Trumbull, CT — The FCIAC girls basketball semifinals had three teams looking to add to rich postseason histories and one school looking to break through to the championship for the first time in Tuesday night's semifinals at Trumbull High. The Warde, Trumbull and St. Joseph girls basketball teams have played in the FCIAC title game 20 times in league history and 12 times since 2000, including last season when St. Joseph won the tournament. No. 1 seeded Ludlowe defeated No. 5 Trumbull 49-35 and No. 2 St. Joseph beat No. 3 Warde 44-37. The championship game between the Falcons and St. Joseph (18-4) is Thursday at 7 p.m. at Trumbull High Ludlowe (22-0 and ranked No. 2 in the GameTimeCT Poll) has never played in an FCIAC championship game, but entered the semifinals as one of two unbeaten teams in the state. The last team to finish the regular season undefeated and win the FCIAC title was Norwalk in 2019. “It’s a great feeling and I am so proud of these girls and so proud of these seniors,” Ludlowe coach Sara Kinsley said. “We have all been through so much together these last four years and we always talk about going one-game-at-a-time but now it is here, the end of our mini season. We are excited for the chance to play for a championship and I could not be more proud.” Trumbull kept the opening game close in the first half with a 2-3 zone which was tough to penetrate, but Ludlowe began to solve it in the second half. The Falcons used an 11-0 run to close the third quarter, leading 31-16 after three. For Ludlowe, Kaleigh Sommers had 14 points, Caitlin Finnegan scored 11 with 8 rebounds and Madison Roman had 14 points and 8 rebounds. “This has been our goal since the beginning and it is amazing how far we have come,” Roman said. “Team chemistry and ball movement was key. When they are packing it in and all over you like a gnat and they are not letting you get the ball, ball movement and team chemistry and knowing where each other will be is so huge to the game.” St. Joseph kept the final from being an All-Fairfield affair, pulling away in the final three minutes to beat Warde and get back to the championship game. “It feels great because a lot of people doubted us because we graduated so many players. It feels great to show everyone we are still here,” St. Joseph junior Erin Donegan said. “(Warde) has great players who can shoot very well, so, we knew we needed to shut them down. Which I think we did a pretty good job of.” Donegan had 20 points to lead the Cadets (18-4) while Erin Lovett added 12 points. St. Joseph led 22-13 at halftime, but Warde cut that lead to two points at the end of the third and tied the game 33-33 early in the fourth quarter. St. Joseph would use an 8-2 run to lead 41-36 with just under two minutes to play, eventually pulling ahead by 10. While last year’s team was expected to reach the FCIAC final, this year’s team surprised many. “This is a special group and they learned from those kids last year,” St. Joseph coach Chris Lindwall said. “Every one of the kids from last year texted in the group chat today and let them know they would be watching the game and be there for them. We are a family here. These guys are carrying on that legacy and they want to create their own legacy. They were not picked to be in the playoffs at the beginning of the season but they worked hard in the offseason and every day at practice and that is what I am most proud of.” https://www.ctinsider.com/gametimect/girls-basketball/article/ludlowe-st-joseph-win-fciac-girls-basketball-17796271.php