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By Ron P. Coderre
March Madness arrived early in the form of winter Storm David, which threw the remaining games of the CIAC Tournament off schedule. Woodstock Academy, the last area team standing and the #2 seed in the Class L bracket, had its second round game against 15th ranked Middletown ((12-9) pushed back twice. Woodstock beat Wilton in overtime, 56-54 March 11.
As the weather broke and the Woodstock game against Middletown was played on Saturday, if the final score was any indication, the Centaurs were ready. In a contest that saw Woodstock race out to a 33-16 halftime advantage it was obvious the Acads were ready to move on to the quarterfinals as they romped to a 60-38 victory. Ian Converse and Tristan Welch with 17 points each were Woodstock’s offensive scoring leaders.
The Centaurs of coach Greg Smith continued to win, vaced #10 seed Wilton, a 67-64 winner over Maloney and beat them 56-54. They head to the semis March 13. The championship round for all Classes is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 15 and 16 at the Mohegan Sun Arena TBA.
In the only other game that involved a local team, Tourtellotte seeded #21in Class S, put up a valiant fight before going down at the hands of #12 Nonnewaug 48-41. As Tourtellotte concluded its season, veteran coach Tony Falzarano sits three games shy of 600 career victories at 597.
Scoring Races
Tourtellotte’s Kaevon Safford and Woodstock Academy’s Ian Converse remain tied at the top of the scoring leader board at 19.8 points per game. They are followed by Putnam Science Academy’s Dayshon Smith, Mike Mallory of Marianapolis, who’s come on strongly of late and Plainfield’s Ryan Pambuku.
Jonte Rutty of PSA has wrapped up the Three-Point title with 81 from beyond the arc. Smith and Pambuku follow with 65.
Cashmir Fulcher of Hyde-Woodstock (18.5) and Plainfield’s Morgan Griffin (17.7) are running one-and-two in the female competition. Jill Bodreau of Marianapolis appears to be the 2013 three-point champion with 45, followed by Plainfield’s Haley Beausoleil with 31.
Boys Scoring Leaders
Kaevon Safford, Tourtellotte 19.8
Ian Converse, Woodstock 19.8
Dayshon Smith, PSA 18.8
Mike Mallory, Marianapolis 17.6
Ryan Pambuku, Plainfield 16.9
Three-Point Leaders
Jonte Rutty, PSA 81
Ryan Pambuku, Plainfield 65
Dayshon Smith, PSA 65
Mike Jezierski, Tourtellotte 57
Devon Willard, Killingly 51
Girls Scoring Leaders
Cashmir Fulcher, Hyde 18.5
Morgan Griffin, Plainfield 17.7
Ashley Espinosa, Putnam 16.3
Morgan Olander, Pomfret 14.1
Janicha Diaz, Hyde 14.0
Three Point Leaders
Jill Bodreau, Marianapolis 45
Haley Beausoleil, Plainfield 31
Notes
After more than 40 years of playing games on its vulcanized basketball surface, Woodstock Academy has a new wood floor, which was laid over the old surface by Jay Gerum and his maintenance crew in time for its State Tournament game against North Haven…Congratulations to Academy alum, Phil Willis for putting together a committee that raised more than $50,000 to make the new floor, which came from St. Louis, a reality…Ian Converse, the Centaurs leading scorer, evidently fell in love with the new surface, as he christened it with a 37-point performance…Former area players distinguished themselves on the college level this year. As the hoop season has ended for many, here’s a report on some of their accomplishments. Kim Bouten of Plainfield now playing at UConn-Avery Point, was named to the second team all star contingent of the NJCAA Region XXI Division III…Shane Gibson, formerly of Killingly, concluded a stellar career at Sacred Heart University by being named a Northeast Conference First Team All Star. He ended the season as the NCAA’s sixth leading scorer with an average of 21.6 points per game, while tallying more than 2100 points during his four years at SHU…Former Marianapolis standout Ike Azotam, who plays for Coach Tom Moore at Quinnipiac University was named an NEC Second Team All Star. His teammate at MPS and QU, Osmane Drame concluded his season with a flourish, scoring 23 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in his final game of the year. Both Azotam and Drame will be back next season for the Bobcats…Another former Golden Knight, Tom Henneberry, a senior at Fitchburg State University, ended his career with a 33-point, nine rebound performance in a 91-86 loss to the University of Rochester in the NCAA Division III Tournament…Mark your calendars for Tuesday, March 19. That’s the date of the annual Ray Brousseau Putnam Rotary Club Senior All Star Shootout at Putnam High School. Games are 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m….Speaking of all stars, the Putnam Town Crier will be releasing its 2013 Prep and High School All Star teams in the near future…The Woodstock trio of John McGinn, Trent Peters and Wil Bourgeois, all juniors, were mainstays of the highly successful St. Mary’s School basketball team before the doors on the school were abruptly shuttered…The Woodstock vs. Middletown 2nd Round contest was aired live on WINY Radio with John Wilbur and Paul Coutu.
RPC’s Super Conference Standings
Boys Girls
PSA 22-8 Pomfret 20-5
Woodstock 21-3 Marianapolis 19-9
Marianapolis 21-9 Plainfield 16-7
Plainfield 12-10 Putnam 15-7
Hyde-Woodstock 10-11 Hyde-Woodstock 11-6
Tourtellotte 10-12 Woodstock Academy 8-14
Ellis Tech 9-12 Tourtellotte 4-16
Pomfret 8-12 Killingly 2-18
Killingly 7-13 Ellis Tech 1-19
Putnam 4-16