Centaurs pg 9 2-27-20
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Woodstock Academy seniors, left to right: Nick Bedard, Efstathios Savvidis, Aidan Morin and Grayson Walley display their posters they received during Senior Night ceremonies. Photo by Marc Allard.
The Woodstock Academy boys’ basketball team ended the regular season on a rather nice note.
The Centaurs captured a 59-49 win over East Lyme Feb. 21 in their final regular season game.
That was preceded by a 70-66 win over Ledyard earlier in the week.
“This is huge,” Woodstock Academy senior Aidan Morin said after the win over East Lyme. “We had a rough season but to come back from all the adversity and beat two very good teams at home, it feels amazing. Last time we played these two teams, it was 10-to-15 point losses, to beat both these teams feels great for all of us.”
The win over the Vikings came on Senior Night.
Prior to the contest, the Centaurs honored Morin, Efstathios Savvidis, Grayson Walley and Nick Bedard for their contributions to the program.
“I’m going to miss them,” said Woodstock Academy coach Marty Hart. “The results weren’t there but the integrity and character were, I really enjoyed being around them and they have passed it on to the next group. They are good players, good teachers, and have had a tremendous attitude through adversity. I appreciate that.”
The Centaurs (7-13) did something a little abnormal at the start of the East Lyme game.
Knowing their opponent’s ability to shoot the 3-pointer — which the Centaurs saw first-hand in a 51-39 loss just the week before — Hart decided to install a 1-3-1 defense to start the game.
“We had never run that defense. We put it in (Thursday) and repped it as much we could and we executed it (on Friday),” Morin said.
The defense caught East Lyme a bit off guard. The Centaurs got some steals up top off of it which resulted in a couple of easy buckets for Logan Talbot.
The junior then found his outside shooting touch and added a couple of 3-pointers as he scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the first half.
Talbot’s second 3-pointer came with 2:51 left in the half and gave Woodstock Academy a 25-11 lead.
But East Lyme figured it out, knocking the Centaurs’ lead down to 3, 25-22, by the time the two teams went into the locker room.
East Lyme switched up its defense in the second half. The Vikings began to pay much more attention to Talbot.
“Teams realize that really quick. They know he can shoot, they know what he’s capable of, so the second he starts hitting those, they go after him. That opens up opportunities for all of us,” Morin said.
In this case, himself and Bedard.
“We’re seniors. We’re not going to be here that much longer. It worked,” Morin said.
Bedard (11 points, 7 rebounds) scored five points early in the third quarter and Morin contributed six points at the end and the Centaurs held on to a 39-36 lead going into the final quarter.
“I appreciated that they really wanted the ball in their hands and wanted to take it to the basket. We thought they were getting good looks, but we just wanted them to take one or two more dribbles and get a better look at the basket or the foul call,” Hart said.
The Centaurs switched up the defense again in the fourth quarter, focusing more on Carpenteri and Nate Diaz (18 points) who combined for all 10 of the East Lyme 3-pointers.
The triangle-and-two look again paid off.
The Vikings took a few minutes to adjust and the Centaurs took advantage with a pair of baskets by Morin (17 points, 11 boards) and the only Talbot basket of the second half to go up, 46-38.
East Lyme got as close as four points, but the Centaurs made 9-of-14 free throws down the stretch to pick up the win.
Due to injuries and illness, it has been a rare game when the Centaurs have had all of their components to call upon. But it was the case earlier in the week as well.
The win over Ledyard was a meteoric shift compared to what happened on the Colonels home floor earlier in the season.
“When we went down to Ledyard, all three teams (including the freshmen and junior varsity) didn’t do so well and had a long bus ride home. On Tuesday, between the three teams, it was a 94-point swing; 62 points for the freshmen, 12 points for the JV and 20 for the varsity,” Hart said. “That kind of inconsistency is hard to explain, but we gave up 48 points in the paint down there and up here, we had a guy with a foot in the paint all game long.”
Talbot led the way with 30 points, his second 30-point effort of the season, while Morin (eight rebounds, four assists) and Ethan Davis added 12 each.
Despite the two late season victories, the Centaurs did not qualify for the CIAC Division IV state tournament.
But they will have some postseason play.
“We still have a chance at the ECC tournament. We proved ourselves in these last two games. I think we can do some damage,” Morin said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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