Vigeant’s late free throws send Warde past Staples
FAIRFIELD — Colin Vigeant calmly stepped to the free-throw line with 7.9 seconds left. A berth in the FCIAC tournament semifinals was on the line.
The junior guard didn’t flinch. He made both free throws to give Fairfield Warde its first lead of the second half. One turnover later by Staples, Warde had secured a bid to Wilton High Tuesday night.
Fifth-seeded Warde moved on with the 55-52 win at home Saturday evening.
“Personally, I haven’t been pro52-49. ducing with free throws, so I had to live up to my team to make those,” Vigeant said. “Of course, hearing the chants from the other student section definitely gave me the motivation to make them.”
Said Warde coach Ryan Swaller: “I told him, ‘Take a deep breath.’ …. He is one of the guys who says, ‘I want the ball, Coach.’ He showed he wanted the ball today.”
Warde will face top seed and three-time champion Ridgefield in the semifinals Tuesday night at Wilton at 7:45 p.m. Westhill will gace Wilton in the opener at 5:30.
Staples (15-6) led by 10 early in the third quarter. Warde tied it four different times in the final quarter. The third one was at 49-all with 1:07 left on a dunk from Justyn Davis (26 points, 12 rebounds) that sent the home crowd into a frenzy.
“We put a little more pressure on them in the second half,” Swaller said. “I felt it took them out of their half-court offense. … They were tired down the stretch which allowed us to get some easy possessions in transition . ... Justyn is the (FCIAC) Player of the Year in my eyes.”
Caleb Tobias hit a 3-pointer to put the Wreckers back in front, Jack Plesser answered for Warde (17-4) with a basket, then the Mustangs forced a turnover, and Vigeant was quickly fouled.
After Vigeant put Warde out in front, the Wreckers advanced the ball over midcourt, but Warde forced a turnover with 1.4 seconds left. Karl Schmidt was fouled before the ball was inbounded and made both free throws — his only points of the game.
The Mustangs intercepted a long inbounds pass to end it.
“I’d rather have the lead late than not have it at all,” Swaller said.
Chris Zajac finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Wreckers.
NO. 1 RIDGEFIELD 42, NO. 8 GREENWICH 21
Matt Knachel led the way with 15 points as Ridgefield moved on to play Fairfield Warde in Tuesday’s semifinals.
Ridgefield (19-2), the sixth-ranked team in the GameTimeCT Top 10 poll, pulled away in the fourth quarter, outsourcing Greenwich 20-6 in the quarter.
“We win because of our defense. Dylan (Veillette) didn’t score the points he usually scores, but he was really good defensively inside,” Ridgefield coach Andrew McClellan said. “Our poise was really good in the fourth quarter, maybe great.”
These two teams squared off a week ago, with Ridgefield winning 51-36. This time around, Greenwich started out attempting to use long possessions and take only wide-open shots. Ridgefield led 7-4 after the first quarter.
“I give my boys a lot of credit, That’s not an enjoyable way to play. I thought they kept their posie. They guarded and didn’t lunge or reach. Most teams would not be mentally tough enough ti kind of stick with it.”
NOTE: The FCIAC tournament semifinals will be separate admissions. Wilton is permitting 1,200 fans per game. The gym will be cleared after the first game, Westhill vs Wilton.