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Wild comeback falls short for Boys Basketball

Friday, February 27, 2015

NEWINGTON — Once down 19 points, the No. 3 Newington boys basketball team put together a furious comeback in the fourth quarter to make it a one-possession game. But that’s as close as it got.

No. 14 Windsor made crucial free throws down the stretch to close out a 65-59 win on the road in the first round of the Central Connecticut Conference tournament Thursday night.

The Indians (17-4) entered the fourth quarter trailing 47-33, but they went on a 17-4 run to close the deficit to 59-57 with roughly a minute left in the game. Zach Tinkham was key during the stretch with eight points after being held scoreless in the first three frames.

Cam Fedina made it a one-possession game with a layup off a steal while Newington was applying a full-court press. But the Indians went cold from that point and Windsor hit just enough free throws to close out the win.

Pablo Ortiz (17 points) and Jared Simmons (18 points) were Newington’s two most consistent scorers during the game. Jordan Powell led the way for Windsor with 14.

Newington entered the third quarter trailing 36-21, and for most of the frame it traded baskets with Windsor (11-10) and didn’t cut into the deficit.

The Indians did cut the Warriors’ advantage down to 10 at one point after Ortiz hit a layup and his and-one opportunity.

But Windsor came right back and scored four-straight to take a 47-33 lead heading into the final frame.

Ortiz did his best to keep the Indians in the game with seven points in the third. But Cody Quinn hit two big 3-pointers, giving him a team-high six points in the third.

After trading buckets to start the game, Windsor went on a 12-0 lead to take a commanding 14-2 advantage early on. Eric Vinson was a key part of this stretch with seven points. Mike Mahon also chipped in five points during the run.

Newington stopped the bleeding momentarily with a Simmons 2-point bucket, but the Warriors responded with an 11-0 run, which went into the second quarter. Powell was a key part of this spurt with six points.

By the time the horn for the end of the first period sounded, Windsor had a 23-4 advantage.

The big reason for Windsor’s early lead was its use of a full-court press, which forced Newington into making mistakes and taking bad shots. The Indians tried to apply a full-court press, too, but theirs only led to easy baskets for the Warriors.

Newington had a better second quarter thanks to a 5-0 run early on. The two teams traded baskets for most of the period, though, which meant the Indians couldn’t carve into their deficit.

That changed with under a minute to play in the half, as Newington scored five straight points to cut its deficit to 36-21 at the end of the half. Nick Guadarrama put an exclamation point on the first half with a dunk off of a steal.

Simmons led the way for Newington with 10 points in the first half while Thomas Ortique led Windsor with 10 of his own. Powell also had 10 in the first half for the Warriors.

Up next for the Warriors is a trip to the CCC quarterfinals. Newington has to wait to learn its seed for the Class L tournament sometime next week.

Courtesy of NB Herald


Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Boys Basketball claims CCC West Championship
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Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Ortiz named Athlete of the Week
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