By Ron P. Coderre

Shortly after Thanksgiving Day the boys’ basketball season started with the usual amount of anxiety and anticipation.  It’s hard to believe that within a week the 2015-2016 regular season will come to a close and the postseason will be upon us.

With just a few games remaining the only high school teams locked into the postseason are Plainfield and Putnam.  Woodstock Academy, Tourtellotte and Ellis Tech are definitely locked out.  Killingly with some last gasp performances is one win shy of qualifying with only a single game remaining on its schedule.

In the prep ranks, Putnam Science Academy, which just enjoyed one of the biggest weeks in its hoop history, is rolling along at 30-3.  The Mustangs posted four big victories last week as they eye a return to the National Prep School Championships.

Pomfret School enjoyed a good week, winning both games it was involved in.  Hyde School-Woodstock, which lost to PSA picked up wins in its other two games.  Marianapolis took the collar going 0-2 on the week.

Conference and CIAC Tournaments

 Around the Corner

Killingly High School holding on to the slimmest of opportunities to make the post season picked up two wins last week as it fights for its tournament life.  The Redmen, who are 7-12 need on win with one game left on the schedule. They are 2-7 in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium division.

The Redmen opened play last week on a high note, eking out a 50-49 victory on the road in East Lyme.  Chace Wood with 16 and freshman Luke Desaulnier with 10 were the big reason for the win.

In a must win situation against Montville, coach Jimbo Crabtree’s troops crumbled, losing 53-49 at home.  A 20-point fourth-quarter effort fell just short of victory.  Desaulnier came up big in the loss with 16 points, while Wood added a dozen.

Against Wheeler the team responded with a 74-56 victory edging them closer to the postseason goal.  Brendan Turner came up big against the Lions with 22 points.  He received offensive support from Woods who added 12.

Plainfield took it on the chin from Woodstock in a game they may have been counting in the Win column.  On their home court the Centaurs beat the Panthers 52-46.  Sam Majek was the culprit who destroyed the Panthers, scoring 21 points.  He received help from Nick Short who tossed in 14.  Dylan Horn had 17 points in one of his best games for the Panthers this season.  Liam Jacobs added 11.  

Plainfield bounced back and took out its revenge on Tourtellotte, beating the Tigers 80-27 to raise its record to 10-9.  Jacobs was high man for Plainfield with 15, while Horn had another good game with 11 points.  Jeff Nicolosi was game high scorer with 19 points.  Tourtellotte lost its only other game, 49-29 to St. Bernard.  The Tigers are 5-14 on the year and 1-8 in the ECC Small Division.

Woodstock, which closed out the previous week with a 49-27 loss to University also lost two other games last week.  They were beaten by Ledyard 83-59 and Bacon Academy 55-49.  Majek had 18 and Jared Bouten 17 in the Ledyard contest.  Majek posted 21 against Bacon.  He was joined in double figures by Bryce Jarret with 12 and Short with 10.  The Acads are 5-14 overall and 0-8 in the ECC large Division.

Putnam was demolished by its Constitution State Conference East Division opponent Norwich Tech 55-29 in its only game of the week.  The Clippers are 8-8 on the season and 6-3 in the CSC East Division.  Ellis Tech fell to 0-17 on the season, when it lost 75-20 to Tolland and 72-55 to Grasso Tech.

PSA Rolling 

Toward  Nationals

An awakened and enlightened Putnam Science Academy team sensing the National Prep School Championships rolled through four opponents in raising its record to 30-3.  The Mustangs opened in Woodstock against the Hyde Wolfpack and won 67-52 as coach Tom Espinosa rested his big three, Mamadou Diarra, Hamidou Diallo and Saul Phiri.  Four players, led by 15 points from Sean Delaney were in double figures in the win.  Tyreek Perkins added 10, Ajiri Johnson 13 and Darnell Brodie had a dozen for the Mustangs.

Next up was Brimmer & May in a game played on the Maple St. campus.  The Mustangs beat B & M 85-59 to the delight of the full house in attendance.  Diallo was the leading scorer with 21 points, while Jaheam Cornwall had 11, Phiri 13 and Diarra and Tyere Marshall 12 each.

Prior to a matchup of Top 10 teams against Brewster Academy, PSA rolled past Clarkson 112-69.  The much anticipated contest against powerhouse Brewster went to the Mustangs 81-65, avenging one of the team’s losses last season.  

Diarra and Diallo each posted a double-double with Diarra scoring 18 and grabbing 12 boards and Diallo tallying 13 and nabbing 10 caroms.  Fourteen players got into the score book with Brandon Hurst contributing 11.

Pomfret School and Marianapolis, two northeastern Connecticut preps, faced off in Thompson with the Golden Griffins escaping with a 72-64 victory.  Vince Conn with 20 and Cam Winston with 19 were Pomfret's top gunners.  Gerald Blount added 13 for the winners.  Tyler Burton was the high scorer for the Golden Knights with 16, while Joe Del Ricci chipped in 13 and Andrew Ford 12.

Pomfret raised its record to 14-6 with a 71-69 nail biter over Rivers School.  The Griffins survived a shot at the buzzer for the victory thanks to 23 points from Conn and 18 from Winston.  Blount posted a double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Marianapolis lost its only other game, a 72-62 decision to Millbrook School.  Del Ricci with 21 points was high man for the Golden Knights while Dominique Senat added 15 for 5-16 Marianapolis.

Following its loss to Putnam Science Academy, Hyde-Woodstock picked up a pair of victories.  The Wolfpack bested the Dexter School 75-50 thanks to Rodney Ray who posted 26 points and 10 boards.  Eamonn Joyce who had 19 points tallied the 1000th point of his career at Hyde.

The Wolfpack followed the win with an easy 97-38 victory over Hebron Academy.  Ray led the way once again with a 24-point performance.  Kris Carroll had 15 points and five assists for the 11-11 Hyde-Woodstock contingent.

 

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