Unbeaten Morgan claims conference title

CLINTON — Frank Rossi didn’t recognize the phone number that came across his caller ID on Friday. Then the Morgan boys basketball coach listened to the voicemail message.

It was George Braun calling from North Carolina, Braun is the former longtime coach at Morgan and was an assistant to Rossi when he was at Hand. The two men spoke Saturday morning.

“He’s been following us from afar (North Carolina). George is one of the guys I looked up to when I first started as a head coach,” Rossi said. “When I got the job here, it was important to honor his legacy and culture. It’s his program I’m carrying the flag for.”

Rossi has had very good teams at his previous stops, teams that advanced deep into the state tournament. But winning titles is special. Going undefeated is even more special.

Morgan was able to accomplish both on its home floor Saturday afternoon. The top-seeded Huskies held off No. 3 Valley Regional 62-54 to win the Shoreline title.

“We fought through and didn’t let adversity take over. That’s the good thing about us,” said Morgan senior center Rob Zirlis, who finished with nine points and 14 rebounds.

It was the Huskies' first Shoreline title since 2005. It also completed the 15-0 season.

“Our guys fought every practice and every game. The 2020 (title) will go up on a banner and we hope to put up a (20)21-22 banner next year,” said junior Alex Fratamico. “I will cherish this the rest of my life.”

Morgan is the fourth straight team to go unbeaten in Shoreline play, joining East Hampton in 2018, Cromwell in 2019 and Old Lyme in 2020.

This will be forever remembered as the season where masks were worn due to the COVID-19 pandemic and no non-conference games were held. Getting through the season was an accomplishment in itself.

“We came back after Christmas and we weren’t even sure if we would even have a season,” Rossi said. “With the masks and cohorting restrictions we had in place throughout the season, no fans, the kids never said a word. They showed up and played basketball. Our approach from day one was, ‘Play for today and get better for tomorrow.’”

Morgan won the regularseason meeting with Valley by 32 points back in February. But both coaches knew this would be a completely different game, especially with Valley Regional sophomore Jeremy Arnum healthy.

Arnum injured his right wrist in the first game between the two teams. He came back at the start of the playoffs. Arnum finished with a game-high 20 points.

“He is an amazing player. We tried to lock him down and we couldn’t lock him down,” Fratamico said. “I think he will be a (Shoreline) player of the year candidate the next two years, maybe even win it.”

Valley (10-5) held a 48-45 lead early in the fourth quarter. Then came the turning point, Valley coach Kevin Woods felt: Zach Johnson with the tying 3-pointer.

“There was a loose ball, 22 (Fratamico) makes a great hustle play, he kicks it out to the corner and they tie the game up. That is a big momentum play,” Woods said.

It ended up being part of a 10-0 run for Morgan to give the Huskies a 55-48 lead. The problem with that for Valley was how much time it took: the Warriors were held scoreless for 6 minutes.

Simon Partyka hit a 3-pointer to end the scoring drought, but that came with 36 seconds left. Morgan hit 7 of 8 free throws from there to seal it.

“Hats off to them for getting the job done and finishing,” Woods said.

PLAYER OF THE GAME Alex Fratamico, Morgan:

Scored eight of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to help Morgan keep Valley Regional at bay.

QUOTABLE

“This means everything. We’ve worked for it all season but realistically, we have been working for this for pretty much our entire lives, since I was a little kid. I always wanted to be here and win this. It’s a great feeling.”

— Morgan senior guard Zach Johnson