By Dave Stewart
MaxPreps.com
STRATFORD, Conn. - At 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, Stratford senior Robert Dupree isn’t the sort of guy you’ll typically find hanging out behind the 3-point arc on the basketball court.
But when the opportunity arose late in the Red Devils’ SWC championship game against Kolbe Cathedral, Dupree took the shot and hit what may have been his team’s biggest basket of the season.
“Rob Dupree had a look at the top of the key, a look at a 3-point shot, and Rob’s a pretty good shooter,” coach Paul Dudzinski said. “We usually don’t let him roam out there but he got a look and knocked it down. It sort of catapulted us. We were playing in Stratford and the bench got juiced up and the kids got juiced up.”
Dupree’s trey snapped a 47-47 tie and put Stratford up for good. The Red Devils hit their free throws, played solid defense down the stretch and defeated the Kolbe Cougars, 58-49, to win their first SWC championship since 2005.
It was the ninth consecutive victory for Stratford, which has since stretched that number to 11 in the State Class M tournament and is 19-6 after a lukewarm start. It’s also a long way off from the preseason, when Stratford wasn’t given much of a chance because of its inexperience.
The Devils returned just two starters from last year — senior guards and co-captains Tim Martin and Joe Charles — but other than that, there weren’t many players who could be considered varsity veterans in the ranks,
“They played well in the preseason but when you looked at the team, a lot of these guys did not have a lot of varsity experience,” Dudzinski said.
Fate - and a shrewd coaching decision - stepped in at the mid-point of the season, when Martin was sidelined for a short time.
Stratford was 8-6 at the time and Dupree and Brandon Sherrod, a 6-4, 225-pound sophomore, had been sharing time at forward. With Martin out, the two big players were inserted into the lineup together and the Red Devils beat a strong Bunnell squad, 57-52, to start its current 11-game win streak.
“We had to look to do something a little different,” Dudzinski said. “We put the two bigs in together, they had been subbing for each other, and it happened to be that we were playing Bunnell, who has some big bodies themselves. We’ve played a lot more zone since that time because of the two bigs and that’s really worked well.”
The Red Devils starting lineup features the two big men, Sherrod and Dupree, at forward, with the two captains, the 6-0 Martin and the 5-7 Charles, at guard along with Russell Payton, a 5-11 sophomore.
The two captains have contrasting leadership styles, Dudzinski said, with Martin as the quiet, lead-by-example type and Charles as the vocal captain who’s always ready to tell his teammates what needs to be done.
“Timmy’s been a four-year player on the varsity team, but he’s the type of kid who doesn’t like the spotlight,” Dudzinski said of Martin, who has collected more than 200 steals during his career. “He’ll do all the little things to help you win. He doesn’t really care about scoring as much but he’ll make the good pass or box out, get steals and just makes hustle plays. He does some tremendous things that don’t show up in the box scores.
“Joe is not the tallest or biggest guy in the world or the most skilled guy in the world, but this kid really plays hard — he’s a beast,” the coach said. “He gets rebounds where a guy has no right getting them. He gets in there and hustles hard.”
Dupree has had difficulty staying eligible during his high school career, but as a senior he’s stepped up both in the classroom and on the basketball court, Dudzinski said,
As for Sherrod, he’s developed physically and come into his own this season.
“He’s just starting to learn how to play and we’ve seen him get better every day,” Dudzinski said.
The Red Devils’ talents aren’t limited to the starting five by any means and Dudzinski has the luxury of having a number of solid reserves to choose from.
Coming off the bench as forwards are Tom Massey, a 6-5 senior, and Stephon Patterson, a 5-11 junior, while the guards include 6-1 senior Kolin Ebron, 5-11 sophomore Jason Charles, and 5-8 senior Kwame Burwell.
Stratford’s depth and versatility is clear on the stat sheet, as the team has no player averaging more than 10 points per game, but has four — Dupree, Martin, Payton and Ebron — averaging at least nine per game. Dupree, Ebron and Sherrod average more than five rebounds per game and Martin has nearly four steals per game.
“All these guards go out there and play hard — Timmy Martin, Joe Charles, Kolin Ebron, Russell Payton, Jason Charles and Kwame Burrell,” Dudzinski said. “And then we have Tom Massey coming off the bench for us and he’s a 6-5 forward and we have Stephon Patterson, who’s 5-11 but he plays like he’s 6-3. He’s a strong wide body kid with good skills.
“Depth .. and the fact that guys are interchangeable has been huge for us this year.”
The Red Devils have had more than their share of close games this season with eight wins of five or fewer points and five losses of seven or fewer points. They’ve lost by more than seven just once, a 62-48 decision to Notre Dame-Fairfield on Jan. 15, but avenged that defeat with a 58-55 decision against the Lancers in the SWC semifinals on Feb. 26.
During the first nine wins of its 11-game win streak, Stratford had an average margin of victory of five points and held opponents to just 44 points per game.
The strong defensive play and the close games have left the Red Devils battle-tested and well-prepared for the postseason, when tight games become the norm.
“We’ve done some work securing the ball and we’ve made some crucial shots and free throws down at the end to win some close ball games,” Dudzinski said. “We’ve been on the wrong end of some of those close ones, but that prepared us for the winning streak down the stretch when we started to win. We learned how to win in those close games and that’s carried us through.”
And no doubt helped when Stratford faced Kolbe, the SWC’s top seed, for a third time this year. The Cougars had won the first two meetings this year by a total of six points — 78-76 and 70-66.
The third time was the charm for the Red Devils, who outscored the Cougars 17-4 down the stretch to turn a 45-41 deficit into a 58-49 championship.
“It was a game of runs and it was tied up with a little over two minutes to go, so it was really a battle,” Dudzinski said.
Dupree’s late 3-pointer to put Stratford ahead capped a stellar night for the senior big man, who finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds and took MVP honors.
Joe Charles scored a team-best 14 points, Burwell had nine points, Patterson had eight points and 10 rebounds and Martin had five points.
The key factor may have been the play on the boards, as Kolbe usually out-rebounds Stratford, but the Red Devils bested the Cougars by 15 in the final.
“They were pretty confident,” Dudzinski said of his players. “We know (Kolbe) well and we had two close games and we play them in the offseason. But we all knew that could definitely go either way. Kolbe’s beaten us a lot through the years and it’s nice to be able to beat them in the SWC championship.”
The Red Devils have carried their momentum into the State Class M playoffs; as the No. 5 seed, they’ve beaten No. 28 Brookfield 55-41 and No. 21 Waterford 70-45.
Stratford will face another tough, battle-tested opponent in Monday’s State quarterfinals in No. 13 Sheehan (14-8). Sheehan has played a powerful schedule, with two losses apiece to Wilbur Cross, Hillhouse and Lyman Hall, and a split with Xavier.
“We’re playing a great Sheehan team that plays in a great league. We know they’re tough, they execute what they do very well and they’ve been in a lot of close games. We’re very much respectful of them and we know they’re going to be a very dangerous opponent.
“You’re looking at eight teams left and so, we have a great opportunity.”
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com
