Next stop, Mohegan Sun.

That’s where the Greenwich High School varsity girls basketball team is headed and they’ll be hoping to hit the jackpot at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville – the venue for the CIAC Division I Basketball Tournament final.

The third-seeded Cardinals earned their first appearance in a CIAC championship game since 2016 by defeating 10th-seeded Hamden, 58-47, in the Division I Tournament semifinals on March 16th before a large gathering at Trumbull High School. Greenwich will play No. 1-seeded Northwest Catholic in the CIAC Division I Tournament final at Mohegan Sun Arena on March 21st at 6:30 p.m. Northwest Catholic moved on to the finals by edging fifth-seeded Sacred Heart Academy in the semifinals, 52-50.

Sophomore center Zuri Faison scored a team-high 21 points, sophomore point guard Elsa Xhekaj added 17 points and senior forward/guard/captain Madi Utzinger totaled 16 points to ignite Greenwich’s offense to its highly impressive Division I semifinal-round victory. The win was the 14th straight for the Cardinals, who have soared to an outstanding record of 24-2 this season, which has them only one win away from achieving their ultimate goal. Hamden entered the state semifinal matchup with a 13-9 mark, but defeated seventh-seeded Southington and No. 2 New Britain to reach the Final Four. Indeed, the Cardinals knew they needed to be in top from to advance a game further than they did last year. Greenwich lost to Southington in the state semifinals one season ago.

“With any tournament, seeds don’t mean anything,” Greenwich coach Megan Wax said. “Especially in the first year of divisions, once you’re in that’s all that matters. If you make it, you’re a great team and you don’t make it to the Final Four without being great and also being hungry.”

“I made sure going into this that we knew that not only basketball-wise what they could do, but you needed to be ready for the hunger and drive they were going to play with,” Wax continued.

In this state Final Four showdown, the Cardinals led the Green Dragons, 23-18 at halftime, after the score was tied at 13-13 following the first quarter, then took a 38-28 advantage into the fourth quarter.

“It feels great, it’s a really great year to end our senior year and I’m so excited,” Utzinger said, following the Cardinals’ sensational state semifinal-round showing.

“It’s been 10 years since our school has been to the championship and we’re really proud to be the team to do it again,” Cardinals senior forward/captain Mikayla Kiernan said.

Senior guard/captain Juliette Pelham added four points while providing stellar defensive play for Greenwich (24-2), which played an effective and aggressive man-to-man defense throughout. The Cards limited Hamden to five second-quarter points.

“It feels so rewarding,” Pelham said. “From the beginning of the season, we knew this is what we wanted and this is where we were going to go and we did it.”

A 65-49 win over Staples High School in the championship game of the FCIAC Tournament at Fairfield University on March 2, gave Greenwich its first conference title since the 1987-1988 season and provided a confidence-boost that significantly fueled the squad heading into the state tournament.

“That FCIAC win just motivated us,” Wax noted. “It was definitely a confidence-builder and also hopefully, good prep for what this game holds.”

Said Pelham: “I think the FCIAC championship was only the beginning for us and it only showed us our potential going up against Staples, which is which was a very good team, very strategic and once we beat them, we were like, oh yeah, if we play like this every game, we can go straight to the chip. We’ve done that, we’ve executed that perfectly.”

Against Hamden, Greenwich used its size to its advantage, successfully passing the ball inside to Faison, who finished at the rim with strong moves in the low post. Faison sparked the Cardinals with 13 of her 21 points in the second half. Faison was also a force on the defensive and offensive backboards, grabbing numerous rebounds.

“They had a tall player and we matched up pretty well together,” Faison said. “I feel like I played defense well, I had a couple of fouls, but I can’t let that get to me.”

Xhekaj was especially clutch at the foul line for GHS, making 7 of her 10 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter, several of which were in the game’s final minutes, to seal the win for the victors.

“We knew towards the end they were going to foul,” Xhekaj noted. “My free throws lately, they haven’t been that good, so I just worked on my game and ended up making them.”

