Travel basketball: Wilton eighth grade boys open at 3-0

Wilton Basketball Association travel teams had the following results in action from last weekend: Boys Travel Grades 5/6 Wilton 51, Weston 37 The Wilton 56ers boys team (fifth and sixth grade) opened the 2016-17 season on Saturday with a 51-37 win over Weston. The 56ers led by as many as 11 points (23-12) in the half but had to fight off a tough Weston squad in the end. Wilton had an early lead from the start with a quick steal from Spencer Liston and a fast break to start Wilton on a 2-0 lead. Early into the game, Wilton continued to fire away with a 3-pointer made by Declan Brokaw and points scored by center Bailey Finn in the paint. It was a close game in the first half but Wilton held the lead throughout the game with tight defense from Andrew Roth, Wyatt Jones, Kyle Roesser and Andre Wiest. Wilton never gave up the lead throughout the game and continued the run with points scored by Michael Byrnes, Harrison Lent, Jefferson Mitchell, Colin Tsai and Michael Wall to win the game. Stamford JCC 39, Wilton 26 On Sunday, Wilton traveled to Stamford JCC for its second game of the weekend. Wilton faced an aggressive team and had a tough first quarter with Stamford’s intense offensive plays and solid zone defense. But the 56ers came out strong in the second quarter, dominating with tough defense and rebounding from Bailey Finn (five points), Andre Wiest (eight points) and Jefferson Mitchell (two points). Wilton’s offense took off with an 8-0 run led by Andre Wiest, followed by several steals and fast break points scored by Spencer Liston (eight points). Colin Tsai also put points on the board, sinking a 3-pointer. Declan Brokaw, Harrison Lent, Kyle Roesser and Michael Wall played tight defense, stealing the ball and tenaciously rebounding on both sides of the court. Michael Byrnes and Wyatt Jones helped direct the offense in the second half. Seventh grade Wilton Blue 57, Danbury 55 Wilton’s seventh grade Blue boys basketball team, sponsored by Servco-Oil, took on Danbury in a non-league game on Saturday at CT Sports Arena in New Milford. The game was a tale of two halves, with Wilton up by as many as 29 points in the first half. However, a tough press by Danbury in the second half allowed them to get back into the game. Zarius Eusebe (four points, one assist, one rebound) sunk two key free throws in the final minute to help Wilton prevail 57-55. The first half saw some hot shooters connecting on jump shots and some 3-pointers, which included Kevin Hyzy with four 3-pointers (12 points, two assists, one rebound), Matt Giller (10 points, two rebounds, one assist) and Craig Hyzy (six points, one rebound). Parker Woodring (six points, two assists, two rebounds) had three steals and also some excellent ball handling, as did Sean Wiseman (two points) and Dillon Mannix (two assists), who also helped in the guard position. The two big men, Max Andrews (12 points, six rebounds, one assist) and Connor Cummings (four points, four rebounds) also had good games with a couple of steals each. Wilton Blue 71, Newtown 46 Wilton Blue played Newtown in Wilton on Sunday. Wilton jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter and was up 38-13 at the half. Newtown had no answer for the outside shooting of Matt Giller with four 3-pointers (15 points, one assist) and Craig Hyzy’s three 3-pointers (nine points, one rebound) in addition to the inside game of Max Andrews (18 points, three rebounds) and Connor Cummings (four points, nine rebounds). Parker Woodring was again solid on ball handling and defense (11 points, one assist, four rebounds) and he had support from Zarius Eusebe (four points, one rebound), who also had a couple of steals. Kevin Hyzy was good with assists in this one (two points, three assists) as was Dillon Mannix (four points, one assist). Sean Wiseman (two points, one rebound) also contributed some good ball handling. Newtown was never able to cut down the lead beyond 18 points in the second half and the final score was 71 to 46. It was good to see an improved defensive effort by the team this time around. The improved running of the floor and passing was key to the offense’s success. Eighth grade Wilton 46, Norwalk Youth 44 The Wilton eighth grade boys travel team, sponsored by Tavern on 7, opened the season with three non-league victories. On