By Ron P. Coderre

It was a difficult week for schoolboy basketball as local teams only posted three wins in the 12 games that were played.  Woodstock, which has become accustomed to winning games, finally posted its initial victory of the season after starting the 2014-2015 campaign at 0-5.  

Killingly, Tourtellotte, and Putnam were all winless in a total of seven games.  Plainfield split a pair of contests, while Ellis Tech enjoying the taste of victory won its only game of the week.

Putnam Science Academy, the area’s top prep combine, lost to St. Thomas More but rebounded successfully with a trio of solid performances that resulted in wins.  Pomfret enjoyed a perfect week with two wins, while Hyde-Woodstock and Marianapolis failed in their bids to reach the Win column.

PSA Climbs to 14-2 with a Pair of Impressive Wins

Putnam Science Academy and St. Thomas More, two of the nation’s top prep basketball powers, clashed in a battle of the titans on the Oakdale campus of the Saints.  The game was nip-and-tuck throughout with the final verdict coming in the last 1.2 seconds of the contest.  Unfortunately for the Mustangs, STM prevailed by the narrowest of margins 73-72.

Coach Tom Espinosa’s charges trailed by three points, 39-36 at halftime and despite scoring 36 more points in the final 20 minutes still fell short by a single point.  Kealen Ives and Andrew Robinson turned in eye-popping performances in the loss.  Robinson was the game high scorer with 23 points, while also gathering six rebounds.  Ives had 19 markers to go along with four assists.  The only other scorer in double figures was Hamidou Diallo with 15 points.

The Mustangs got back on the winning track with a pair of solid home court victories, an 87-84 win over Mount Morency College of Canada and a 91-76 win over the Mt. Zion Warriors of Baltimore.

In the victory over the Canadians three players were in double figures as nine Mustangs made it into the scorebook.  The Scientists were paced by the trio of Ives (24), Andrew Robinson (16) and Diallo (10).  The Mustangs led by 11 at intermission, 49-38 but almost had the table reversed in the second half due to shoddy defense, as Mt. Morency outscored the hosts 46-38 over the final 20 minutes.

Thanks to a solid all-around effort by Josh Wallace (20 points, five rebounds and five assists) PSA awoke from the defensive doldrums of the previous contest to register the win over Mt. Zion.  Wallace, who was all over the court in his starting role, was complemented by Ives and Andrew Robinson, who posted double-double performances.  Ives had 13 points and 10 assists, while Robinson had 16 points and an equal number of caroms.  Diallo was once again in double figures with 11 and Mamadou Diarra added 10 to the solid team effort.  Leading by only three points at the half, 46-43, the Scientists turned up the defensive intensity in the final 20 minutes holding the visitors to a mere 23 points.  Aaron Robinson, Vincent Eze, Dandre Rhoden and newcomer Brandon Hurst all contributed heavily to the win.

At the Ballas TV Invitational in Boston, the Mustangs disposed of Redemption Christian 69-49.  Diarra with 18 points was selected the Player of the Game for his effort.  Andrew Robinson had 16 in the win, while Wallace chipped in 14, as he continues his fine play. 

Pomfret School appears to be gelling as a unit as the Golden Griffin had two victories in the past week.  The team opened with a 57-50 win over Deerfield Academy on the home court of the Big Green.  Cam Winston was immense with 28 points to pace the victory.  Gerald Blount notched a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

The Golden Griffins moved to 6-3 on the year with a nailbiting 56-54 victory over Governor’s Academy on the wings of a pair of free throws in the final nine seconds of the contest.  Winston was high scorer with 21 points, while Obim Okeke contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Hyde-Woodstock (3-6) lost to St. Luke’s 60-55 despite 20 points from Dexter Thompson.  The Wolfpack also had Damon Jones in double figures with 16 and Kris Carroll with 11.  In its first game of the week, Hyde bested the St. Thomas More V2 team 60-52 as Damon Gomes led the way with 18 points.  Thompson added 16 and Carroll 11 in the victory.  The Wolfpack was also dropped 90-42 at the Ballas TV Invitational.

The Marianapolis Golden Knights V2 team traveled to Worcester for an encounter with Worcester Academy and came away empty as they were felled 67-44.  Colin Hourihan was the top scorer for the 2-3 Knights with 10 points.

Coach Andrew Vitale’s V1 team enjoyed success in Massachusetts at the Hoop Dreams Magazine Prep Classic at Tufts University with a 55-48 victory over Tabor Academy.  Tom Horvat had 20 points to lead the way for the 5-4 Golden Knights.  Adrian LaFleur chipped in 18 points for the winners.

Woodstock Boys Hit the W Column

After waiting since mid-December the Woodstock Academy Centaurs relished their first victory a 68-42 win over Greenfield High School of Massachusetts.  Thirsting for the win, the Acads led from start to finish as a quartet of players finished in double digits.  Luke Blodgett was the team’s high scorer with 18 points as they snapped a five-game losing streak.  He was joined in double figures by Oliver Simon with 13 points, Bryce Jarrett with 16 and Adam Converse with 10.

The Acads came back to earth when they traveled to New London where they were manhandled by the Whalers 75-49.  Converse with 18 and Blodgett with 11 were the top point producers for the 1-6 Centaurs.

Ellis Tech, which is 3-4 on the season and 1-1 in the Constitution State Conference – East, won its only game of the week, a 65-56 victory over Grasso Tech.  The Eagles placed four players in double figures, led by Ryan Fletcher with 16 markers.  Spencer Anderson and Pat Garrett each tossed in 15 points and Chicago Rogers had a dozen.

Plainfield split a pair of games, beating Stonington at home 66-64 and losing to archrival Griswold 58-52 in Jewett City.  The Panthers led 29-24 at halftime against the Bears and withstood a second half surge by the visitors to squeak out the win.  Steve Jankowski was immense in the win with 32 points including four from three-point land.  Jankowski’s cousin, David Carpenter was also in double figures with 13 points.

After being tied 25-25 at intermission, Plainfield allowed Griswold a huge fourth quarter in which it was outscored 18-11by the Wolverines for the margin of victory.  Liam Jacobs and Jankowski each posted 15 points in the disappointing loss for 5-2 Plainfield. Killingly lost all three of its games over the past week, the most disappointing being a 52-51 hand wringer to Wheeler.  The Redmen let Wheeler hang around long enough that they eventually felt they could win and they did!  Brendan Turner (20) and Chace Wood (11) were high scorers for the 2-5 overall and 0-3 Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division Killingly team.  Earlier in the week the Redmen were walloped by Ledyard 90-60, which was followed by a 65-50 loss at the hands of Waterford. Putnam dropped to 1-5 on the season after losing 45-40 to Norwich Tech and 65-52 to Griswold.  And winless Tourtellotte at 0-7 overall, lost to Windham Tech 75-46 and to Parish Hill 53-40.

 

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