TRUMBULL, Conn. — The Christmas season was kind to St. Joseph High School hoops, as the Cadet boys and girls each added a new piece of championship hardware to the school trophy case during the vacation week.
The SJHS boys toppled FCIAC rival Trinity Catholic, 51-49, in the final of the 24th Annual Northeast Catholic School Basketball Classic on Wednesday night at Vito Montelli Court in Trumbull.
Senior Sam Wilson nailed down the victory by hitting two free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining.
The championship gave the Cadets a measure of revenge against the Trinity Crusaders, who topped St. Joe’s 67-66 on opening night when Jonathan Boykin hit a 50-footer at the buzzer.
Although the Crusaders did manage another desperation heave in Wednesday’s game, the shot missed the mark as St. Joe’s took the title on its home court.
Sophomore forward Timajh Parker took tournament MVP honors after racking up 17 points and 11 rebounds in the final. He was joined on the all-tournament team by senior all-stater Greg Langston (11 points), Wilson (9) and junior Oscar Assie (9). The Cadets are 4-1 this season.
For Trinity, which fell to 3-2, Mike Scaturchio netted 18 points and Remy Pinson had 12.
The consolation game featured two New York teams with Holy Trinity defeating Monsignor McClancy.
In Fairfield, the St. Joseph girls knocked off host Notre Dame of Fairfield to win the championship of Notre Dame’s Appalachia Tournament, which also featured Staples and Joel Barlow of Redding. It was the Cadets’ second consecutive tournament title, as they improved to 5-1.
Senior Michelle Gorman delivered a team-high 14 points and earned MVP honors, while junior teammate Amala Gritsko scored 10 points and made the all-tournament team. Taylor Whiting and Jess Jowdy each had nine points. For NDFF (2-3), Nicole Negron scored a game-high 19 points.
2. Huydic gets 400th career victory at Staples: Ed Huydic has scored numerous huge victories during his career as the Staples Wreckers girls basketball coach. Now, he can add another milestone to his legacy.
Huydic’s Wreckers defeated Joel Barlow, 40-39, on Wednesday night, giving their head coach his 400th career victory. Huydic is in his 29th season at Staples High School. The win also gave the Wreckers third place in the Appalachia Tournament. Jessica Coelho led Staples (4-2) with 20 points, while Remy Nolan added nine. For Barlow (1-5), Brittany Dumas and Rachel Schenck each scored six.
3. Stratford crushes East Lyme for tournament crown: The Red Devils of Stratford High School left little doubt as to who was the class of the Merit Insurance Classic Tournament, as they pounded the East Lyme Vikings, 77-50, in the final on Wednesday. Stratford remained perfect with a 4-0 record, while East Lyme suffered its first loss and is now 4-1.
Devils senior Brandon Sherrod was the game’s leading scorer, racking up 29 points to take the tournament MVP award. Sophomore Kyle Small added 13 points, senior Russell Payton scored eight, and junior A.J. Arsland and Bernard Brantley had seven apiece. Stratford won its first-round game against Prince RVT, 82-60, on Monday.
4. Greenwich defends LaVista title: The Cardinals made it two straight holiday championships as they routed the Darien Blue Wave, 55-38, to win the annual Tony LaVista Memorial Tournament on Wednesday night at DHS.
The Cardinals had to come from behind to beat New Canaan, 55-51, in Monday’s first round, but they had little trouble in the final as they built a 29-15 lead by halftime en route to the win. Al Azulphar, Greenwich’s 6-foot-10 junior, was named the tournament MVP after scoring 17 points in the final. Senior co-captain Clay Graham also hit double digits with 12 points and was named to the all-tournament team. New Canaan rolled to a 54-31 win over Noble, Maine, in the consolation game.
5. Bridgeport Central routs Trinity by 58 points: Head out to a Trinity Catholic boys basketball game and you’re likely to see something remarkable. That’s expected, as the Crusaders have set the pace in the FCIAC for the past decade, featuring outstanding play and countless victories.
So seeing Trinity in a slow-down offense in the second half of its Tuesday night game at Bridgeport Central wasn’t unusual. What was unusual was the fact that the Crusaders were losing at the time. The Central Hilltoppers stunned the Crusaders, the FCIAC and likely the rest of Connecticut when they routed Trinity Catholic, 101-43, in their early-season showdown this week.
The Toppers had five players score in double figures, led by Jerome Parkins’ 20, and held the Crusaders to seven points in the first, third and fourth quarters. Central led 21-7 after one quarter, 47-29 at halftime and 75-36 after three quarters. The only question at that point was would the Hilltoppers reach 100 points. Trinity attempted to slow the pace down late in the game, but Central went over the century mark when Andrew Coore sank a jumper in the waning seconds.
Diontay Washington scored 19 points for Central, while Chris Colon had 14 and Jerry Washington and Christon Gill had 12 each. Jonathan Boykin led the Crusaders with 21 points. Central is 3-0 with another huge conference game, this time against St. Joseph (4-1), on tap for Tuesday.
6. New Milford wrestlers end Danbury’s win streak at 262: The New Milford Green Wave wrestlers became giant killers on Dec. 22, as they knocked off the Danbury Hatters, 33-23, ending Danbury’s 262-match winning streak against Connecticut opponents.
New Milford entered the quad meet ranked No. 4 in the state according to the Norwich Bulletin poll, but will move up, possibly to No. 1, after defeating the top-ranked Hatters. The contest featured six matches decided by three or fewer points, including four by a single point.
The Green Wave had just two pinfalls, the first by Anthony Terlizzi in the 130-pound weight class, and the second from John Burns, who won the heavyweight battle in a mere 36 seconds. Danbury led 23-15 heading into the final four matches, but was forfeiting the 103-pound class, the final event of the contest.
The Wave’s Brian Richman edged Eddie Lynch, 6-5, at 189 pounds to pick up three decision points, and teammate Adam Lynch then beat Dylan Hancock at 215 pounds, 5-4 in three overtime, to close the gap to 23-21 in favor of the Hatters.
With the six points for the forfeit looming, Danbury needed a technical fall or a pin to secure the victory, but Burns quickly pinned Jonathan Calderon in the heavyweight match to give New Milford the win.
New Milford’s other three victories were all decisions, as Andrew Golden (135 pounds) defeated J.D. Damici 4-3; Evan Renner (152) defeated Kyle Westerfield 9-7; and Karl Bradshaw (160) defeated Kevin Smith 9-4.
New Milford improved to 3-0 this season, while Danbury fell to 2-2. The Hatters’ other loss was in an out-of-state match, as they were beaten by Mount Anthony of Vermont, 31-30, in their opener.
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.
