilient, a little bit more mentally locked in when things don’t go our way. So, I am so proud with the way we came out in the aggressive nature and got back to the aggressive basketball that we thrive in.”

Greenwich’s standout play continued in the third quarter against Staples’ man-to-man defense. Faison scored off a strong low post move, Utzinger buried a 3-point shot and Faison made a runner in the lane, putting the Wreckers in a 35-18 hole early in the third period.

The Cardinal brought a comfortable 50-28 lead into the fourth quarter, as shoot a high percentage from the floor while playing effective defense.

Faison mentioned the keys to containing Staples’ stellar offense.

“It was to stop their 3s,” she said. “They shoot a lot of 3s, so we just had to close out on their shooters and stick together. We were just trying to stick together and not play by ourselves – play as a team – play as one.”

The Wreckers’ best moments came in the fourth quarter, with Smith and Harvey combining to bring their team to within nine points at 56-47 with just over two minutes remaining. Yet it was too much Faison and Utzinger down the stretch for Staples to handle and the Cardinals increased their lead again en route to hoisting their long awaited FCIAC championship trophy.

Wax discussed how Utzinger rose to the important occasion and the leadership she displayed.

“Madi came out and showed the senior leadership,” Wax noted. “She especially really took what we experienced last year and rewrote the story for us. Diving for balls, knocking down shots, making her layups, feeding the ball, assists, defensively stopping. There are certain moments where this is what senior leadership looks like and today was definitely one of those games. She made everybody elevate and rise the way great players do.”

Faison drew loud cheers from the Cardinals and Greenwich fans when she was announced as the title game’s MVP and the FCIAC Player of the Year.

“She’s an outstanding player,” Wax said of Faison. “The defensive presence she is and the chaos she causes on that end. She’s a multi-level scorer, she can hit inside shots, she can hit outside shots and she has great court vision. But what makes her truly great is she’s a team player. She elevates everybody else on the court. Unbelievable tournament and unbelievable year for her.”

Senior forward/center Marley Belzer scored five points and senior center Emma Ariel had four points for Staples, which is 20-3 on the season. Utzinger and Xhekaj each earned All-FCIAC Second Team honors.

Utzinger and Young were also members of Greenwich’s varsity soccer team, which won the CIAC Class LL Tournament state championship this past fall.

“It’s my senior year, so I’m excited to end off this way and we still have states,” Utzinger noted.

The signs were there early in the season that this could be the year of the Cardinals – a championship year for the Cardinals.

“I knew from Day 1,” Pelham said. “From the first day we stepped foot in practice, we said it, we said we want the FCIAC championship and we want to go on to states and win the state championship. Once we said we wanted it, we knew we could get it.”

Said Kiernan: “The first half of this game, we came out really strong, which we’ve been talking about all week and it was really important that we executed that and finish strong.”

With a long-awaited FCIAC championship in their possession, the Cardinals now turn their focus to the CIAC Division I Tournament. Greenwich is seeded third in the 16-team Division I state tournament and will host No. 14 Glastonbury on March 9th at 6 p.m. in the opening round. Northwest Catholic and New Britain are seeded first and second, respectively in the Division I Tournament.

Since winning the FCIAC Tournament title in 1988, Greenwich appeared in the FCIAC tourney’s title game in 1993 against Staples and lost and was defeated by Ridgefield in 2015 in the conference final.

Greenwich High School Principal Ralph Mayo was the basketball coach of the Cardinals’ varsity girls basketball team during its previous FCIAC championship season in 1988.

“I have a great relationship with administrative team at Greenwich High School,” Wax said. “Ralph Mayo is the one who hired me to bring me into Greenwich Public Schools. So, it’s great to take over his winning streak and now become the most recent FCIAC coach to bring a championship to the team.”