By Ron P. Coderre

Woodstock Academy, the pride of area high school basketball teams, carried the banner for local fives into the Eastern Connecticut Conference title game only to lose a heartbreaker to Norwich Free Academy.

In the prep ranks Putnam Science Academy achieved national prominence with its selection to the National Prep Tournament but was turned back at the hands of St. Thomas More.  Hyde-Woodstock made it all the way to the NEPSAC Class C championship game only to lose to Greens Farms on the Clark University court.

Although no one brought home a championship trophy, northeastern Connecticut can be proud of the three schools that represented our area with class and dignity.  

Acads Get Past New London

But Can’t Bring the Trophy Past Norwich

The semifinal and final contests of the ECC Tournament both started the same way for Woodstock Academy, one turned into a victory while the other was a disappointing loss.  The Centaurs of coach Greg Smith fell behind immediately following the opening tip in both games and although critical timeout calls stemmed the tide against New London the same didn’t work in the game against the NFA Wildcats.

In the championship game the Wildcats Boston College-bound football player Marcus Outlow hit a trio of three-pointers to vault the Wildcats into an early lead that Woodstock was unable to overcome as it lost a heartbreaker 58-54.

At the end of one period NFA held a commanding 21-10 advantage but the feisty Centaurs fought back to cut the margin to six at intermission, 33-27.  The Acads chipped away at the lead over the final 16 minutes but couldn’t close the gap.

Will Bourgeois paced the Woodstock offense with 17 points.  He was joined in double figures by three other Centaurs, as Chris Lowry added a dozen and big men Adam Converse and John McGinn had 11 points apiece for the 18-5 Centaurs.

In the semifinals it was the Whalers’ Collin Sawyer who came out on fire hitting three consecutive shots, two of them three-pointers, as New London jumped out to an 8-2 early lead.  A coach Smith timeout rectified the matter as the Centaurs went on to post a 35-25 halftime lead on the way to a 62-55 victory.

Woodstock’s “Iron Five” of Trent Peters (17 points), Converse (11), McGinn (10), Bourgeois (14) and Lowry (10) all reached double digits.

ECC All-Tournament Team:  Woodstock placed two players on the tournament all-star unit.  Named were Will Bourgeois and Chris Lowry.  NFA’s Marcus Outlow was selected as the tourney Most Outstanding Player.  He was joined on the unit by teammates Mike Ryan and Desmond D’Elia Miller.  

Prep Tourneys Not Kind to Locals

Putnam Science Academy’s Cinderella season came to a halt when its basketball carriage turned into a pumpkin in the National Prep Championships 84-80 at the hands of St. Thomas More.  The Mustangs left holding their heads high as they could have easily won the game in one of the best contests ever at the National Tournament.

In a hard-fought first half the Mustangs went to the locker room behind 40-35.  The second half was nip and tuck throughout.  Danny “Up tempo” Upchurch made things interesting with 26 ticks remaining in the game when he hit a long three-pointer to tie the game at 80-80.

St. Thomas More responded with a bucket and when an Anthony Durham shot was blocked the Scientists were forced to foul and the Chancellors picked up the win on the line, concluding a spectacular 29-5 season for coach Tom Espinosa and his team.

In usual Scientists fashion PSA placed four players in double figures, led by Durham with 18 points.  Dalique Mingo, the Mustangs unsung hero all season, and Upchurch had great floor games while each posting 16 points.  Jordan “Man Mountain” Butler had 12 points.

Hyde-Woodstock vying for the NEPSAC Class C Championship in a game played at Clark University in Worcester lost to #1 seed Greens Farms 56-45.  The loss closes the Wolfpack season at 13-12.

Coach Tom Bragg’s team fell behind 34-20 at intermission and although outscoring Greens Farms 25-22 in the second half was unable to overcome the big deficit.  Kenny Grant was Hyde’s top point producer with 16 points, while Damon Gomes chipped in 11. 

 Scoring Leaders: Kaevon Safford – Tourtellotte – 24.3; Ryan Pambuku – Plainfield - 21.8; Kenny Grant – Hyde-Woodstock – 19.7; Nick Hewitt – Killingly – 17.7; Cam Winston – Pomfret School – 16.2; Dexter Thompson – Hyde-Woodstock – 15.5. Three-point Leaders: Mike Jezierski – Tourtellotte – 82; Danny Upchurch – Putnam Science Academy – 74; Kyle Menard – Putnam Science Academy – 60. RPC’s Super Standings: Putnam Science Academy – 29-5; Woodstock Academy – 18-5; Hyde-Woodstock -  13-12; Tourtellotte – 12-10; Plainfield – 12-10; Marianapolis I – 12-13; Marianapolis II – 11-9; Pomfret School – 8-11; Killingly – 8-13; Putnam – 5-15; Ellis – 0-20 .

 

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