Centaurs boys’ basketball win streak ends at 4 games

To all good things must come an end. The Woodstock Academy boys’ basketball team extended its winning streak to four games early last week with a victory over Griswold.

But Ellington and Ledyard brought the Centaurs back down to earth.

The Purple Knights kept their undefeated ways going with a 70-58 win over Woodstock Academy at the Alumni Fieldhouse Jan. 15.

The Centaurs then traveled to Ledyard Jan. 17 and fell to the Colonels, 60-44.

Woodstock Academy tested Ledyard early. Woodstock Academy junior guard Logan Talbot hit four 3-pointers in the first half and kept the Centaurs (4-5, 1-3 Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II) in lockstep with the Colonels as the game was tied at 23 at the half.

But Dorell Cagle hit eight points for the Colonels (5-4, 2-2) in the third quarter and Ledyard was able to double the Centaurs point production in the third quarter, 16-8.

Ledyard put it away with a 21-13 fourth quarter advantage.

Talbot led the Centaurs with 21 while Aidan Morin added 10.

The winning streak came to an end two days before against Ellington.

"I think we have to be very happy with our effort and disappointed with the outcome," said Woodstock Academy coach Marty Hart. "(Ellington) is a very good team. It executed very well and the margin for error was very thin. When we missed an assignment or didn't communicate a switch, we paid for it. When we gave up a rebound, we paid for it. We did battle and hung with them, even when we got down. I give our guys credit for fighting back."

The Centaurs were down by only six points, 44-38, with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

That's when Brandon Zahner, a junior guard for the Purple Knights, decided it was time to get hot.

The guard hit only three baskets all night.

But they came in succession within two minutes of each other late in the third quarter, all from beyond the 3-point arc, and it doubled Ellington's lead going into the final quarter to 12 points.

"We were trying to locate him as a shooter and that' not an individual task, that's a team task. We talked about it, wanted to do it, and didn't accomplish it," Hart said.

The Centaurs did pull back within eight briefly in the fourth quarter when Morin (10 points) and Talbot hit a couple of quick buckets to open the final period.

But Ellington (7-0) followed with an 8-1 run of their own to put the win away.

Both teams came out of the gates smoking.

Talbot scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the first quarter and the Centaurs made eight of their 16 shots as the two teams battled to an 18-18 tie at the end of the first.

Ellington was able to build a seven-point lead, 35-28, by the half thanks to seven second-quarter points from Tom Garrow (15 points).

Andrew Johnson added 12 points for the Centaurs in the loss.

Earlier in the week, the Centaurs had to buckle in and grind it out. Griswold tested them in a defensive struggle but Woodstock Academy pulled it out in the end by a 42-35 score.

Talbot's 32-point effort against Stonington the Saturday before drew the attention of the Wolverines defense.

"They had a man stick with me the whole game," Talbot said. "But they also pressured a lot on defense so backdoor cuts took some of the pressure off which really helped."

Talbot still led the team with 14 points, but others had to step up.

Senior Nick Bedard, the Centaurs’ "Swiss Army Knife", according to Hart, finished with 12 points.

Still, Woodstock Academy was never quite able to pull away.

Bedard and Ethan Davis led the Centaurs with five points each in the first half when Woodstock Academy hit only 7-of-20 from the floor and turned the ball over eight times. Still, the Centaurs led 17-13.

Woodstock Academy did put on a little burst early that would carry them throughout the second half.

Morin, Talbot and Bedard hit unanswered baskets and Morin added a free throw in a 7-0 run that put the Centaurs up by nine, 26-17, with 3:56 left in the third quarter.

Griswold did claw its way back and closed to within three, 33-30, with 5:27 to play on a pair of C.J. Mattson free throws. The senior led the Wolverines (5-2) with 10 points.

Bedard got the last basket of the game for the Centaurs with 2:25 left and Woodstock Academy did enough at the free throw line, making 6-of-14, to keep the Wolverines at bay.

Woodstock Academy, however, finished 14-for-29 at the charity stripe.

Marc Allard

Director of Sports Information

The Woodstock Academy