Norwalk’s resolve tested by quarantine
Bears at full strength again after COVID sidelined several players
Norwalk’s Isaias Gonzalez was not coming off the basketball court.
Called to the sideline by coach Garrett Hickey, who wanted to find out if his senior captain needed a break, Gonzalez responded “I’ve got this. I’ve got these minutes, we need us on the floor,” according to Hickey.
Gonzalez and the rest of the Bears have had their resolve tested in recent weeks, as a COVID quarantine sidelined seven varsity players and forced the junior varsity and freshman teams to postpone their games.
The result was some Bears taking on bigger roles for three games, bench players moving into the starting lineup, and junior varsity players getting a taste of varsity action a bit earlier than expected.
Hickey, in his first year as Norwalk’s head coach, admitted it was difficult, as the Bears dropped three straight, but the players grew from the experience.
“The guys who were able to stay around and didn’t get into quarantine, they fought and did a really good job,” Hickey said. “Everyone stepped up. They could’ve been nervous and they weren’t.
“We’re back at full strength now, and the guys who returned are really hungry because they lost some time.”
Norwalk is 2-6, but has plenty of time to dig itself out of the early hole. It’s restarting the season with a dozen games remaining, Hickey said, beginning with a road trip to Bethel on Saturday.
The Bears had won two of their first three games this winter when Hickey received word that a number of players were going into quarantine based on the CIAC’s protocols.
That group included senior guards Cam Edwards and Mysonne Pollard, who were leading Norwalk’s offense.
Even with a large chunk of the roster out of action, the Bears chose not to postpone games, in large part due to the uncertain nature of COVID and its effects on
the season. Without playing, Norwalk might not get those games back.
“I didn’t want to shut down and then have us not play any more games,” Hickey said. “We talked and everyone was on the same page that we’ve just got to play and see where we land at the end of the season.”
The quarantine lasted a week and a half, and three games, with Norwalk losing to Warde 71-64, Darien 61-37, and Wilton 74-40.
Gonzalez was one of three players to play all 32 minutes in each of those games and Hickey called him the “epitome of a captain.”
“He steps up in many ways,” the coach said. “A captain doesn’t just mean that you’re the best basketball player on the court, it means that when we’re out in public, when you’re in school, you represent the team in the right way. He does that and he’s risen to the occasion.”
Seniors Jeremiah Simeon and Amoni Edwards also played every minute of those games, senior Devyn Jordan came off the bench to start twice, and Matt Terry, who had missed the start of the season, came back just in time to help out.
A sophomore, Jaylen Brown also stepped up and led the Bears with 18 points against Warde, a team which is expected to contend for the FCIAC title.
Hickey said Brown is part of Norwalk’s talented sophomore class.
“I don’t think a lot of people knew who he was before that game (against Warde),” Hickey said “I knew he was good, but I don’t think he would’ve gotten that opportunity unless this kind of thing did happen.”
Norwalk had many of its varsity players back for it’s Jan. 13 game against Ludlowe, but they had little time to shake off the rust, returning the day of the game as the Bears fell 68-52.
The Bears came out slow against Greenwich on Monday, falling behind 12-2 in the first quarter before losing 43-40.
Hickey was happy with the way the Bears responded to the deficit in that game, rallying before having a three-point shot fall short at the buzzer.
“We’ve been telling them we control what we can control and they’ve done a really good job in focusing on that,” Hickey said. “I don’t know everything with other teams in the state of Connecticut, but I feel like we’re one of the teams that has gone through the most in this short amount of time.
“They could’ve just given up and been sour grapes about it, but they really haven’t. They’ve chugged along and I’m excited for the rest of the season to see where we end up.”