Lancers leave no doubt in ‘M’
Lancers’ unheralded group of role players which ultimately allowed Waterford to strike gold against the fourth- seed Indians, who won the Naugatuck Valley League tournament and dismantled Ledyard in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Mike Martin scored 15 points, including three 3-pointers, rugged forward Ron Baude had 10 points and provided a physical defensive presence inside along with Long, and Cory Murallo took some of the pressure off Mcleod at the point and finished with seven points and three assists, including three big free throws when Waterford salted the game away in the fourth quarter.
“It felt so good to win it our way,” Martin said. “It’s Geary and Nolan who are our core and then everyone else just works off of them. In this whole tournament everyone seemed to doubt us, but in our family here, we were confident.”
“Mike Martin doesn’t get enough credit for what he does,” Long said. “And we don’t come out of here without getting contributions from everybody.”
Added Mcleod: “Mike Martin … he’s like the most underrated and humble kid I’ve ever played with. Everybody just focuses on me and Nolan, but Ron played great and Mike and Cory (Murallo) are like our two secret weapons.”
And don’t forgot about Gwudz, the second- year head coach who admitted he was so nervous on Friday night that he picked up the phone and called veteran Bacon Academy girls’ coach Dave Shea, a good friend who actually coached his wife Megan at Bacon.
“He was great and I’m so glad (Bacon) won, too,” Gwudz said. “He said ‘Don’t be tight because the kids will see it and they will be, too.’ He told me one year he was tight and his kids struggled as a result.
“He said, ‘Tell them to play and have fun. It’s not about plays and it’s not about Xs and Os. It’s about heart and who players harder.… That was great advice.”
In a high-paced, high-levelgamefrom the start, Waterford led 22-21 after one quarter and 37-34 at the half. But Watertown became the first team to blink and the Lancers capitalized, going on a 9-0 run early in the second half— starting with a Martin 3-pointer and ending with Mcleod’s dynamic tip-in— to open a 46-36 lead.
The Indians never went away, but Waterford never lost control, either. The Lancers’ lead never shrunk below six again and after a three-point play by Watertown’s Edward Hill pulled the Indians with 59-53 with three minutes left, Murallo fed Martin for a layup off an inbounds play and Waterford then converted six straight free throws — two each by Mcleod, Martin and Long — and the lead swelled to 67-53 with 37.9 seconds remaining.
“Itwasan incredible game,” Gwudzsaid. “Both teams got off to an unbelievable start. We said at halftime it was going to come down to our defense and we like our defense. What better way to end the season than this.” c.banning@theday.com