Greenwich High boys basketball team escapes with 46-39 victory over New Canaan

Written by Paul Silverfarb
Wednesday, 08 February 2012 00:02

It wasn't the prettiest game that the Greenwich High School boys basketball team has played.

However at the end of the day, the Cardinals were able to hold on against New Canaan High School and come away with the 46-39 victory earlier this evening at the GHS gymnasium.

"The bottom line is that it's a 'W' and it keeps us in contention for the FCIAC playoffs and improves our spot in the state tournament," GHS head coach Bill Brehm said. "It's always positive when you win. If we come out like we did tonight against Bassick, we're going to get blown out of the gym."

Greenwich High was led by the play of senior co-captain Greg Donlic, who finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three steals. Fellow senior co-captain Alejandro Rodriguez led the team in scoring with nine points, but also added six rebounds and two steals.

Greenwich's other captain, Alex McMurray, also finished with nine points and added nine rebounds and two steals.

Sem Kroon finished with eight points, four rebounds and one block.

For New Canaan, William Berger led all scorers with 16 points and added five rebounds and a steal. Connor Kilbane pitched in with seven points and four rebounds, while Andrew Read finished with five points and one rebound.

The home team and the raucous crown were fired up coming into the, as it was Senior Night, where Donlic and Rodriguez were honored prior to the opening tip. However it was GHS that came out flat and the Rams were on fire.

New Canaan's Kilbane drained two 3-pointers and Berger finished the opening quarter with seven points. In fact, Berger was one point away from equaling Greenwich's point total for the quarter, as Big Red was trailing 17-8 to start the second.

"We had a nice intensity coming into this game," New Canaan head coach Michael Halley said. "I love coming into environments like this. We were ready to play. We aren't worried about our record because it's obvious we're building for the future. I am very proud of them. We are going to learn to win these kind of games."

Heading into the break, Greenwich finished on a 12-3 run to cut the deficit to 26-22.

"When it's not falling from the outside, you got to go to the hole, Brehm said. "Our problem was the lack of intensity defensively and leaving guys open for shots. I think we have a bad habit of looking at team's records and thinking that we're going to walk on the floor and beat somebody. You still have to get out there and play."

One of Greenwich's downfalls against the Rams was its free throw shooting, as Big Red finished 14-for-34 from the line. The Rams weren't much better, finishing 4-for-12.

"We can't spend times on free throws and that's something that needs to be done on an individual basis," Brehm said. "Do we spend time on it? Yes. We can't spend a lot of time on it. That's a mental thing and you have to go through your routine."

With the victory, Greenwich High improved to 10-5 on the season, while the Rams fell to 1-14.

"We are in the rebuilding stage and you could see that tonight," Halley said. "Right now we have a sophomore running the point and my big guy fouled out tonight. He really didn't play a lot in this game and I still thought we had a tremendous effort."

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