The University High School freshman boys basketball team from Hartford sailed into Darien Tuesday afternoon looking for a victory, but any chance they had of winning became unrigged within the first thirty seconds of the game when Blue Wave point guard Matthew Burke twice found wide-open 6'4" Brian Kisken under the basket for easy layups. Kisken along with 6'2" Adil Shahzad and 6'2" Doug Brown created an inpenetrable wall of defense in the paint that forced University to hoist up 26 three-pointers. University connected on only three of them. Conversely, Darien shot three of eleven from behind the arc -- a respectable 27% clip -- with Jack Jachino, Ben Secor, and Zarek Swetye each getting one apiece.
Darien put up some impressive numbers and led by as many as 40 points in their 64-28 win. They hit 23 of 50 field goals for a 43% strike rate and out-rebounded University 59 to 20. Perhaps the most impressive stat of the game was Darien going 9 for 9 from the charity stripe. It is not often a varsity, college, or pro team does not miss a free throw during the course of the game. It is especially notable when a team of ninth graders do not miss. Doug Brown had one, James Mathus had three, Brian Kisken had one, and brothers Matthew and Nolan Burke had two each.
Darien's performance was not a surprise to basketball families in Darien. Many of the boys play year-round in one form or another -- travel, AAU, summer and fall leagues, captain's practices, and private skill and conditioning clinics. Quite simply, the Darien freshmen boys came into the game in better shape and more skilled than their opponent.
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The freshman team is headed by coach Sam Wilson. Coach Wilson worked a lot on conditioning and defense in the first couple of weeks of practice. The preparation paid off. Fatigue was never a factor for Darien as evidenced by their perfect free throw shooting.
Jack Blenke scored two points and grabbed four rebounds.
Ted Brennan scored two points and grabbed three rebounds.
Doug Brown scored nine points, had nine rebounds, an assist, and a block.
Matthew Burke scored six points, grabbed four rebounds, had four assists, and a steal.
Nolan Burke scored six points, grabbed four rebounds, had an assist, a block, and a steal.
Sam Hadlow grabbed two rebounds and had two assists.
Jack Jachino hit a three pointer, grabbed a rebound, got two assists, and one steal.
Brian Kisken led Darien in scoring with 11 points. He grabbed seven rebounds and had a steal.
James Mathus picked up seven points and six rebounds.
Will Olson grabbed four rebounds.
Jack Savage scored six points, grabbed two rebounds, had an assist, and a steal.
Ben Secor hit a three pointer, grabbed two rebounds, and had three assists.
Adil Shahzad scored two points, had a block, and a steal.
Nico Solis had four points, three rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
Zarek Swetye scored three points, had two rebounds, three assists, a block, and a steal.
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The Darien varsity and jv boys teams won their games against University to complete the sweep with scores of 72-37 and 47-33, respectively.
Varsity head coach Charoy Bentley, assistant coaches Marc Fields and Greg Langston, and Coach Wilson have been working hard to build up the Darien high school basketball program over the past few years. Last year the boys varsity won more games than any Darien boys varsity team in 59 years and was the first team to qualify for the state tournament two seasons in a row since the 1960s. This year's varsity team has a very deep roster and has an excellent chance of qualifying for states for a third season in a row for the first time since the great teams led by perhaps the greatest player in Darien basketball history, Bobby Staak. Based on Tuesday's outcome, it looks like Darien basketball has plenty of exciting basketball to look forward to over the next few seasons.
Darien boys basketball hosts Greenwich on Thursday, December 21 with the freshmen tipoff slated for 3:45pm. Arrive early. Darien basketball is the best kept secret in town. That might not be the case in the new year. Seats could be much harder to come by as the season progresses and word gets out about the high quality basketball teams Darien is producing.
