Basketball Wrap-up

Local prep

hoop teams 

hit the 

hardwood

By Ron P. Coderre

The high school basketball season is still about a week away but the local prep schools are all beginning to see action on the hardwood.  

Putnam Science Academy, winner of its first five games, made its way to Pittsburgh, Penn., for the Kiski Classic over the weekend.  The Mustangs were scheduled for three games in three days.  They opened with a victory against the hosts, Kiski, followed by contests against Phelps Academy and Elev8.

The Marianapolis varsity and junior varsity got their seasons off the ground.  The varsity dropped its initial contest, while the JV posted a victory.  Hyde-Woodstock opened with a loss against its sister school, Hyde- Bath of Maine.

Mustangs Roll in Laugher

In a home game against Redemption Christian Academy of Northfield, Mass., Putnam Science Academy made easy work of the visitors with a lopsided 103-64 victory.  The entire 17-man Mustang roster saw plenty of action.

The Scientists, who are ranked No. 8 in the country by Next Up Recruits, were paced by 6-foot, 7-inch big man Chuba Ohams of the Bronx, who posted a game-high 19 points to go with three rebounds and four steals.  He was joined in double figures Tyreek Perkins of New Haven who had 15 and Tyere Marshall of Philadelphia who had 13.

The winners went to the locker room at intermission on top 66-32.  Despite substituting freely over the final 20 minutes, coach Tom Espinosa’s team continued its stingy defense limiting Redemption to only another 32 points.

In Pittsburgh for the Kiski Classic, the Scientists got by the hosts 87-80 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score might indicate.  The Mustangs opened a huge 50-28 advantage at halftime and led by as many as 32 points in the second half.  UConn-bound Mamadou Diarra was a force in the victory, as he posted 18 points and 13 rebounds.  Saul Phiri, the Worcester Academy transfer, was also in double figures with 17 markers.  He added six caroms and two assists to his evening’s work.  Hamidou Diallo was another player in double figures with 10 points and Tyere Marshall had a solid floor game, contributing nine points and eight rebounds.

On Saturday Diarra repeated his first day performance by scoring 13 points to go along with 14 rebounds as PSA rolled to a high scoring 109-99 victory over the Phelps School.  Diallo led all scorers as he had his best game of the young season, pouring in 22 points.  Phiri was also in double figures with 18 points, while point guard Jaheam Cornwall dished out 12 assists to go with nine points. 

Just prior to heading back to Putnam on Sunday, the Mustangs dominated Elev8 of Florida 86-64.  In the get-away contest PSA rolled to a 51-26 halftime advantage thanks to a strong team effort.  Diarra, who was named the Classic MVP had 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in leading the way to victory.

Diallo and Eric Ayala topped the scoring parade with 16 points apiece, while Phiri was also in double figures with 14 to go along with seven caroms.  Once again, floor general Cornwall came through with nine assists while dropping in seven points.  Marshall who has been solid all season also had seven points while corralling 10 rebounds.

The Mustangs are 6-0 in the early going with a home contest against Rise Academy scheduled for December 9 and a road contest at rugged South Kent on tap for Saturday, December 12.  

Marianapolis Dropped by First Two Opponents

Despite a 17-point performance by big Dominique Senat, Marianapolis didn’t have the firepower to overcome visiting Thayer Academy as the Golden Knights were felled 63-48 in their season opener.  The only other double-figure scorer for Marianapolis was Marley Blommers with 11 points.

The contest was close in the first half with Marianapolis trailing by eight 34-26.  The hosts were outscored 29-22 over the final 16 minutes of action.

In the Zero Gravity Prep Classic at St. Andrew’s School in Barrington, R.I., the Golden Knights fell to Redemption Christian Academy 72-68 in a game that could have gone either way.  The Knights were led by a pair of double digit scorers, Joe DelRicci who posted 17 points including five three pointers and Audric Sandoval who added 12 markers.

The Golden Knights junior varsity travelled to New London for its opener against the Williams School.  Marianapolis, led by Ryan and Colin Hourihan, who combined for 33 points, picked up its first win of the season, a 70-44 victory over the Blues.  

Wolfpack Loses Battle of the Hydes

Hyde-Bath, sister school of Hyde-Woodstock wasn’t very cordial to the hosts on its visit to northeastern Connecticut.  The Down Easters easily beat the Wolfpack on their home court 76-63.  Rodney Ray posted 17 points and five rebounds in the loss for Hyde-Woodstock.

Pomfret Falls in Opener

Pomfret School opened its season at home in a contest with Tabor Academy.  The visitors from Massachusetts prevailed 66-61.  The Golden Griffins placed three players in double figures, led by game-high scorer Christian Wilson with 25 points.  The other players in double figures were Cam Winston and Gerald Blount who had 11 points apiece.

 

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Donation

WATERFORD — Charter Oak Federal Credit Union has donated more than 700 pounds of food and $3,000 in funds to the Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center in New London to assist the center with its Thanksgiving holiday food distribution efforts.

Charter Oak donates to the food center at Thanksgiving in memory of the credit union’s former CEO Larry Hertell. The annual “Turkeys for Larry” fund-raising efforts began seven years ago, and since then those efforts have grown into a joint effort of the credit union’s Community Giving Program and its nearly 200 employees who collect food to donate to the New London-based food center.

This year, more than 700 pounds of food was collected from Charter Oak employees as part of the credit union’s annual “Fixins’ Food Wars,” which challenges each department to collect nonperishable food items that can be paired with a traditional Thanksgiving meal, such as stuffing, cranberry sauce, canned goods and other holiday food items.

Since the inception of Charter Oak’s Community Giving Program in 2009, the Waterford-based credit union has awarded in excess of $1 million to non-profits, charitable groups, and scholarship recipients in New London and Windham counties.

 

First-time robotics team

scores well in tourney

PUTNAM — Two teams from the Putnam Middle School competed in the FIRST LEGO League Robotics competition Nov. 21 in Tolland and placed 12th and 18th out of 24 competition teams.

Sixteen students, led by teachers Angeline Kwasny and Susan Donnel, represented Putnam Middle School in this competition.  

These were very respectable finishes for a first-year robotics teams at the competition.    Putnam Middle School students demonstrated a high level of collaboration and dedication in preparing for the competition.

The multi-part competition required students to research and develop a project to identify a problem with the way we make or handle trash, design an innovative solution to the problem selected, and present the problem and solution to others.  Teams also participated in Robot Games throughout the day-long event during which they had to complete various missions.

Superintendent William Hull said, “This is  a  just another example of our schools preparing students with 21 century skills with fun personalized learning.”

 

 

The following charges were listed in the Putnam Police Department logs.  The people charged are innocent until proven guilty in court. The Town Crier will publish dispositions of cases at the request of the accused. The dispositions must be accompanied by the proper documentation. The Putnam Police Department confidential Tip Line is 963-0000.

Nov. 23

David Miller, 47, Route 169, Woodstock; failure to wear seatbelt.

Robert Poissent, 26, David Circle, Putnam; failure to wear seatbelt.

Adam Michaud, 25, South Main Street, Putnam; failure to wear seatbelt.

Nov. 26

William Peabody Jr., 39 Laurel Street, Putnam; failure to pay or plea.

Jeremy Lee, 32, Main Street, Kensington; speeding.

Nov. 28

Erin Szela, 21, Taft Pond Road, Pomfret; operating under the influence, failure to drive right, possession of less than ½ ounce of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia.

Jaylin Greene, 20, Woodstock Avenue, Putnam; operating a vehicle while registration is suspended.