WINDSOR LOCKS — It’d be easy for Megan Marcotte’s ego to get in the way each time she steps onto the court for the Enfield High girls basketball team.
Despite being a varsity starter her entire career with the Eagles, the senior has never been the team’s offensive focal point.
But getting jealous or having a big ego isn’t what Megan Marcotte is about.
Marcotte’s rebounding and blocking prowess were on full display Thursday night.
The 6-foot-1 center didn’t score a point, but grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked five shots as the Eagles topped Windsor Locks 52-41 in a non-league game.
“She does a lot of things that go under the radar,” Enfield coach Jay Gaucher said. “She’s just a hard worker that leads by example and she loves to do the gritty work and stuff like that. She doesn’t care about scoring, she just wants to win. It’s just a true display of who she is.”
Marcotte has been a varsity starter all three of her seasons with the team — she missed her sophomore campaign due to a shoulder injury.
Throughout her tenure, unselfishness has been Marcotte’s calling card. The scoring ability of juniors Alyssa Rossignol and Amyah Rosado, the Eagles’ primary offensive weapons, has made Marcotte all the more willing to give the ball up.
“Having players like that that I’m able to dish the ball to and knowing that they’re reliable is a huge part of the team and why we are so good,” Marcotte said.
While she prides herself on her defense and her distribution, Marcotte said she would make one change to her game if she could start over.
“I definitely would like to work on my offensive side a little bit more,” she said. “Just because I’m so physical on defense, I’d like to apply that over in the post.”
Marcotte said that finishing at the rim is her “biggest weak spot.” She hopes to improve that during her remaining games with the Eagles.
Still, she’s proud of the strides she’s made.
“I feel like I have my emotions a little bit more in check,” Marcotte said. “I’m still an aggressive player, I always will be. But I’m not as talky. I’ll go to the refs instead of the players. My freshman year, I definitely was a little bit crazy.”
Marcotte hopes to continue her playing career in college next year, but she hasn’t decided where. Wherever she does end up, she hopes to major in health sciences.
But that’s the farthest thing from her mind. Right now, she’s focused on the Eagles, who are now 8-1, have won six straight and received votes in this week’s GameTimeCT/New Haven state media poll.
“I think we’re doing pretty well this year,” Marcotte said. “But we always have more to improve on than just what we’re doing right now.”
Defense ruled throughout Thursday’s game — it took two minutes for the first bucket, a putback by Rossignol.
Though they were only able to take the lead once Thursday, the Raiders (4-2) hung with the Eagles throughout the first half.
“When you get to Locks, you know it’s going to be a rock fight,” Gaucher said. “That’s what they want to try to make it. They want to try to grind it down like that.”
Enfield opened the second half on a 14-3 run to push its lead to 38-19.
But Windsor Locks chipped away in the fourth, cutting the deficit to 47-36 thanks to a 13-7 run to start the quarter. But it wouldn’t get closer as Enfield went 5-of-6 from the foul line over the final 1:04 to put the game away.
“I’m extremely proud of us,” Windsor Locks coach Doug Knowe said. “Our team talks about that with our culture, we’re going to fight to the end. Even against a team like that, we were able to execute some things at the end of the game that maybe two, three weeks from now are going to help us.”
Rossignol finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds and four steals in the win. Alana Picard paced the Raiders with 19 points and two steals. Teammate Tristin Oberg added eight points, 13 rebounds and two blocks.
Both teams return to the court tonight. Enfield hosts East Catholic while Windsor Locks is at HMTCA.
ENFIELD (52): Rylee Saunders 0 0-0 0; Taylin Byers 1 0-0 2; Madilyn Archer 2 3-9 7; Anjaleah James 0 3-4 3; Alyssa Rossignol 12 7-10 31; Anna Bemiss 0 0-0 0; Taylor Gochee 2 1-2 5; Amyah Rosado 1 2-4 4; Megan Marcotte 0 0-2 0. Totals: 18 16-31 52.
Three-point goals: None.
WINDSOR LOCKS (41): Julia Dufresne 0 0-0 0; Alana Picard 5 9-13 19; Alis Oberg 0 0-0 0; Maeve McGinnis 0 0-0 0; Angelina Jones 2 0-0 5; Carly MacDougald 3 1-4 9; Caroline McGinnis 0 0-0 0; Tristin Oberg 3 2-7 8; Destiny Anderson 0 0-0 0; Lisa Bethel 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 11-24 41.
Three-point goals: MacDougald (2), Jones, Picard.
ENFIELD 10 14 16 12 — 52
W. LOCKS 5 11 7 18 — 41
