Wolverines move on in Division IV
Griswold — The gymnasium at High Griswold School was standing room only and not far from combustion late Monday night as the Wolverines took a nine- point lead, less than three minutes from a state semifinal bid.
When it was over, the student section stormed the court.
Jacob Strain, Griswold’s senior guard, sobbed tears of joy. His hands shook.
“I just want to win,” Strain said by way of explanation.
That badly?
“Yeah,” he said. “We just wanted it. We wanted to win.”
Fourth- seeded Griswold expended every last ounce of energy in a 62-59 victory over No. 5 Weaver in the Division IV state tournament quarterfinals, battling 6-foot-9 Weaver center Chris Wilson with no one to defend him that stood more than 6-1.
In a game in which every possession was of the utmost importance, the Wolverines (22-3) advanced to meet No. 1 Cromwell in the semifinals Wednesday at a site and time to be announced. Cromwell topped Windham 72-58 Monday.
“I’m surprised I haven’t yet,” Griswold coach Rob Mileski said, alluding to Strain’s tears. “It’s just this group. I don’t think we want to let it end. It’s just too much fun. They’re too good. They work so hard. They’re talented. They’re not intimidated. “They’re a joy to coach. It’s like a coach’s dream.” Lucas Strain and Jeff Souvenance had 13 points each for Griswold, Evan Merchant had 11 and Jacob Strain 10.
Griswold led 61-52 on a steal by KinKade Rubino, who fed it to Lucas Strain.
“I don't think we want to let it end. It's just too much fun. They're too good. They work so hard. They're talented. They're not intimidated. They're a joy to coach. It's like a coach's dream.”
GRISWOLD COACH ROB MILESKI
Weaver, led by 20 points from Jamir Hicks (five 3-point field goals) and 18 from Wilson, then launched a 7-0 run to pull within 61-59, getting the final basket of that sequence from Wilson. The Beavers called a timeout down two with 42.1 seconds remaining.
That final 42.1 seconds illustrated Griswold's resilience. The Wolverines jogged back out on the court with determination. They turned the ball over, but Griswold's Christian Russell then stole it back. That forced Weaver, with only four team fouls to that point to foul.
Finally, Jacob Strain stood on the free throw line, making the front end of a one-and-one for what was the final margin. He missed the second, but Souvenance forced a tie-up on the offensive rebound, giving the ball back to the Wolverines.
By the time Weaver got the ball back, 3.2 seconds remained.
“Our whole mantra's been, we're going to wear people down,” Mileski said of his team, which pressured Weaver. “There's 32 minutes, we're going to wear people down. ... It certainly is a sacrifice going with defense first, but defense wins, defense travels.”
“It's our last season. We don't want to go home. We want to keep playing,” Jacob Strain said. “It's our senior year. It's about time we do it. We've been grinding. We want to do it.”
There were seven lead changes in the first half, with Griswold leading 35-33 at the break.
The Wolverines first grabbed a 1716 lead on a three-point play by Souvenance, then, following a basket by Weaver's Jeffery Acoff, Griswold's Tommy Mattson got the lead back with a pair of free throws. Mattson was fouled shooting a 3- pointer with 1.3 seconds remaining and got three chances from the free throw line.
In the second quarter, Merchant tied the game at 25 with a jump shot from the right side and Jacob Strain made one of two free throws to make it 26-25.
After a 6-0 run, including a basket by Mattson and a free throw by Michael Strain, the Wolverines led 29-25.
Lucas Strain made it 35-31 in Griswold's favor off a steal, but Weaver's Acoff ended the half with a layup to make it a two-point game.
Griswold won the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II tournament title March 1 at Mohegan Sun Arena, beating Killingly 65- 58 behind six 3- pointers from Russell, who was named Most Outstanding Player.
Weaver ( 21- 4) was the Capitol Region Athletic League tournament champ, beating Classical 63-27 on March 2.