Wave Keeps Growing

Picture (contributed by Zarek Swetye): Jack Farren (white jersey) hustles to get into a position where he is about to win the loose ball scramble that will result in a Darien scoring chance.

It had been fourteen days since a young Darien (1-3) team lost in the final minutes to first place Westhill (4-0) on September 17th. The time away from the court was long enough to make it difficult for the Blue Wave to find their groove against Greenwich (3-1). The Wave’s offense never got into synch against the Cardinal’s stingy defense and found that scoring against them was a difficult proposition. It did not help that Charlie Miller, Darien’s second leading scorer, was nearly scratched due to flu-like symptons. He ended up with only two points-- well below the combined twenty five points he put up in the previous two games.

The Blue Wave are in a rebuilding year having graduated five senior starters from last year’s squad and currently without a head coach. This year’s fall league roster consists of five juniors and eight sophomores. The Greenwich Cardinals have several seniors and, in general, are a little more experienced, slightly bigger, a bit quicker and somewhat stronger.

Greenwich won the opening tip-off and immediately knocked down a three point shot from the top of the key. Darien adjusted their defense and contested the remainder of Greenwich’s three-point attempts causing the Red Birds to go 0-fer in their next seven.

The agile Wave defense played with finesse giving the Cardinals only six attempts from the foul line.

Rebounding was a big factor in the outcome. The physically stronger, more experienced Greenwich team dominated the boards throughout the contest and grabbed twenty three defensive rebounds to Darien’s twelve. The Cardinals also hauled in twelve offensive rebounds to the Blue Wave’s eight.

Greenwich was also superb on defense and never seemed to allow Darien to have easy, uncontested shots.

A potential bright spot for the Wave this game and this season is free throw shooting. Darien made 65 percent of their free throws on Wednesday going eleven for seventeen. Jackson Ryan went five of six and is shooting 79 percent for the season. Carter Scott made two of three attempts. Zak Swetye was two for two and has a team leading 83 percent strike rate this season.

The Blue Wave are also improving their ball handling skills. They turned the ball over a season low number of times against Greenwich and have improved in this category with each game.

Defensively, one poor performance notwithstanding, the White Caps have been excellent -- allowing only 47 points on average in three out of four games.

Overall, Team Darien is playing well this Fall League season considering they are without a varsity head coach and are not holding practices where they can work on their offensive scheme. The lack of an offensive system surely contributes to turnovers. However, seeing the number of turnovers decreasing with each game and the fact that they are playing competitively in the Fall League surely bodes well for their chances at qualifying for states this winter season.

The redoubtable Blue Wave will undoubtedly improve on both sides of the ball once they become proficient at running their new coach’s system.

Jackson Ryan led Darien in scoring with 16 points by shooting three for seven from behind the arc and five of six free throws.

Alex Preston put in another solid performance with six points, five rebounds, two blocked shots, a steal and forced a Greenwich turnover.

Carter Scott contributed four points with a field goal, two free throws and forced a turnover.

Peter Ridder hit a fifteen foot baseline jumper, blocked a shot, made a steal, grabbed a rebound and forced a turnover.

Charlie Miller, weakened by the flu, still managed a bucket, an assist and a couple of rebounds.

Zak Swetye was two for two from the charity stripe and made two steals and two rebounds.

Charlie Dean grabbed a rebound and blocked a shot.

Geoff Parnon hauled in three defensive rebounds and blocked a shot.

Jack Richter pulled down two rebounds and caused a turnover.

Jack Farren, an unsung hero who always hustles and puts up a lot of ”invisible” stats, forced two Greenwich turnovers and made a loose ball recovery that resulted in a Darien scoring chance.

Theo Moore played a big role in keeping Greenwich from scoring and pulled in a couple rebounds.

Darien’s next game is Monday, October 6 at 9:15PM at the Stamford YMCA against Norwalk High.