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Shane Sebastian-Smalls said he was just looking for a way to help his team.
And in a crucial series of possessions late in Putnam Science Academy’s varsity basketball game Nov. 16, he did just that in the Mustangs’ 65-59 win over St. Thomas More.
With PSA up by one, Sebastian-Smalls re-entered the game with about 2:20 to play and promptly hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to four. As St. Thomas More then tried to inbound the ball, he forced a bad pass, dove on the floor for the loose ball, got fouled and made one-of-two ensuing free throws. PSA got the ball right back again as Vlad Vetrov drew a charge after which Sebastian-Smalls immediately drained a pullup from the elbow to push the lead to 60-53. The Mustangs put it away from there.
“We stress doing the little things in practice every day,” said coach Nick Schmidt. “Those plays – diving on the floor, taking charges, hitting big shots – are what’s going to help us win games. Good teams make those plays and good players make those plays.
“For Shane, I think that’s becoming a little bit of his identity. He’s learned a lot and asks a lot of good questions, and I think him making those little plays crosses over and giving him more confidence to make shots.”
Sebastian-Smalls, from Mashantucket, finished with a team-high 18 points, followed by Erick Aponte with 14, and Maksym Shepel with 12.
The game was played in front of a raucous, face-and-body-painted crowd consisting mainly of PSA’s boys’ soccer players.
“That was amazing,” Sebastian-Smalls said. “Amazing.”
“They were so loud, I lost my voice yelling because my guys couldn’t hear me,” Schmidt said. “They were awesome. They didn’t sit down at all, not once. Great job by them, and by coach Ryan (Dunnigan) getting them going.”
When told that the fans blocked the view of the camera and meant there wouldn’t be any game film to study, Schmidt said, “If they show up to home games like that, we won’t need the film.”
Also Wednesday, PSA’s girls’ Prep team made the trip to Westtown, Penn., for an early-season litmus test but came up a bit short. Ines Goryanova had 26 points, six assists, and six steals but PSA fell 84-72. Janeya Grant added 21 points and six rebounds for the Mustangs (3-2).
Nov. 15 the Mustangs’ Elite boys’ basketball team rallied to cut into a sizable first-half deficit, then went back-and-forth in the second half until the final four-plus minutes when Commonwealth pulled away for a 96-81 win.
Naz Rembert finished with 21 points, Yhali Steinhauer had 20, and Solis Blue and Bennett Pegues both added 11 for PSA (1-2).
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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