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TaQuan Zimmerman
There are rebuilding years and then there are REBUILDING years and Putnam High School’s boys’ basketball team might be in construction m ode this year, but it’s way ahead of schedule.
Case in point: Under new varsity boys’ basketball coach Shawn Deary, the Putnam High boys stand with a record of 3-3 in their division and 5-6 overall. But the numbers belie how quickly the team has gelled.
Last week’s rout of Parish Hill, Putnam 60, Parish Hill 31, was proof of the fast-track rebuilding. Parish Hill is also in a rebuilding year, and also started the season with a new coach; yet, PHS was able to put “basically its entire JV team in” toward the end of the game. Deary said with a bit more than six minutes left in the game, the score stood at 54 to 14, Putnam.
Deary said “I’m very happy with how well we’re doing.”
Jan. 23, in its 58-51 win over Wheeler, the Clippers played a very physical game. Deary said there were 57 foul shots between the two teams.
Deary gave kudos to Shane Herlihy and Matt Daigneault as “top defenders.” Herlihy garnered 10 points. Also in high-score land for the Clippers were Doug Henry with 13 and Ryan Gunther with 13. Henry fouled out with six minutes to go, but Deary said PHS was able to maintain its lead.
He’s especially proud of Gunther — nine of his 13 points were from the free throw line in the third and fourth quarter. “He shot at 71 percent. He really pulled it out for us.” Deary said.
The Woodstock Academy boys team also stands at 5-6 with its record and is also looking for three victories to get into the States.
Gary Brine, assistant boys’ varsity basketball coach, said defense was the name of the game in its 48-30 victory over Montville last week. “The high point of the game was holding Montville to 30 points,” Brine said. In fact, with 13 minutes in the third quarter, Montville stood at 10. Cody Semmelrock and Langston Stokes each tallied 15 points.
Marianapolis
Marianapolis 73 / Cheshire Acad 67
Gedas Bertasius led 5 players in double figures with 22 points and Sophomore Michael Neal, Providence, had a career-high with 11 points as Marianapolis Prep., 10-3, ground out a 73-67 victory over previously undefeated Cheshire Academy. Cheshire, led by Fairfield Univ. commit Jamal Fields, 20 points, 9-10 from the free throw line, were geared up for the game and were bolstered by a large contingent of energetic and musically gifted students that made the trip. MP trailing 34-32 at the half came out firing in the second half, a Zach Chionuma (12 points) three pointer, and a Matt Barboza ( 11 points) three pointer widened the lead to nine with 4 mins. to go. Key foul shooting by Ike Azotam (17 points, 5-6) from the line sealed it.
Putnam Science
PSA 72 / Leadership Prep 55
Jan. 20 TaQuan Zimmerman finished with 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Mike Gittens added 19 points and 14 boards to lead Putnam Science Academy (11-2) to the rout in Putnam. PSA led the entire game, with a record crowd on hand, standing room only! Putnam’s Dino Porcic added 9 points in the win.
St. Andrew’s 67 / PSA 56
Jan. 22 the Mustangs (11-3) led, 29-25, at the half on the road, but lost the lead with just three minutes remaining in Barrington, R.I. PSA was winning entire game until the 3-minute mark. TaQuan Zimmerman of Waterbury scored a game-high 31 points with his eight rebounds and three assists, and teammate Michael Gittens tacked on another 10 points and 5 rebounds. Zimmerman set a new school record with nine three-pointers in the win. The old record was shared by Putnam’s Travis Godley (2009) and Mehmet Cakmak (2007) with six three-pointers. Zimmerman leads the entire northeast corner in three-point field goals. Junior Adis Muminovic played outstanding on the defensive end of the court jamming up the middle while playing the enitre 32 minutes. Putnam’s Dino Porcic added 6 points and Frank Robinson added 7 points and 6 assists for the Mustangs.
Hyde-Woodstock
By Sean Kelly
Wolfpack 57 / Pomfret 60
The boys' varsity team lost its second consecutive game, and for the second time in four days, pushing its overall record to .500 (7-7) Jan. 20. The Wolfpack finished the opening stanza with a 37-27 lead, courtesy of the strong play of Dion Richardson ‘10, Jumah Sutton ‘11, and Chris Velez ‘10, who scored 11, 9, and 13 points, respectively. Hyde rode the hot shooting of Richardson and Velez, who both connected on three three-pointers in the opening half. However, the tides turned in the second half as the Wolfpack struggled shooting the ball. As a result, Pomfret took its first lead of the contest, 49-48, with just under eight minutes to play. From there a see-saw battle ensued. A few costly turnovers down the stretch by Hyde and a succession of Pomfret free-throws led to a three-point victory for the visiting squad.