The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Cromwell finishes regular season unbeaten
CROMWELL — Coach John Pinone has had some very good Cromwell High boys basketball teams through the years, ones good enough to win multiple Shoreline Conference titles and two state championships.
Never, though, has Pinone had a team run the table in the regular season until Monday night, although had to get it done the hard way.
After the Panthers surrendered a double-digit lead entering the fourth quarter, senior Nick Wright hit a turnaround baseline jumper with 28 seconds, got fouled and made the free throw to lift them past Old Lyme 50-48 in front of a sellout crowd at Jake Salafia Gymnasium.
“I wanted the ball in the post the whole night (against Old Lyme center Aedan Using),” said Wright, who scored a game-high 25 points either squaring up to the basket or penetrating Old Lyme’s zone. “He’s a big kid so I tried to back him down a lot, but I was also feeling my shot tonight.”
Using’s 3-point attempt hit the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded, setting off a wild celebration among Cromwell’s players at midcourt.
“We want to win every game,” senior point guard JJ Tracy-Gavin said. “Our goal is not just to win, it’s to win in March. That’s what counts. We never really talked about 20-0.”
With the Panthers’ 20-0 season comes the top seed in the Shoreline tournament, which starts Saturday, as well as the top seed in the CIAC Division IV tournament.
Cromwell is 55-5 over the last three regular seasons and has a 24-game overall winning streak. Pinone was not into the numbers Monday knowing his team nearly let this one slip away.
“It’s overblown. Either way, it’s great we’re 20-0, but hey, we didn’t hang a banner, we didn’t get a number, we didn’t win a league title,” he said.
“It’s a great accomplishment for the kids when they look back on it, and a nice way for the seniors to remember senior night, but as I’ve said, I only want to be undefeated in March,” Pinone added.
The Panthers were essentially without their two big men — 6-foot-4 junior Gabe Charleston and reserve Caleb Cain. Cain did not play and Charleston sat out all but 2:39 of the first half with two fouls and all but 1:42 of the third quarter after picking up his third.
Cromwell took a 40-29 lead into the fourth quarter when Tracey-Gavin hit a fallaway 3-pointer in front of his bench with 1.4 seconds left on the clock.
Old Lyme (16-2) was still down by seven with 3:36 left in the game, but the Wildcats got to within two, 45-43, on Ray Doll’s drive with 2:14 left. After a Cromwell missed shot, Doll hit a 3-pointer from the left side for a 46-45 lead — Old Lyme’s first lead since 3-2.
Wright made a turnaround jumper from the baseline with 1:01 to go and was fouled, but he missed the free throw. Old Lyme got the lead back when Doll made two free throws with 46.1 seconds remaining.
Cromwell took a timeout, then worked the ball around to Wright, who scored again from the baseline despite being fouled, and made the free throw for the 50-48 advantage.
Old Lyme worked the ball around the perimeter and burned almost 26 seconds doing so. Coach Kirk Kaczor called timeout, then Pinone used a timeout. The inbounds pass with 2.2 seconds left went to Using, who spotted up from near the top of the circle, only to see his winning attempt finish short.
“The kids played harder in the fourth quarter,” Kaczor said. “Aedan got off a decent shot for us. I’m happy with how we battled back in the fourth quarter.”