The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Midseason look at area hoops teams
The agony of another winter. Snow, ice, dry skin, tree branches littering the yard, seeing a neighbor’s mailbox in the street and feeling grateful that a city plow somehow missed mine.
Sheer seasonal despair? Hardly. We are smack in the middle of high school basketball season.
Like any other year, there are good teams up and down Middlesex County. At the halfway point, teams are taking stock in their accomplishments through 10 games and what they need to do to improve over the next 10.
Cromwell offers a double dose of good basketball. Both the boys and girls squads have established themselves as the clear favorites to win the Shoreline Conference, and both are talented and have enough depth to be playing at Mohegan Sun on the third Saturday of March.
The Panthers, then, are the jumping-off point to this midseason review.
** Coach John Pinone’s boys team is 11-0 and one of three unbeatens in CIAC Division IV, where they made the requisite step up after capturing the Division V championship last March.
But are these Panthers a great team? Not even close, Pinone would say. They don’t have the advantage of playing in close games. They could be more patient, especially in the half-court set. And in the handful of times I’ve seen the Panthers, they haven’t been sharp for even close to 32 minutes.
“Right now we’ve hit a little bit of a lull. We have not been playing all that well the last three or four games,” Pinone said Saturday, before his team went out and beat Portland 57-30. “I think every team goes through that kind
of stretch. We’re a little bit out of sync and we’re trying to work through that.
“Sometimes, just because you’re winning doesn’t mean you’re heading in the right direction.”
Last Monday, Cromwell was challenged by Coginchaug’s slowdown style. Itt wasn’t until the final minute, and pretty much at the free-throw line, that the Panthers secured a 50-43 win. It’s the only game they haven’t won by at least 14. Excluding the Coginchaug game, their margin of victory is 25.9 points.
“We have to prepare like we are still going to be in close games,” Pinone said. “We practice and prepare as if we’ll be in those games. But we’re far from being really good. We don’t have the right mindset yet. Hopefully, it doesn’t cost us a game. We’ve had teams on the ropes (early during games) and we don’t put them away.
“We always talk about, ‘Do you want to be good or great?’ ”
Old Lyme (9-1 overall but unbeaten in Shoreline play) is running second to Cromwell in the conference. The two don’t meet until Feb. 18, Cromwell’s last game of the regular season. Other key games for the Panthers coming up: at Coginchaug (Jan. 29); at Valley Regional (Feb. 5); Morgan (Feb. 8).
A quick check of other area teams:
** Cromwell girls: Coach Kelly Maher’s program, winner of the last three Shoreline tournament titles, is gearing up for another deep run in the Class M tournament. On Friday, the Panthers played their biggest game to date — on the road against undefeated East Hampton.
“We approached it like just another January game,” she said.
Cromwell (10-2) won by 31 points. Its Shoreline dominance is reflected in a 41-game winning streak, including league tournament play. The rout of the Bellringers (10-1) should tell you where this team could be headed.
Plus, in my opinion, the Panthers have the best player in the conference in junior forward Vanessa Stolstajner, who scored a game-high 21 against East Hampton. She averages 18.3 points per game.
Key games coming up: Westbrook (Saturday); Coginchaug (Jan. 28); at Morgan (Feb. 7); at No. 1-ranked New London (Feb. 9).
** Middletown boys: The Blue Dragons are trying to dig out from under a 3-7 start. They would like to say their schedule will let up, but that ain’t so. Their opponents this week are Simsbury (7-3) on Tuesday, at Newington (8-3) on
Thursday, and Weaver on Saturday (Weaver would be 8-3 if not for the forfeit of three wins, which came from coach Reggie Hatchett self-reporting the use of an ineligible player).
On Friday, Middletown looked as if it had a 50-48 win over Berlin in the bag, but the Redcoats hit a 3point shot as time expired.
Every game from here on out is precious to the Dragons’ Division II tournament chances. They need five wins to qualify. Best bets are against teams .500 or below: Bristol Eastern (Jan. 29), Plainville (Feb. 1) and Maloney (Feb. 12); and they will have to pick off two from this group — Weaver, Simsbury, Newington or Berlin (Feb. 18).
** Middletown girls: The Dragons (7-5) have hit a rough patch. A 62-54 home loss to a 10-2 Berlin team was their third straight defeat. Their next five opponents (Conard, Wethersfield, Manchester, Bristol Eastern and Plainville) have winning records, so the going will get tougher.
“The last 11 games on the schedule are all very challenging, which is why we needed to, and got off to, a good start,” coach Rob Smernoff said. “The girls played their hearts out Friday against Berlin, and as long as they play their hardest and play together, that is all any coach can ask.”
** Mercy: The Tigers (7-4) have come on strong in the last two weeks. Their five-game winning streak means their next W will put them back in the Class LL tournament field to defend the title they won last year.
This group of Tigers is not a top-tier Class LL team. Take, however, Friday’s win over Wilbur Cross: Leading scorer Kameryn King went for 21, there was enough complementary offense to push them past the 50-point threshold, and they played really good defense, especially in the second half.
