Talk of the town
New Canaan’s spirited run to final has team, fans in a frenzy
The bleachers in the New Canaan High School gymnasium are decked out in the school colors, with black letters spelling out “NCHS” and “Rams” nestled within a sea of red.
Not long ago, those letters could be seen clearly, even on game nights for the boys basketball team, which was drawing sparse crowds. This year, people have flocked to the gym, turning the stands into a mass of cheering fans. The letters on the seats are virtually invisible.
“When I look around, I see a huge gym and this is what it was made for,” senior co-captain Jack Richardson said. “It was made for big crowds to be here. We finally have come into that role, and the huge crowds have been one of the big reasons why we’ve been able to do so well this year.”
With a 19-5 record and a numerous exhilarating victories, the Rams have given their fans plenty to cheer about and will have one final time to shine when they take on Granby Memorial in the CIAC Div. IV championship game at 10 a.m. Saturday, at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
New Canaan is making its first trip to a state final since 1989, and has a chance to win its first state championship since 1962.
The opportunity is a special one for the players, who are playing with confidence and clearly having fun.
“These kids are just enjoying it,” New Canaan head coach Danny Melzer said. “They’re not overthinking it, they’re just enjoying it for what it is. A lot of that has to with the fact that they get along so well and they’re friends off the court too.”
The Rams have given
themselves a shot at a championship with a diverse and deep squad which plays solid defense and gets scoring from an up and down the roster.
New Canaan has no one player dominating the scoresheet. The leading scorer changes from game to game and typically totals around 15 points.
When senior Matt Brand scored a game-high 21 points in a 62-51 semifinal victory over St. Joseph on Tuesday, it was only the second time this season the Rams had a 20-point scorer. The other was junior Alex Gibbens, who scored 22 in an 86-48 win over Kaynor Tech on Dec. 14 — opening night.
“Everyone is unselfish on this team and anybody can step up and make a big play on any given night,” senior tri-captain Luke Rwambuya said. “It’s something which allows us to just keep on winning and keep on improving. If you stop one of us, there’s always going to be another kid stepping up.”
“The unselfishness and the chemistry play a big role,” Richardson said. “It doesn’t matter who scores or who gets the assist or the stat, as long as someone does and as long as we win, that’s all we really care about. At the end of the day, the stats don’t really matter, for us it’s the result on the board.”
The fans have followed, including the Bomb Squad student section, which was out in force during the semifinal game at Fairfield Warde.
“In the past couple of years, for our home games, the bleachers behind us — they weren’t even bringing them out,” Gibbens said. “This year, they’re bringing them out every night and we’ve got a huge student section, so that feels great.”
“Having the entire town behind us is something that the team hasn’t really experienced before,” Rwambuya said. “We know everyone’s on our side and we can go out there and get the job done.”
The crowds aren’t just friends and family either, as alumni have flocked to watch the team or to offer congratulations and encouragement.
Those in attendance at the semifinal game included Gary Liberatore, who hit two free throws with no time on the clock to give the Rams a 49-48 win over Plainville in the 1962 Class M final, Monroe Trout and Tad Keating, both members of Don Usher’s 1980 team which fell to Wilbur Cross 59-56 in the Class LL final, and Bill Murphy, Jr., son of the legendary NCHS head coach.
“It’s so cool to see so many New Canaan basketball people coming to the game, shaking my hand and introducing themselves,” Melzer said. “It’s an awesome feeling. My father was an attorney in New Canaan for 30 years and he would always tell me stories about New Canaan basketball, but I didn’t really know it or live through it being from Stamford.”
There are six seniors on the roster, including the three captains, Rwambuya, Richardson and Ben Sarda, along with Brand, Stephen Wronski and Connor West, and for them, the road to Mohegan Sun began a long time ago.
“It’s definitely something we’ve been dreaming about for as long as I can remember back to fourth-grade basketball when it all started,” Richardson said. “The seniors have all been together for so long, and to see the work finally pay off and to be in the state championship is really something unbelievable.”
“At the beginning of the season, we listed out the goals we wanted to reach and at the top was we wanted to get to Mohegan Sun,” Gibbens said. “It feels great to actually achieve that goal.”
The Rams have one more bit of business to take care of, but when they finally get on the court to warm up for their game on Saturday morning, their head coach wants them to make sure they have fun.
“My advice is going to be to enjoy this,” Melzer said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and our seniors may never play organized basketball again. So go out there and live in the moment. Enjoy it and, as soon as the ball goes up in the air, it’s just another basketball game. Focus on doing what we do instead of focusing on the outcome, and the outcome will take care of itself.”