There were stretches where the shots didn’t fall and the turnovers piled up for the Wilton High boys basketball team during Tuesday's game in Westport.
But when they were good, the Warriors were very good — and that was more than enough for a convincing 83-51 win over Newtown in the first round of the 2016 Holiday Classic at Staples High School.
The Warriors (3-0) will play in the championship game on Thursday night at 7, against the winner of Tuesday’s second game pitting Staples against Kolbe Cathedral.
Things got off to a slow start in Tuesday’s game, with the Warriors holding only a 5-4 lead nearly five minutes into the game.
The Nighthawks tied the game 10-10 before a tip-in by Matt Kronenberg in the final 30 seconds made it 12-10 after one quarter. It proved to be the start of a decisive 22-0 run.
The second quarter was all Wilton, which used 12 to 13 players rotating in and out of the game in waves, and applied fullcourt pressure that helped lead to 13 turnovers for Newtown in the quarter. The Warriors hit seven of 14 shots (including four 3-pointers) and held the Nighthawks to only one field goal en route to a 38-16 halftime lead.
After a slow start to the third quarter, in which they hit only one of their first 10 shots, the Warriors poured it on over the final four minutes of the period, outscoring Newtown 18-4. When Jack Wood dropped a turnaround 3-pointer at the buzzer, the lead was 64-31 going into the fourth quarter.
For the game, 12 different Wilton players scored, and nine scored six or more points. The Warriors hit 12 3-pointers, getting treys from six different players.
Drew Connolly led the way with 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and had four assists. Scoring nine points each were Matt Kronenberg, Nick Kronenberg (two 3-pointers) and Jack Williams (one 3-pointer).
Scott Cunningham and Joe Pozzi (two 3-pointers) each had eight points, and Sean Breslin tallied seven points (two 3-pointers).
Scoring six points each were Jack Wood (two 3-pointers) and Kyle Maatallah.
Kyle Shifin hit for four points and Kyle Phillips and Robbie Hermann added two points each. Ryan Schriber and Jackson Cote also contributed to the win.
Todd Peterson led Newtown with 14 points. Tucker Garrity had 10 points.