Saturday Wilton defeated Norwalk Youth in overtime, 46-44. Josh White hit a 3-pointer late in regulation to tie the game and then in the final moments Michael Coffey scored again to force overtime. In overtime, the lead changed several times before Coffey drove to the basket to score with three seconds remaining to seal the victory. Coffey led the team with 16 points and 18 rebounds. White had 11 points and Matt Gulbin had 10 points. Wilton 69, Weston Gold 43 All 10 players scored in Wilton’s 69-43 victory over Weston Gold in Saturday’s second game. Alex Cocoros broke the game open in the second quarter, scoring all 12 of his points on four 3-pointers. Murphy scored 11 points and had seven boards. Sean Sullivan, Chase Autore, Owen Lillis (two 3-pointers) and Gulbin scored eight points each. Wilton 60, Norwalk TMT 32 Again all 10 players scored in Wilton’s 60-32 win over Norwalk TMT on Sunday, with Cocoros again helping to break the game open with his 3-point shooting. Cocoros went 6 of 9 from downtown to lead all scorers with 18 points. Wilton was also sparked by Trevor Martinez with 11 points including one 3-pointer, Mack Kepner, who had five points and four offensive rebounds, and Matt Murphy, who had eight points and 11 boards. Girls Travel Sixth grade West Haven 51, Wilton 25 The Wilton sixth grade girls travel basketball team opened its season this past weekend, splitting a pair of games. Wilton opened up against a tough West Haven team (already playing their 10th game of the season) on Saturday and lost 51-25. Scoring was led by Ava Fasano (five points), Heather Plowright and Molly Snow (four points each), with Lucy Corry handing out three assists and Kendall Scholz controlling the boards with eight rebounds. Charlotte Casiraghi was Saturday’s game MVP with her outstanding all-around play, including two points, one assist, three rebounds and four steals. Wilton 15, New Canaan 12 On Sunday, Wilton won a close game against New Canaan Black, 15-12. Emerson Pattillo and Kelly Holmgren led the Wilton scoring with six points each, with Mary Scally and Sawyer Pendergast each collecting five rebounds. Holmgren was Sunday’s game MVP. Seventh grade Norwalk 25, Wilton White 17 The Wilton seventh grade girls White team, sponsored by Pinnochio Pizza, fought a tough battle against an aggressive Norwalk team in an non-league game onSaturday afternoon. The game started out with the girls spending a lot of time on their defensive end trying to keep the quick and athletic Norwalk girls away from the hoop. Leah Martins broke through with the first basket for Wilton off a steal and a fast break. The team continued to battle under the boards with Katie Umphred, Erynn Floyd and Gracie Kaplan boxing out their opponents and pulling down rebounds. The Wilton team finally connected, with Grace Williams, Bella Andjelkovic, Amelia Hughes, Ellie Copley and Catherine Dineen all sinking baskets in the second half. Ellie Coffey was high scorer for the team with five points but it was not enough to catch the Norwalk team. Eighth grade Wilton 45, CSA-New Milford 6 The Wilton eighth grade girls travel team opened the 2016-17 season with two games this past weekend. Wilton came ready to play on Sunday against CSA-New Milford with Christina O’Sullivan converting the game-starting jump ball to an immediate two-point layup. The team pulled down many quick rebounds by Fioina O’Brien and Caitlin Greeff to keep the ball in Wilton’s hands. Nice outside shooting by Grace Cahill and Meghan Koziolkowsky allowed Wilton to grab a fast 8-0 lead. Several key steals and breakaway layups by Marygrace DelliSanti and Alexis Castaldi along with strong shooting under the boards of Lily Umphred, Riley Eaton and Callie Judelson secured the 25-5 halftime score for the Warriors. Wilton continued their strong momentum and went on to their first victory of the season with a 45 -6 final score. New Milford 32, Wilton 23 Unfortunately the team suffered its first defeat of the season with a loss to New Milford travel 8G on Saturday. Wilton battled hard and kept the game close with key passes from Koziolkowsky and O’Sullivan to assist O’Brien and Eaton with several key shots. Rebounding was kept strong by Umphred and Judelson feeding out to DelliSanti for several breakaways, but New Milford claimed the victory.

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