Parkhouse’s 25 points lead Torrington past Crosby

TORRINGTON — Six second-half three-pointers by sophomore Will Parkhouse carried Torrington’s boys basketball team home to a stunning 76-70 win over perennial league power Crosby Tuesday night at Torrington High School.

The Bulldogs, 8-6 overall, 8-4 NVL, start four underclassmen, but came in with narrow league losses only to NVL leaders Holy Cross, Kennedy and WCA while posting noteworthy wins over Wilby, Naugatuck and Seymour.

Torrington (7-6, 7-5 NVL) has held leads in 11 of its 12 games, said Coach Eric Gamari, but offensive or defensive lapses too often got in the way.

“We’ve been knocking on the door,” Gamari said.

Tuesday, the Raiders swung the door wide open.

“They out-played us in every facet of the game,” said Crosby coach Nick Augelli. “Our inexperience showed tonight. (Torrington) played with more intensity.”

The Raiders posted leads after every quarter — 19-15 after the first; 3632 at the half; and 57-48 after three.

Parkhouse (team-high 25 points), who hit six threes in the second half, cleared the path, but just one of his seven for the game came in the first.

Instead, hustle plays by Thaddaeus Kimberly (12 points); Adi Puskarevic (10 points); and Isaac Fenn (7 points) carried much of the Raider attack against Crosby virtuoso Jason Robinson.

Robinson finished with a game-high 37 points, but, unlike Torrington’s Parkhouse, he had most of the scoring load strapped to his back. Six other Bulldogs scored, but Jeydan Benjamin led the pack with just seven points.

Nevertheless, a racetrack game like Tuesday’s demands more than a scoring touch. Both teams played man-to-man de

fenses. Crosby began with a loose press that threatened to become a trapping stranglehold by the final quarter.

Crosby had a size advantage, but Torrington’s big men, led by Puskarevic and Fenn, more than held their own on the boards.

“We spent the last two days working against traps,” said Coach Gamari. “We split up; I took the guards; our other coaches worked on defensive positioning.”

Jordan Harvey, Kimberley and Pete Duman were often keys to working around the traps.

Parkhouse began his bombardment twoand-a-half minutes into the third quarter, finding his spot in the left corner.

“I missed four times in the first half, but you just have to keep shooting the ball. You

just have to come to play,” he said.

Torrington led 40-38 when it started. In the next three minutes, four treys, including one by Harvey, combined with layups by Puskarevic and T.J. Williams pushed the lead to 5444.

Robinson and Crosby’s defense weren’t impressed.

The Bulldog star had 10 points in the third quarter, 16 in the fourth, including 6-for-6 at the foul line.

Parkhouse hit his final three-pointer early in the fourth before Coach Augelli assigned a man to glue himself to his shirt.

Then, for Torrington, it was chaotic escapes from withering traps and just enough foul shooting to see it through.

With three minutes left, a Kimberley drive upped Torrington’s lead to eight (70-62). Two shots by Robinson had it down to four (70-66) at the two-minute mark.

Harvey sank three-out-of-four foul shots

to make it 73-66 with a minute left.

Four more points from Robinson made it 74-70 with 45 seconds left.

Another foul shot from Kimberley made it 75-70 with 41 seconds, and still it seemed like the Bulldogs had a chance with Robinson.

With 28 seconds left, the hope was finally gone when Robinson fouled out.

Harvey made it official with one more shot at the foul line.

Peter Wallace/For Hearst Connecticut Media Torrington coach Eric Gamari urges his team to keep the pressure going in a win over Crosby on Tuesday.