Windsor Locks Keeps NCCC Title Hopes Alive With Double-Overtime Win at Enfield

It was a playoff-like atmosphere Monday night in the Enfield High School gymnasium.

The stands were packed to the rafters with supporters of both and visiting , and the stakes were high. An Enfield victory would clinch the North Central Connecticut Conference regular season championship, while a Windsor Locks win would keep them in the running for both a share of the league crown and top seed in the NCCC tournament.

On top of all that, it was Senior Night for Enfield, which is always an emotional moment for those being honored. After a multitude of senior cheerleaders, dance team members, managers and players had escorted their families to center court, it was time for some gritty, hard-nosed, championship-caliber basketball.

Both schools delivered a back-and-forth affair, with neither team ever leading by more than five points, and new heroes seeming to emerge every few minutes.

When the smoke cleared, a combination of clutch baskets by Windsor Locks and poor free throw shooting by Enfield led to the visitors posting a 57-54 victory in double overtime.

Tim Putnam saved the day twice for Locks, forcing overtime with an off-balance three-point shot in the waning moments of regulation, then driving down the right side of the lane to tie the game again with three seconds left in the first extra session.

"He's kind of our leader, we want the ball in his hands," Windsor Locks coach Mike Mascaro said. "It was a great job by our team of not giving up. Down the stretch, we did the two things we talked about at the half: getting a couple of key rebounds and executing offensively."

In the second extra period, the teams exchanged baskets until Donovin Ford-Hayes sank a floater in the lane with 1:32 to play. Tre Preston, Enfield's leading scorer, missed an outside shot with 18 seconds remaining, and a Ford-Hayes free throw capped the victory for Locks.

Enfield led 23-21 at halftime, thanks largely to a trio of three-point baskets by Paul Lima. At times, Locks double-teamed Preston, leaving him with just four points at intermission.

A Preston free throw provided Enfield a five-point lead two minutes into the second half. Midway through the third quarter, Taylor Gorzkowski  caught fire for Locks, scoring three straight hoops to reclaim the lead. Gorzkowski wound up with 10 points in that period alone, including a last-second layup that gave the visitors a 35-34 lead heading into the fourth.

After several lead changes in the final period of regulation, John Cerrato nailed a jumper with 1:53 left to give Enfield a 40-39 advantage. A pair of Preston free throws 24 seconds later pushed the margin to three, but Putnam kept Locks' title aspirations alive by canning a trey from the right corner with nine ticks left on the clock.

Preston and Putnam opened overtime by exchanging three-pointers, and the teams continued to trade points until Lima sank one of two free throws with 22 seconds left to give Enfield a 50-48 lead. Undaunted, Putnam brought the ball back down the court, and scored on a runner to force a second extra session.

A pair of Gorzkowski baskets sandwiched around a Preston jumper gave Locks a 54-52 lead, but Lima drained two free throws to tie the game again midway through the second overtime. That set the stage for Ford-Hayes to take over in the final 90 seconds, with Gorzkowski adding the finale by blocking a desperation three-point attempt by Hugh Lindo as time expired.

Free throw shooting was Enfield's downfall, as the home team made just eight of 16 attempts from the charity stripe in regulation time.

"We should have had it in regulation, but for our foul shooting," disappointed Enfield head coach Cory O'Connell said. "We also had some miscommunication defensively at the end of regulation, and Putnam hit a big shot. Locks is always tough, and it seemed like we were a step slower tonight."

Gorzkowski led all scorers with 21 points, while Putnam had 18 and Ford-Hayes contributed 12 for Windsor Locks. Preston led Enfield with 16, Lima had 15 and Lindo added 11.

The victory was the eighth in a row for Windsor Locks, while Enfield saw its nine-game winning streak snapped.

Enfield (16-3 overall, 14-2 in the NCCC) is assured no worse than a tie for the NCCC title, and finishes the regular season with a non-league game at crosstown rival Fermi Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Windsor Locks (14-5 overall, 13-2 league) completes its NCCC and regular season schedule at home Thursday against East Windsor. A win gives them a tie for the NCCC title with Enfield, but Locks would earn the top seed in the league tournament based on tiebreakers.