The Woodstock Academy boys’ basketball team played tough on the road last week.
It came home with mixed results. The Centaurs lost a heartbreaker in Stonington, 59-58 Feb. 9.
That followed a 55-51 overtime win over Bacon Academy in Colchester Feb. 6.
It left The Academy with a 6-11 record going into its final three games.
The two games this week are on the road at Montville and Fitch before the Centaurs come home for their finale Feb. 19 against Ellington. They need to win two of the last three games to qualify for the state tournament.
The Centaurs opened a 30-18 lead on the Bears in the first half, but then Zack Scott got hot for Stonington.
He hit a trio of 3-pointers and scored 14 of his 20 points in the third quarter to help the Bears scramble back into the game.
“Stonington came at us with 3’s from every direction and we nearly had the answers because we owned the paint. But when you trade 3’s for 2’s, it can add up against you,” said Centaurs coach Marty Hart.
The 3-pointers did take their toll and with 30 seconds left in the game, the Centaurs were down by two.
Aaron Johnson gave the Centaurs the 1-point advantage with a 3-pointer, but Stonington quickly retook the lead on a layup by R.J. Parilla with 7 ½ seconds left in the game.
The Academy got off a last second shot, but it failed to find the basket.
Luke Mathewson led the Centaurs with 20 while Cole Hackett added 17.
“They keyed on Chase (Anderson who was held to seven points),” Hart said. “I give credit to Mathewson and Hackett who stepped up and to Chase for deferring his shots and being a facilitator.”
The Centaurs continued their quest to make the state tournament with a good win on the road over the Bobcats.
It wasn’t an easy start for the Centaurs against the Bobcats.
As he did at the Alumni Fieldhouse, Jared Smith had the hot hand early against the Centaurs.
He hit four 3-pointers and had 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, single-handedly outscoring the Centaurs, 17-15.
“Heading into the game, it was our intention to stop him. We made a much better effort to do that in the second half,” Hart said.
The Centaurs pulled within five by the end of the third quarter and then outscored the Bobcats, 16-11, in the fourth to send the game into overtime.
“Down the stretch, I really have to credit our willingness to share the ball and find the right shots by working from the inside-out,” Hart said.
It benefitted the Centaurs in the extra period where they outscored the Bobcats, 13-9.
Hackett had five of his team-high 17 points, to go with 13 rebounds, in the overtime. Mathewson added six of his 13 in the overtime as the Centaurs outscored Bacon Academy, 13-9.
“Maintaining our composure and poise when faced with such adversity in a key overtime road win shows us we are maturing and want to play hard, smart and together,” Hart said.
Anderson added 15 points and eight assists in the win.
Gold team continues to win
Chris Childs paced the Woodstock Academy Gold prep basketball team with 14 points in an 82-61 win over Lee Academy Feb. 11 at the Frank Monahan Showcase in Concord, N.H. Jakigh Dottin and Jeameril Wilson each added 13 points as the Gold team raised its record to 26-3.
The Gold team also downed MacDuffie on the road, 81-71 Feb. 8. Tre Mitchell led the way as the center had a double-double, 20 points, 11 rebounds, in the win. Luis Rodriguez added 20 points and five steals.

Blue splits weekend fare
The Blue prep squad put together a nice win over the Monroe Community College JV team Feb. 10, but struggled against Springfield Commonwealth Academy Feb. 11.
The Centaurs opened the home weekend with a 97-79 win over Monroe which hails from Rochester, N.Y., and had already beaten the Centaurs this season.
E.J. Dambreville led the way with 32 points.
“The kid is tough,” said Blue prep coach Nick DeFeo. “He was scoring it early from the outside and then he got to the rim. He got banged up in the second half, was bleeding, and that really set him off. He got three straight 3’s after that and didn’t even hit the rim. He gets us going. He paces us, offensively and defensively.”
Gedi Juozapaitis added 19 points while Alex Illic tossed in 15 in the win.
Dambreville (13 points) never got going Feb. 11.
Neither did the Centaurs (17-9) in a 72-70 loss to the Tornadoes.
The play on the floor reflected the dreary, wet conditions outside as the Centaurs only showed one glimpse of life.
Trailing 29-28 at the half, the Centaurs turned it up a notch and went on a 17-4 run to open the second half and put the Blue squad up by 12.
Juozapaitis and Illic each had five of their 12 points in the run, but the candle went out as fast as it was lit.
Commonwealth responded with a pair of 3-pointers that ignited a 14-2 run of its own and was quickly back within a point.
The lead see-sawed back and forth until the Tornadoes took it for good on a basket by Jajahn Joyner with 48 seconds to play.

Centaurs boys hockey takes 3
Two games against the Redhawks cooperative came at the right time for the Woodstock Academy boys’ hockey team.
The Centaurs downed the Redhawks, 4-1, on Monday at the Norwich Ice Rink and followed that up with a 12-0 win Feb. 10 at the Jahn Ice Rink in Pomfret.
Sandwiched in between was a 7-4 win over South Hadley, Mass.
The three victories, collectively, brought the Centaurs back to the .500 mark at 7-7.
Goalie Dylan Shea was spot-on.
He faced 64 shots and allowed just five goals.
The offense got contributions from just about everyone.
Eleven different players scored in the Saturday rout with Jake Starr as the only player to get two goals.
He, Doug Newton and Jake Black all had three assists.
Black and Guerin Favreau had two goals each in the win over South Hadley while Matt Odom, Favreau, Black and Pat Delaney scored in the first game against the Redhawks.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director

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