The Woodstock Academy boys’ basketball team advanced to the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II tournament championship game with a 65-61 semifinal win over third-seeded Griswold Feb. 24 at Waterford High School.
The seventh-seeded Centaurs met No. 1 St. Bernard, a 70-53 winner over Lyman Memorial in the other semifinal on Feb. 24, Feb. 21 at Waterford High School.
“It’s fantastic to be in a championship game with no seniors (on the roster) and having started the season with a 2-8 record,” said Centaurs coach Marty Hart after the semifinal win over Griswold. “We gained experience, trust and togetherness along the way.”
The Centaurs’ recent unselfish play continued against the Wolverines.
All five starters finished in double figures with Chase Anderson leading the way with 14 points. Aaron Johnson added 13 while Cole Hackett, Luke Matthewson and Aidan Morin all chipped in with 12.
“Teamwork and execution helped us get the lead; balance and composure allowed us to maintain it,” Hart said.
The Centaurs (11-12) jumped out to a six-point first quarter lead and were still up by four at the half.
That lead extended to double digits, 47-37, at the end of three, but the Wolverines (13-9) gained back some ground in the final quarter when they put up 24 points.
Max Gregory, held scoreless in the first three quarters, scored all nine of his points in the fourth for Griswold while Pharaoh Curtis added seven of his 13.
“Hats off to a tough Griswold team which was a well-disciplined group that kept making runs at us. I appreciated our maturity and composure down the stretch,” Hart said.
The Centaurs earned themselves a semifinal berth with a 68-56 win over Plainfield on Feb. 22 in a quarterfinal game.
“What is big is seeing them play team ball, seeing the ball move to places where it should and see it go through the basket. We pride ourselves on defense and we had a tough task. (Plainfield) is pretty big inside and have some guys who can throw in some shots around them. It makes them tough to guard,” Hart said.
The Centaurs got a little help from the Panthers who made only 23 of 65 shots from the floor. One of their leading scorers, Connor Davis, didn’t make one. The Centaurs held the guard to just a pair of free throws.
“That’s very special,” Hart said. “His name was at the top of our board. We said we had to stop him and contain the other guys.”
Offensively, the Centaurs were conservative, but effective.
They took only 42 shots, but made 27 including 16-of-21 in the second half when they finally pulled away from the Panthers (15-6).
Hackett, while not as big as some of the Plainfield inside players, found he had a little more quickness than the Panther bigs.
“The inside wasn’t working so I decided to go outside where I was quicker than them and was able to drive,” Hackett said.
That played a large role in the third quarter when Hackett scored eight points and The Academy broke the game open.
Hackett’s first four points of the third quarter tied the game on both occasions as Plainfield had taken its only leads of the game.
Baskets by Jake Marsalisi and  Anderson (17 points) put the Centaurs ahead to stay and, after Zack Lewis scored for Plainfield, two more Hackett baskets gave The Academy a little cushion.
Hackett finished with a team-high 18 points.
“From Clark Kent to Superman,” Hart said of Hackett’s effort. “We said, ‘Cole, get out front and just go right by them. He put on his cape and went to work and the guys recognized it. They share the ball. They find the mismatch when they can and they’re happy to see each other score.”
Two baskets by Morin (10 points) put the Centaurs ahead by double digits, 47-37.
They led by eight at the end of the third quarter and Plainfield could not get any closer the remainder of the way.
The Academy was one of only four teams that also had to participate in a play-in game just to get into the tournament. That, combined with the final regular season game of the season last Monday against Ellington meant the Centaurs had to play four games in six days.
“They would rather play than practice anyway,” Hart said with a laugh.
Fortunately, the play-in game against 10th-seeded Wheeler wasn’t too strenuous as the Centaurs prevailed, 76-41.
Wheeler did make an early statement as the Lions put down four 3-pointers in the first eight minutes of play to take an 18-15 lead into the second quarter.
But the Centaurs took over in the middle quarters where they more than doubled Wheeler’s scoring, 38-16.
Hackett scored 15 of his 16 points in the second and third quarters to lead the Centaurs.
Nathan John, coming off an injury, was the only other player in double figures for The Academy with 13.
Ian Spracklin led the Lions, who finished their season with a 2-19 record, with 14.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director

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