Cadets fall to Rams
St. Joseph’s run ends in Div. IV semifinals
FAIRFIELD — Two years ago, the New Canaan boys basketball team won just four of 20 games. Now, the Rams are going dancing at the Sun.
New Canaan won a fulltilt battle with the St. Joseph Cadets, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 62-51 victory in the CIAC
Div. IV semifinals Tuesday night at
Warde High
School in
Fairfield.
It was the
Rams’ 19th win of the season after winning just nine in the past two years combined and, more importantly, put New Canaan in the state final for the first time since 1989.
“I think that was the hardest we’ve played all year,” New Canaan head coach Danny Melzer said of his players. “We basically got every 50-50 ball. We played with so much passion and so much heart. I’m extremely proud of them.”
No. 4 New Canaan (19-5) will take on No. 3 Granby Memorial (20-3) for the Div. IV championship at the Mohegan Sun Arena on either Saturday or Sunday. The Rams will be bidding for their first state championship since 1962, when they defeated Plainville, 49-48.
“Mohegan Sun is something that we’ve been wanting to achieve all season,” senior tri-captain Luke Rwambuya said. “It’s been one of our goals and it’s just
surreal to get there.”
Junior Matt Brand led the Rams with a game-high 21 points, split nearly down the middle with 10 in the first half and 11 in the second. Senior Alex Gibbens hit five 3-pointers — three in the second quarter when the Rams gained the lead — and scored 16 points, while junior Ryan McAleer added seven, and senior tri-captain Jack Richardson scored six.
For the No. 16 Cadets (14-10), senior co-captain Steve Paolini scored 17 points, senior co-captain Brendan Kade scored 12, and junior Paul Fabbri and senior co-captain Dan Tobin adding nine each.
“I’m proud of them,” St. Joseph head coach Kevin Wielk said. “I believed in them since day one and they fought every step of the way all season. New Canaan is a tough team and wellcoached and we knew if they made shots (from the perimeter), it would be a tough night.”
The Warde gym was electric from the start, but it took a quarter for the Rams to settle in.
St. Joseph had a 14-8 lead after one quarter, led by Paolini’s nine points, but New Canaan got going in the second frame and outscored the Cadets 18-10 for a 26-24 halftime advantage.
Once they started rolling, the Rams were hard to slow down.
“The intensity was definitely at its highest point of the whole season,” Brand said. “Guys were diving on the floor the atmosphere was great and that’s what really out us over the edge. As soon as we get that chemistry going, we’re pretty hard to stop.”
New Canaan rolled to start the second half, building a 37-29 lead with an 11-5 run which included a dunk from Brand.
The Rams stepped up on defense, with Rwambuya guarding Paolini and holding him to just four points after his big first half.
The Cadets refused to go away, however, closing the third quarter with seven straight points to make it a 37-36 game heading to the fourth.
“I told them basketball’s a game of runs,” Melzer said. “Right now they’re on one, but we’re still winning and we’re still going to win the game. Our guys believed in that and responded in the fourth quarter.”
The Rams had a 47-41 lead when Gibbens nailed his fifth 3-point bucket of the game — a dagger which made it 50-41 with 2:15 remaining.
After Tobin hit for two, New Canaan senior cocaptain Ben Sarda sank two free throws and Brand scored underneath for an 11-point advantage with 1:25 to go.
St. Joseph crept to within seven points with less than a minute to go, but New Canaan closed it out to earn its trip to the final.
“One of the things about this team which is so special is we’ve learned how to finish games,” Brand said. “That’s something we struggled with, but this year we’ve been able to hold those leads and even extend them and that was huge for us.”
Asked what had changed about his players in the past two years, Melzer was quick with an answer.
“A lot — we’ve worked really, really hard and the kids have bought into how hard it is to be good at basketball,” Melzer said. “They believe in each other, they believe in us, and we believe in them. We’ve had great leadership throughout the years and these guys are no different. It’s incredible. That being said, we’ve still got one more to win. We still have some unfinished business.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Matt Brand, New Canaan. The Rams had contributions from everyone, but Brand led the scoring attack with 21 points and was a force from start to finish. He had at least four points in every quarter and closed it out with seven in the fourth.
QUOTABLE
“It’s a group full of very unselfish kids. We all want to see each other shine and it doesn’t matter who gets the bucket as long as we get the win at the end of the day. School will probably be pretty crazy (this week), but we’re going to stay focused and get ready for the championship game.” — New Canaan senior co-captain Luke Rwambuya