By Ron P. Coderre

Holiday basketball tournaments were the order of the day in boys’ high school play last week.  Putnam High School hosted its traditional Clipper Holiday Classic, while Woodstock followed the same route, hosting its 1st Woodstock Academy Centaur Holiday Basketball Classic.  The Acads were disappointed in their initial venture, while the Clippers will be playing Killingly in the title game of their event.

Tourtellotte and Ellis Tech were first round victims of the Clipper Holiday Classic, while Plainfield won its only contest of the week.

One Host Rises While the Other Falls Flat

Putnam, which was struggling to find the win column on the young basketball season, picked an opportune time to post its initial victory of the season.  The Clippers came on strongly in the opening round of their tourney, easily beating a good Ellis Tech team 78-42.

Leading by ten points 24-14 at intermission, Putnam busted out with a 54-point second half in rolling over the Eagles.  Shawn Audet with 20 points captured game-high honors.  He was joined in double figures by Jordan Tetreault with 14 points and freshman Dan Porcic, who had 10 markers.  

The Clippers, who are 1-2 on the season, were beaten by Cheney Tech 75-58 earlier in the week.  The second half was Putnam’s undoing as they were outscored by the Techsters 45 to 27.  Audet with 28 points was the lone Clipper in double digits.

Woodstock, which invited three powerful teams to its first holiday party, was a gracious host.  The Centaurs lost to Greenwich High School in the opening round 60-37 and dropped the consolation to Capital Prep 51-43.  The third invitee LaSalle Academy of Providence left Woodstock with the championship trophy.

In the loss to Greenwich, the Acads were unable to put one player in double figures, as Adam Converse with nine points was the Centaurs high scorer.  Against Capital Prep, the teams were tied at 22 apiece at halftime but a big fourth quarter by Prep in which they outscored the hosts 19-8 was the difference in the outcome.  Converse with 17 and Oliver Simon with 12 were the leading scorers for Woodstock.  The Centaurs are off to a 0-5 start as they look forward to their next game, which is in New London on Saturday, January 3, 2015.

In its first game of the week, Woodstock lost a close contest to Bacon Academy 59-55.  Luke Blodgett and Simon with 20 points apiece were the Academy’s high scorers.

Killingly, which many others is struggling to find its identity, picked up its first win of the season beating Tourtellotte 61-33 in the first round of the Clipper Classic.  The 1-2 Redmen were paced by three players in double figures.  Owen Guillot had 13 points and Alex Torcoletti and Chace Wood each had a dozen.  Cody Weiss had 13 for the 0-4 Tourtellotte Tigers.  Earlier in the week the Tigers were doubled up by Windham 56-28.  

In its only contest of the week, Plainfield snuck by Windham Tech 80-70 in a high scoring affair.  Steve Jankowski with 26 points, four hoops coming from beyond the three-point arc, was the game-high scorer.  He was joined in double figures by Liam Jacobs (12), Andre Bergeron (17) and Isaiah Fort (16).  

Ellis Tech, which started the season in encouraging fashion with an opening victory, lost a pair of games this week.  In addition to being beaten by Putnam in the Clipper Classic, the Eagles lost to Rocky Hill 81-43.  Ryan Fletcher and Pat Garrett with 11 points apiece were 1-2 Ellis Tech’s high scorers.

 

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