Windham’s early lead eliminates Southington

The Bombers held a 21-2
first quarter lead and the Wildcats never caught up.

By DOUG CHAPIN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

WARREN — If there was ever a time for the do-over rule, it was Friday night for the Southington boys basketball team.

The Wildcats (18-5) outscored the Windham Bombers by a score of 56-49 over the last three quarters of the Division IV district championship game at Harding High.

Unfortunately for Southington, the first quarter, in which Windham held a 21-2 advantage, could not be replayed. The Bombers (19-4) went on to their fifth straight district title with a 70-58 triumph.

“I never thought we would come out so cold,” Southington coach Mike Karr said. “Some easy shots didn’t fall and we had a hard time recovering. We started pressing on our shots, you look at the scoreboard and we’re already down 10. Once the kids settled down, I think they did a good job clawing their way back.”

Southington overcame a 40-point performance by Fairport Harbor’s Aramis Greenwood in a district semifinal victory Tuesday. But the ’Cats could not get past the work of Windham senior guard Phil Workman who ended up with 28 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals. Jay Lugo added 12 points for the Bombers, Dave Everhart had 10, and Cody Apthorpe nine, to go with nine rebounds.

Trey Tietz closed out his Southington career with a 25-point, eight rebound performance. Kevin Henline added 14 points and nine rebounds, Brad Gilanyi had nine points and four assists and Brandon Ellis pulled down seven rebounds.

“Trey works extremely hard at the game,” Karr said about his senior sharpshooter. “He loves the game, he loves this type of atmosphere. You can’t say enough about him.”

Tietz converted Southington’s first field goal attempt of the first quarter, then the ’Cats missed 13 shots in a row. Workman, meanwhile, accounted for the Bombers’ first 14 points, scoring seven himself and recording three assists.

Once the quarter was over, Karr and the Wildcats knew they would have to chip away at the big deficit.

“We told them there’s not a 21-point play. I thought we came out and started chipping at them,” Karr said. “They missed some shots and we did better rebounding, limiting them to one shot. We got ourselves within 12 or 11 and just couldn’t get over the hump.

“We had so many possessions where we could have cut into the lead and we just didn’t convert. Six or seven possessions I can think of where we had an opportunity to really cut into the lead, but we just couldn’t get it done.”

Southington settled down in the second quarter, but was outscored 20-17 and trailed 41-19 at the half. A 14-10 edge in the third quarter made it 51-33.

The ’Cats cut the gap to 55-39 with 5:33 left in the game, then the teams went through a two-minute scoreless stretch. A three-point play by Henline pulled Southington within 55-42 and a bucket by Gilanyi at 2:57 made it 57-46.

Three more times Southington got within 11 points, but each time Windham responded. A three-point play by Workman made the score 68-52 with 30 seconds left in the game and all but wrapped up things.

“I can’t say enough about the four seniors and where they’ve come from to where they are now,” Karr said. “They did a heck of a job all year. They were an enjoyable team to be around and obviously a fun team to watch.”