Cromwell collects third title in a row

MADISON — The last time Crimwell played Morgan-Clinton, Victor Payne heated up in the final quarter to carry the Panthers to an impressive come-from-behind victory.On Friday night, Payne started cooking on offense to start the second half. The senior guard scored 15 points in the third quarter and 35 overall to lead top seed Cromwell to the 64-58 win over Morgan at Polson Middle School.

The victory secured the three-peat for the Panthers (21-2) who have won 21-consecutive games.

“We don’t want to lose. Losing isn’t something we want to happen,” Payne said. “It hasn’t been all pretty, but we got it done.”

It’s the eighth overall Shoreline title for Cromwell.

“It’s all of the hard work that goes into it just to get there,” Cromwell coach John Pinone said. “I think they understood the moment. I thought the moment might have been too big for some of them and I’m glad I was wrong

Cromwell lost to Morgan in the season opener and the Panthers might have gotten swept if not for Payne’s heroics in the fourth quarter of the Jan. 31 rematch. He scored 28 of his 44 points to rally his team back from a 16-point deficit to start the final quarter.

Morgan coach Frank Rossi said the plan was to have help defenders on Payne to make him give up the ball and make someone less battle-tested beat them.

The Huskies did have success with it. No one else scored in double figures for the Panthers.

“We’ve pretty a good defensive team throughout the year, so we thought that we could make him take tough shots, which I think he did,” Rossi said. “He hit some great shots tonight.”

Morgan (20-3) fought back from a 14-point deficit (55-41) early in the fourth quarter to narrow it down to three, 58-55, with just over 1 minute left.

Then, one of Payne’s teammates burned the Huskies: Anikin Leary, a fellow senior, buried a wide-open 3-point shot from the corner with under a minute left, putting Cromwell up 61-55. Pinone called that 3 “the difference in the game.”

Leary finished with three of Cromwell’s 11 3-pointers.

“I was ready to take it and it fell,” he said. “It’s good to have

my 3 finally fall. That was a big dagger for the team. I want to help my team in any type of way possible.”

Morgan cut it back down to three, but time was the enemy and so was Payne, who sealed it with three free throws of his own.

“Nine times out of 10, that’s exactly where we want the ball to go,” Rossi said. “We don’t want the ball in Victor Payne’s hands at the end of the game, and i think defensively, we executed the game plan. But their supporting guys stepped up and hit

some great shots.”

Jack Nye finished with a teamhigh 23 points for the Huskies, who went most of the way without starting point guard Robby Estabrook, who Rossi said hurt his foot on the first play of the game.

“I thought Nye played his heart out,” Rossi said. “We put a lot on his shoulders in that game. He is our best player. They tried to take him away. We tried to put him in positions to be successful against their matchup (zone). It wasn’t enough.”

Player of the game Victor Payne, Cromwell:

The twotime Shoreline Conference Player of

the Year finished with 35 points to help the Panthers win their third consecutive Shoreline Conference title.

Quotable

“There is no substitute for winning.” — Cromwell coach John Pinone

Joe Morelli/Hearst Connecticut Media Cromwell players celebrate winning their third consecutive Shoreline Conference championship on Friday.