Hamden received a game-high 23 points from senior guard Aunee Brookshire, 11 points from senior guard Michah Pullen and eight from junior guard Sage Sampson. Brookshire paced the Green Dragons in the second half, scoring 13 points.

The Green Dragons jumped out to a 7-3 lead, but the Cardinals evened the score at 13-13 after the first quarter of action, with Utzinger and Faison leading the way offensively.

Faison’s layup off an Utzinger pass, put GHS ahead, 18-17 early in the second quarter. Xhekaj swished a 3-pointer from the left side after receiving a Faison pass off a double team, giving the Cards a 21-17 advantage. Utzinger made it 23-18 in favor of Greenwich going into halftime, converting a layup off a Faison feed.

Utzinger opened the third quarter by burying a 3-point shot from the left corner, extending Greenwich’s edge to 26-18. Faison stepped out and made a 3-pointer from the left wing, putting GHS on top, 31-22. A lefty layup by Utzinger and basket off a pump fake in the lane by Faison gave Greenwich a 40-29 advantage early in the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter saw Hamden draw to within 45-40 behind strong 3-point shooting from Pullen, Brookshire and Sampson. Yet key free throw shooting and solid execution down the stretch enabled Greenwich to add on to its lead and punch a ticket to Mohegan Sun for the Division I state final.

“I was just trying to get to the rim,” Utzinger said of the key baskets she made. “Especially with the free throws, just take my time and know that I’ve taken a lot before and just have confidence.”

As they have done throughout the season, Greenwich’s defense, including on-ball pressure and closing out on the perimeter shooters, was highly effective.

“The keys were making sure to defend the 3, while also being in help when they drive and I feel we did a really good job of doing that,” Kiernan noted.

“They were very good, they were shooters, we knew that before we watched film on them,” Xhekaj added. “We just had to execute what we did in practice and apply it to the game. We just had to push up on them, play with intensity and it worked.”

Greenwich entered the state semifinals an experienced squad in such a situation since the majority of the players from last season appeared in the 2025 semifinal-round game.

“After last year’s game, we were so proud of ourselves, because it was the first time that we had come that far in a long time and going into that season, we weren’t sure who we were going to be,” Wax said. “I think from the beginning of the season, the maturity and mindset, knowing what it takes to get here skill-wise, unity as a team wise, composure-wise – all of that really helped us into this situation. We took it as a learning lesson – it was a slow burn all season long.”

The Cardinals have displayed the characteristics of a championship squad throughout the season and they certainly surfaced in their win over Staples in the FCIAC Tournament final. They have continued to play at a championship level in the CIAC Division I Tournament and they hope it carries on to one more all-important game.

“Going into the season, that was our goal, we wanted to make it to both games and have a great season,” Wax said. “One thing after the next, I think we’re doing well succeeding on that. That game really helped them through that in the big moments, we could step up. I think we’re confident in our ability to game manage and confident in each of our own skills and actions in that stressful situation.”

Senior forward Maddie Young provided strong play off the bench for the victors. Young and Utzinger were also members of Greenwich’s varsity soccer squad, which captured the CIAC Class LL state championship this past fall.

“The keys were just working as a team,” Young said of the Cardinals’ basketball squad reaching the finals. “We’ve always stuck together the entire season. We found out what worked for us and we’ve had a lot of fluidity as a team.”

Prior to beating Hamden, the Cardinals were victorious versus Glastonbury and East Catholic in the second round and quarterfinal-round of the CIAC Division I Tournament, respectively. Northwest Catholic upended Conard and Danbury before beating Sacred Heart Academy.

“It feels so great, I’m so glad we made it this far,” Faison said. “Sticking together as a team. It’s been 10 years, so we’re hoping to bring it home for Greenwich.”

“It’s going to take a lot,” Kiernan said. “It’s going to take a team effort and it’s going to take everyone playing together as one.”