Using this win as their best formula for success, who knows how far the Tigers can go during the postseason? Plus, King, who will go on to play at the University of New Haven, is a believer — and that’s all that matters.
“Last year we had such a great team. If we were to win this year it would mean so much more,” she said.
Only three of Mercy’s final eight in-state games are at home. Key matchups: Daniel Hand (Tuesday); at Jonathan Law (Jan. 28); Sheehan (Feb. 1); at East Haven (Feb. 11).
** Xavier: The Falcons (6-5) is offensively challenged. One can only imagine where they would be had shooting guard Jackson Begnini (25.3 ppg) stayed put and not transferred to Hamden Hall after last season.
Xavier averages a shade under 50 points a game. It puts a lot of pressure on the defense to contain some really good SCC offenses. When Xavier struggles on offense, as it did in North Haven on Friday, the outcome is not good. North Haven won 51-33. This is a team Xavier beat by 18 in December.
Still, coach Mike Kohs has done a nice job getting the Falcons to rise up. They have a winning record. They have beaten good teams like Hamden and Amity, and in their opener they took a now 9-3 NFA team to double overtime before losing by a deuce.
Key games ahead: unbeaten Jonathan Law (Tuesday and Feb. 5); West Haven (Jan. 28); at Hamden (Feb. 15).
** Coginchaug girls: The reigning Class S champions have done their best without injured point guard Raegan Moore, whose absence has pushed some into different roles this season.
The Blue Devils are 8-4 and have to contend with second meetings against Cromwell and Morgan, plus they go out of the Shoreline for games against larger schools Lyman Hall and Southington.
““It has definitely been a grind,” coach Chris Watson said. “I’m optimistic about the last eight games — all very winnable, but we have to keep getting better.”
** Coginchaug boys: The Blue Devils (4-6) snapped a five-game losing streak as TJ Vallone scored 18 points and Eli Rivera 14 in a 47-40 win over Windsor Locks on Saturday. Their second-half schedule will be tough, so best bets to get to eight wins might come from these games: Portland (Thursday); H-K (Feb. 5); at North Branford (Feb. 12); Hale-Ray (Feb. 18).
** And good for the Hawks: The Vinal Tech boys on Friday rallied from a 19-point halftime deficit for their first win of the season, 50-49 over Cheney Tech. The Hawks outscored Cheney 37-17 in the second half, and 17-7 in the fourth quarter. Franco Sorrentino led all scorers with 22 points, and teammates Will Trojanowski (14) and Steve Thomas (10) also were in double figures.
HALL OF FAME DINNER ON THURSDAY
The Middletown Sports Hall of Fame will induct its 26th class on Jan. 24 at the Red Lion Hotel in Cromwell. Ticket information for the dinner is available at middletowncthalloffame.org.
This year’s individual inductees are Danielle Benoit, Mary Mesek, Matt Moravek, Fred Norton, Hugh O’Gorman, Rodney Privott, Nick Puorro, John Raba, Otis Rankins, Robert Trigo and Daniel Thompson
(posthumously).
Four state championship teams also will be inducted: the 1948 Woodrow Wilson High football team (Class B titlists); 1978 Middletown High track (Class M); 1978 Woodrow Wilson track (Class S); and 1978 Xavier track (Class L).
THIS AND THAT
** From the couch or the bleachers, why is a traveling violation so obvious, yet so often overlooked by the officials? At the high school level, it’s pretty clear that if a walk is not blatant, like three steps, it’s just not going to get called. I’ve seen it time and time again.
** The Cubs have hired just-retired major league pitcher Craig Breslow and given him a wordy title — director of strategic initiatives for baseball operations. Clearly, he will be crunching lots of data.
Breslow is a New Haven native. Drafted in 2002, he pitched for seven teams in 12 seasons, had two stints with the Red Sox and got a World Series ring in 2013. His career also included a summer spent in Middletown pitching for the Giants when they won the New England Collegiate Baseball League title in 1999.
** The median on Route 9 in Berlin was on fire the other night. It reminded me of the time I was driving through Kansas with a friend. We saw a grass fire in broad daylight, and the East Coast sophisticate in me said, “Will someone call the fire department?” And the Midwestern reply was, “Eh, it’ll just burn itself out.”
** Puerto Rico’s Alex Cora is in a lousy position. He either visits the White House with the Red Sox and shakes the hand of a man who has disparaged his home country on several occasions, or he stays home while his players attend and looks bad for skipping out.
** Has any individual in the history of Connecticut sports destroyed his/her legacy faster than Kevin Ollie?
** Veteran baseball players are complaining about the fact some of their peers are unsigned at the same time the government is shut down and ordinary citizens are going without a paycheck. Please, spare us.
** Finally, the Middletown Recreation & Community Services division offers a gold mine of activities for kids and adults alike. There is always something for everyone. On July 19, for Outdoor Movie Night at the Pat Kidney Complex, there will be a 30th anniversary showing of “Field of Dreams.” As the ad says, wear your favorite baseball jersey. I will be there, either in Clemente or Jackie Robinson. Hope to see you there.