Seymour girls basketball advances to CIAC Division III final with its ex-UConn standout watching

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Seymour's Mia Cunningham after the Wildcats defeated Plainville 46-44 in the Division III girls basketball semifinals Monday, March 16, 2026 in Naugatuck. (Ron Buck/For Hearst Connecticut Media)


NAUGATUCK - The last Wildcat to lead the Seymour girls basketball team to the state title game?

Maybe you've heard of her: Maria Conlon.

Conlon, a three-time national champion at UConn, current Western Connecticut women's basketball head coach, and a two-time high school state champion at Seymour High School who played for a third title in 2000, was witness to her alma mater's 46-44 victory over No. 17 Plainville in the CIAC Division III semifinals Monday night.


A famous face among the hundreds of Seymour fans who packed the Naugatuck High School gymnasium stands, Conlon celebrated with the Wildcat faithful as the Seymour girls ended a 25-year state final drought.

No. 4 Seymour (25-2) will play for the Division III crown this weekend at Mohegan Sun. It will be Seymour's first state title game appearance since Conlon's senior season. Conlon also led Seymour to consecutive state titles in 1997 and 1998 - the school's last state championship in girls basketball.

This Seymour team will play the winner of Tuesday night's Division III semifinal between No. 3 Suffield and No. 2 Coventry.

"We haven't been the state title game since 2000 when I was a senior (at Seymour) and Maria was playing," said Brian Cleveland, a classmate of Colon and current head coach of the Wildcats. "We made the semifinals last year and kind of fell on our face."

Seymour lost to eventual state champion Bacon Academy 63-30 in last year's Class M semifinals.

"We watched that game Bacon Academy film a little bit this season just to remember how it felt," added Cleveland. "So, to be here, it means the world."

Junior Mia Cunningham led all scorers with 20 points. She had 14 of those points in the first half to spur the Wildcats to a 23-20 lead by halftime.

In a game played at a fever pitch, getting the ball over midcourt was crucial to Seymour's success. Once in the half-court offense, the Wildcats' size in the paint led to several offensive rebounds and second-chance points.

Cunningham said she knew Seymour's overall height advantage would eventually be the difference.

"We just had to keep pushing," Cunningham added. "We know what's to come next. We just have to keep pushing hard in order to get what we want."

"We all just wanted to get to the Sun," Cunningham added. "Just playing as one is our motto. Instead of five, we play as one."

Seymour opened up a 12-point lead in the third quarter, but Plainville (16-10) was relentless, and by speeding up the game with its constant full-court pressure, it never let the Wildcats get comfortable.

Behind a trio of pesky guards atop its pressure defense, Plainville cut into Seymour's lead little by little and took a 38-37 lead with 4:37 to play.

"They really, really speed you up for 32 minutes; it feels like 60 minutes," Cleveland said. "But our girls beat (their press) just enough to get by."

Freshman Soleil Vasquez's steal and layup gave Plainville the lead with 4:37 to play. She finished with 10 points, while her sophomore sister Issys Vasquez led the Blue Devils with 12 points. Audra Pearson also had 10 points for Plainville.

Seymour, however, regained the lead 43-38 with back-to-back 3-pointers by Mia Perry (6 points) and Viktoria Michalczyk (11 points, three 3-pointers).

The Seymour lead remained five points until yet another late Plainville rally saw the Blue Devils get within a basket.

Issys Vasquez was fouled attempting a 3-pointer with 37 seconds to play. She made 2 of 3 free throws to get Plainville within 45-42.

Cunningham then missed two free throws at the other end, but Plainville was unable to get off a shot on its next possession.

And after fouling Jenna Pollastro, who made 1 of 2 free throws for the Wildcats, Cyriah Pearson's basket with just five seconds to play was too little too late.

While Issys Vasquez made 4 of 5 free throws in the final minute of the game, Plainville's struggles at the foul line all night proved costly. The Blue Devils missed 10 free throws.

The CIAC will release its championship schedule for basketball later this week. Mohegan Sun will play host to five finals on both Saturday and Sunday.

Player of the Game​

Mia Cunningham, Seymour: The junior forward led all scorers with 20 points, 14 in the first half, as she and other Wildcats turned several missed shots into second-chance points via their offensive rebounding.

Quotable​

"One goal at the beginning (of the season) was to win the NVL championship, which we got. The other was to get to the Sun, which is where we are going."

- Mia Cunningham, Seymour junior forward.

Seymour 46, Plainville 44 ​

PLAINVILLE 10 10 10 14-44
SEYMOUR 6 17 12 11-46

Plainville: Bella Colon 0 1 2-6 5, Soleil Vasquez 5 0 0-0 10, Issys Vasquez 1 1 7-11 12, Audra Pearson 3 2 0-0 12, Cyriah Bernard 0 1 2-4 5. Totals: 9 5 11-21 44.
Seymour: Mia Perry 1 1 1-2 6, Bella Melissano 1 0 1-2 3, Mia Cunningham 8 0 4-12 20, Viktoria Michalczyk 1 3 11, Valentina Melissano 0 1 0-0 3, Jamie Keough 1 0 0-0 2, Jenna Pollastro 0 0 1-2 1. Totals: 12 5 7-18 46.
3-point field goals:Plainville-Colon 1, Issys Vasquez 1, Pearson 2, Bernard 1. Seymour-Perry 1, Michalczyk 3, Melissano 1.
Team records:Plainville 16-10; Seymour 25-2.

This article originally published at Seymour girls basketball advances to CIAC Division III final with its ex-UConn standout watching.

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