Boys' Roundup

PSA

climbing 

in U.S. poll

By Ron P. Coderre

Putnam Science Academy picked up two wins this week to go to 21-2 on the season, while continuing its mercurial rise in the prep national rankings.  The Mustangs are ranked #2 in the nation in the latest poll.

The other prep teams are having a difficult time consistently getting into the win column.  Hyde-Woodstock at 9-9 and Marianapolis I were the only teams to make the W column.

Woodstock Academy continues to pile on the wins heading toward the Eastern Connecticut Conference and State Tournaments.  The Centaurs are enjoying the improved play of big man Adam Converse, who has put together a number of 20-plus point performances down the stretch.

Plainfield riding high scoring Ryan Pambuku picked up three big wins over Montville, Stonington and Griswold to raise its record to 8-8 and qualifying the Panthers for postseason play.  Woodstock, which is tournament qualified and Tourtellotte, which went 1-1 last week, are the other two teams to qualify for the postseason to this point.  Killingly is on the cusp and needs to buckle up to get in while the odds of Putnam getting in are greater than spring weather arriving tomorrow.  Ellis Tech is out of contention.

Centaurs Continue to Impress

Woodstock Academy at 13-3 and 6-2 in the ECC Large Division with four games remaining appears to be pointing to a rematch with Ledyard the only divisional team to knock off the Acads this season.  The Centaurs picked up an easy 61-22 cakewalk victory over East Lyme as Converse netted 24 and Will Bourgeois chipped in 10.

Coach Greg Smith’s team then disposed of Fitch 72-55 as Converse with 27 points led a parade of double-figure scorers to the win.  Joining him in double digits were Trent Peters (13), John McGinn (17) and Bourgeois (14).

The biggest story of the week was Plainfield’s three consecutive victories, which propelled the Panthers to .500 at 8-8.  The first win came at the expense of Montville 73-57 with the hot-handed Pambuku burning the nets for 29 points.  Next to fall was Stonington, which went down 66-51 as Pambuku with 18 points paced a quartet of Panthers in double figures.  Others in double digits were Teaque Carrigan (13), Will Robinson (10) and Corey Anderson (13).

In what was the highlight of Plainfield’s week, the Panthers avenged an earlier loss to Griswold as the ever-present Pambuku hit a 19-foot 3-ball with 15 seconds remaining in the game to lift coach Bob Arremony’s team to a sweet 56-55 victory over the Wolverines.  Anderson with 14 points led the Plainfield scoring followed by Pambuku and Robinson with a dozen apiece.

Tourtellotte lost to its nemesis St. Bernard 60-51 and rebounded with an east win over Wheeler 85-68 to go to 8-7 on the year and 4-4 in the ECC Small Division.  Kaevon Safford had 20 points in the loss to the Saints and came back with a 39-point performance against the Wheeler Lions.  Shawn Houle had his biggest game of the season scoring 29 points in support of Safford.

Putnam, Killingly and Ellis Tech were a combined 0-6 on the week.  The Clippers dropped to 3-11 overall and 1-6 in the CSC – East when they were beaten by Classical Magnet 63-51 and Grasso Tech 71-43.

Killingly needing two wins to qualify for the State Tournament is having a hard time picking up victories.  The Redmen lost to Stonington 75-61 in a chippy contest that was terminated by the officials with less than two minutes to play.  They followed that up with a disappointing loss at the hands of Waterford 59-45.  Coach Jim Crabtree’s team is 6-9 with five games remaining.

Ellis Tech, which has yet to win a game, was dropped by Capital Prep 57-13 and Parish Hill 64-43.  The Eagles are 0-14 on the season and 0-7 in the CSC – East.

Preps Posting Victories

In its first game of the week, #2 in the nation Putnam Science Academy disposed of McDuffie School 73-45 behind the inside play of its big men Chaise Daniels (15 points) and Jordan “Man Mountain” Butler (14).  Anthony “Bull” Durham chipped in 13 markers while Kyle Menard had a dozen for the 20-2 Mustangs.

On a trip to the Green Mountain State, the Mustangs got by a tough Vermont Academy 75-71thanks to a solid floor game by Danny “Up Tempo” Upchurch who had 19 points and the spark of Kyle Menard who came off the bench to record 17 points.  The big men, Daniels and Butler, controlled the boards while putting up 12 and 10 points respectively.

Marianapolis raised its record to 10-8 and 6-3 in NEPSAC – AA with a 79-51 win over Proctor Academy on an 18-point performance by Ryan Bernstein and double figures from Eric Long (14) and Chiamaka Browne (10).  Earlier in the week the Golden Knights offense stalled as they were beaten by New Hampton School 59-48.  The team closed out the week with a disappointing loss 74-63 at the hands of Bridgton Academy on the road in Maine.  Devin Springfield had 13 and Browne 11 in the loss.

The Marianapolis II unit also ran into a buzz saw losing to Providence Country Day 91-68.  Dylan Horn had 23 points and Paul Doherty 14 for the 10-6 “little Golden Knights.”

Pomfret School had a 50-50 week beating Portsmouth Abbey easily 62-28 as Cam Winston (15) and Jeff Iyalekhue (17) were the top Golden Griffin point producers.  In another game the 7-8 Griffs lost to Hoosac School 77-50.

Dexter Thompson with 22 points led a trio of double figure scorers for Hyde-Woodstock to a 64-57 win over Wheeler School.  Kenny Grant added 13 and Fedja Djurisic had 14 for the 9-9 Wolfpack.

Scoring Leaders: Ryan Pambuku – Plainfield - 22.8; Kaevon Safford – Tourtellotte – 22.1; Kenny Grant – Hyde-Woodstock – 19.4; Nick Hewitt – Killingly – 16.7; Anthony Durham – Putnam Science Academy – 16.5.

Three-Point Leaders: Mike Jezierski – Tourtellotte – 48; Danny Upchurch – Putnam Science Academy – 47; Kyle Menard – Putnam Science Academy – 38; Jalen Terry – Putnam Science Academy – 36.

RPC’s Super Standings: Putnam Science Academy – 20-2; Woodstock Academy – 13-3; Marianapolis II – 10-6; Marianapolis I – 10-7; Tourtellotte – 8-7; Hyde-Woodstock – 9-9; Plainfield – 8-8; Pomfret School – 7-8; Killingly – 6-9; Putnam – 3-11; Ellis Tech – 0-14 .