Boys' Basketball Shuts Down Watertown

If the Woodland boys’ basketball team played Watertown every game, chances are that they would have a better record than the 3-7 mark they sport after a 59-40 victory over the Indians last Friday night in Beacon Falls. The Hawks’ most lopsided win of the year completed the season sweep of Watertown, thanks to the stifling man-to-man defense of the Black and Gold.

Woodland set the tone quickly, taking a 7-2 lead in the first 3:05 of the game with even contributions from senior forwards Tyler Rich and KJ Thompson as well as junior forward Bryan Spickle, who returned after missing several games with an ankle injury.

The Indians closed the gap to 13-10 with 1:30 to play in the quarter, but the Hawks went on another 7-2 run to close the period, thanks to a three-pointer by senior guard Brian Kersten, a pair of free throws by Thompson, and a 16-footer by Spickle as time expired, to take a 20-12 lead.

Woodland continued to control the game in the second quarter, due in large part to the stiff man-to-man defense, which forced a number of turnovers as well as forcing the Indians to take a majority of its shots from outside the paint.

“The man-to-man carried over from [the fourth quarter of] the Naugatuck game,” Woodland Head Coach Tom Hunt said. “We wanted to get after it. We weren’t really comfortable with our depth at guard early in the season, but now we have [sophomore] Yahmad Rountree and [senior] Nick Boucher to fill in, so we’re starting to come together as a unit.”

WOODLAND 59, WATERTOWN 40 Watertown (1-9): Chris Mondak 2 2 6, Mitch Wagner 2 0 6, Besnik Murtishi 2 0 4, Matt Quatrano 3 2 8, Kevin Froese 1 0 2, David Chouinard 0 2 2, Nick Clemente 3 2 10, Billy O’Brien 0 0 0, A.J. Mucciaro 1 0 2, Jeremy Plourde 0 2 2. Totals: 14 10 40. Woodland (3-7): Tyler Rich 4 3 11, Ryan Genua 0 5 5, Ken Thompson 4 6 14, Brian Spickle 5 0 10, Cris Mariotti 0 0 0, Brian Kersten 2 0 6, Jason Skibek 1 1 3, Nick Boucher 1 3 5, Yamad Rountree 0 0 0, Ian Bures 0 0 0, Hugh Chamenko 0 0 0. Totals: 13 18 59. Watertown            12 12 12 4—40 Woodland           20 15 13 11—59  3-point goals: Wa—Wagner 2. Clemente 1; Wo—Kersten 2, Wright 1. [Box score format: Player name, field goals made, free throws made, total points.]

After Watertown closed the gap to six points midway through the second, the Hawks managed another solid 8-3 run to pull back ahead by double digits, capitulated by an acrobatic three-point play by Thompson to make it a 30-19 lead with 3:53 remaining. The Black and Gold also managed to move the ball around better than they had all season, creating opportunities inside and at the free throw line.

“They’re starting to feel where the shots should come from,” Hunt said. “We’re definitely more comfortable with the offense now than at the beginning of the season… Our offense is designed to get more looks inside than outside.”

The Hawks took a 35-24 lead into halftime and continued to keep the pressure on the Indians. Thompson (team-leading 14 points) immediately added two more buckets and Rich (11 points, 10 rebounds) netted five points, four in the paint, to help Woodland maintain a 12-point lead, 48-36, at the end of the third.

The Hawks’ defense was at its finest in the fourth quarter, holding the Indians to just four points. Senior center Jason Skibek, who played phenomenally on the defensive end as well as on the boards, scored his only field goal with 2:55 remaining, shortly before receiving a technical foul. The Black and Gold finished the game on an 11-2 run to seal the sweep over the Tribe.

“I’m not a big scorer,” Skibek said. “If I can get assists inside and get the ball to T-Rich, KJ, and Bouche, we’re good. As long as we’re scoring points and I’m playing tough defense, I’m doing my job… After Naugatuck we realized we have to come out hard and play four quarters hard, and we did that.”

You can watch all the Woodland boys' home games right here on WRHSonline.net. You can also watch all of the Hawks' previous home games by clicking here.