By Ron P. Coderre

Thanks to the Putnam Rotary Club, local high school senior basketball players enjoyed the opportunity to play one more game before closing the book on their on their schoolboy and schoolgirl hardwood careers. 

The Ray Brousseau Senior All Star Shootout, played at Putnam High School on Tuesday, March 25 featured a pair of exciting games that featured the females in the opening contest and the boys in the nightcap.  Both contests were broadcast live on WINY Radio, adding luster to the evening.  WINY Sports Director John Wilbur provided the play-by-play, accompanied by Putnam Recreation Director Willie Bousquet as the color analyst.

The girls’ contest was won by the team sponsored by Archambault Insurance 48-38 over Benpe Consulting.  The Putnam Savings Bank team slipped past the WINY Radio squad in the men’s contest 91-86.

Low-scoring Affair for Females

The lidlifter of the evening witnessed a low scoring affair as it took the ladies sometime to get warmed up and into the action.  Putnam High School standout Mackenzie Kaylor playing for the final time on her home court led the Archambault Insurance team to a 48-38, 10-point victory as she tallied 22 points.   Included in her total were three long range bombs from beyond the arc.

Shelby Grauer of Holy Family Academy turned in a great floor game as she was solid on defense, while also tossing in 19 big points for the winners.  Putnam’s Cynthia Briere controlled the boards for the winners while adding six points.

A late scoring surge by Benpe consulting paced by Windham Tech’s Kara Thibodeau, who was the game high scorer with 23 points, fell short as the Benpe squad outscored Archambault 28-24 in the second half.  Thibodeau took control in the second half scoring 18 points but her effort fell just shy.

Late WINY Rush Falls Short

Killingly High School’s Nick Hewitt put up 14 first half points and Woodstock Academy’s John McGinn controlled the boards for Putnam Savings Bank as the Bankers ran up a 47-32 halftime advantage propelling them to the 91-86 victory.

The second half belonged to WINY and Plainfield High School senior Ryan Pambuku, who was the game high scorer with 33 points, 29 of his markers coming after intermission.  His effort was not enough as the winning Putnam Bank team held on with a total team effort that saw four players reach double figures.

The Bankers were led by Hewitt who finished with 25 points, including six three pointers.  McGinn finished with 10 points, while his teammate from Woodstock Will Bourgeois had 11.  Plainfield’s Will Robinson, who sealed the victory for the winners with a pair of key baskets in the final minute, finished with 18 points.  Tourtellotte’s Ryan Beaulieu added eight points in the win, which saw every player from Putnam Bank hit the scoring column.

Pambuku, who dominated the final 20 minutes, received offensive support from a pair of Tourtellotte Tigers.  Kaevon Safford finished with 22 points and Shawn Houle who hit a pair of treys in the waning minutes, tallied 14 points.  Big Harrison “Harry” Padula was a bull on the boards grabbing a bushel of rebounds.

All Star Shorts:

Coaches for the girls game were Carla Faucher of Tourtellotte (Benpe) and Mandi Hogan of Putnam (Archambault)…The boys were coached by Putnam Mayor Tony Falzarano of Tourtellotte, assisted by Sean Martel of Marianapolis (WINY) and Brand Kress of Putnam (Putnam Bank)…The games were officiated gratis by members of the Eastern Board of Approved Basketball Official.  Steve Martel and Zach Putnam worked the first game and the three-man crew of Corey Pothier, Bill Bartholic and Martel worked the second game…  Makenzie Kaylor was selected as the Most Valuable Player for the Archambault team, while Kara Thibodeau picked up the honor for the Benpe squad…Thibodeau will continue her hoop career in college, either a Worcester State University or the College of St. Joseph in Hartford…Nick Hewitt was the MVP for the Putnam Bank team and Ryan Pambuku was the unanimous choice for the WINY five…Hewitt will play college football at Mount Ida next season, while Pambuku will continue his basketball career at Post University…Referee Zach Putnam has a baseball claim to fame.  As a player at Tourtellotte he had two hits off of current New York Mets all star pitcher Matt Harvey, who was then a pitcher at Fitch High School…Putnam Rotary Club President Brad Favreau, a former Woodstock Academy three-sport standout, presented all participants with commemorative gifts of the games…Killingly High School’s James Saritelli left the gym $50 richer than when he entered.  He won the halftime shooting contest sponsored by The Citizens National Bank…The entire program was orchestrated by Putnam Recreation Director and Putnam Rotarian Willie Bousquet…The Putnam Rotary Club Ray Brousseau All Star Shootout has been in existence for more than 25 consecutive years.

 

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