Mar 13, 2008
End of the line
New Canaan’s season ends in State quarterfinals
|
Four days after the New Canaan Rams’ dream basketball season came to a close in the CIAC Class L quarterfinals, Head Coach Jeff Bussey was still struggling to get back to everyday life.
“I haven’t recovered yet,” Bussey said. “I’m not even close.”
It was not the finish the Rams (19-5) had pictured for this season, when a strong group of seniors and a couple of key juniors turned the team from simply a conference contender into an FCIAC and State powerhouse that could play with anyone.
In the end, a 25-12 fourth quarter for Maloney undid third-seeded New Canaan, as the No. 6 Spartans won, 78-67 in the State quarterfinals last Friday at Fairfield-Ludlowe.
Maloney (19-5) went on to score another upset Tuesday night when it beat No. 2 New London 72-50 and earned a berth in the Class L final opposite No. 8 Lyman Hall.
“Overall, man-for-man they probably were the better team, but our kids hung in there,” Bussey said.
Four New Canaan players hit double figures in scoring, a group led by senior tri-captain Will Hanley, who netted 16 points and reeled in seven rebounds, and junior point guard Jamie Pares, who scored 15 points.
Senior co-captain Billy Calanca pitched in 13 points and had 12 rebounds, while 6-9 junior Joe Sindelar had 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Senior Colton Lewis scored six points, senior Kevin Reilly had four and senior Garet Moses had two.
Maloney’s acrobatic point guard Rashamell Vereen led all scorers as he totaled 22 points, while Shoquan Stevens had 16, Johrone Bunch had 14 and Steven Reyes had 11.
New Canaan had Maloney well-scouted, but things didn’t go as planned as the Spartans were better than expected from beyond the 3-point arc.
“We had the best scouting report and the best practice we’ve ever had for this team,” Bussey said. “I even got in there and played defense against Joe and Colton. At 62 it’s hard, but I just wanted them to get pounded.
“We were really ready and we knew exactly what their strengths and weaknesses were. We wanted to take away the penetration from their guard (Vereen) and one of my points on the board was give up the three, not the drive. They shot 24 percent for the season from three. Then they hit seven in the first half on about 12 or 13 (shots).”
The hot long-range shooting of the Spartans made them tough to crack in the first half and they managed to grab the lead and hang on despite some solid runs by the Rams.
Maloney jumped out to a 6-0 lead early on, but New Canaan came back to tie the score at 12-12. A couple of 3s by Kevin Ruiz helped Maloney go back on top 21-17, but five straight points from Hanley gave the Rams their first lead at 22-21.
Maloney’s Stevens then ended the quarter with a tip-in at the buzzer to make it 23-22 in favor of the Spartans.
In the second quarter, the 3-point barrage continued to hurt New Canaan, as the Spartans expanded their lead to nine points at 43-34 by halftime.
The Rams had plenty of life left, however, and turned the nine-point deficit into a two-point lead in the third quarter.
New Canaan opened the third with a 9-2 run, with Pares hitting a pair of 3-pointers and Sindelar nailing 3-of-4 free throws.
After Maloney boosted the lead back to six at 51-45, the Rams closed the quarter with a 10-2 run for a 55-53 lead heading to the fourth.
At that point, it looked as if the Rams might take over, but the Spartans are a veteran club with plenty of players who could withstand the challenge.
“They had seven seniors just like us and they made the (Class L) finals last year with that team,” Bussey said. “Some teams would have cracked after being nine up and then going down by two with eight minutes to go. They didn’t crack.”
Bunch quickly tied the game in the fourth and baskets by Vereen and Bunch put Maloney ahead for good at 59-55.
The Spartans outscored New Canaan 15-5 to open the fourth quarter and while the Rams kept the deficit around five for most of the final six minutes, the Spartans hit 13-of-20 free throws in the final four minutes to seal the victory.
“I thought the key in the fourth quarter and the third was (Bunch) taking away the pressure and hitting a couple of jumpers from the key,” Bussey said. “When we had the lead, we had about five possessions where we didn’t score, we missed the front end of 1-on-1s twice, we missed a wide open lay-up and we turned it over a couple of times, so from two up we went nine down in a matter of minutes.”
And with that, a magical season came to an end. New Canaan not only scored 19 wins to earn the No. 4 seed in the FCIAC, they nearly went through the regular season undefeated. In the Rams’ three FCIAC losses against Trinity, St. Joseph and Bassick, they held the lead in the fourth quarter.
More important than the numbers was the closeness of the players, who struck gold with an unselfish and up-tempo style of play.
The mood after the final loss was understandably emotional.
“The locker room was really tough,” Bussey said. “I sent everybody out but the seniors and we stayed in there for a while. Coming off the bus, the seniors were really emotional. They’ve been buddies since they were playing together in sixth grade.
“I told them that these are memories that when you get together 20 years from now, you’ll never forget this.”
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
|
