East Granby Outlasts Ellington at MassMutual Center

The larger, more spacious venue at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass., as well as an agreement by the coaches to play every player, conspired to render Friday's boys basketball game between and Ellington High an uneven affair.

Indeed, the game, which East Granby won 52-49, was played like both teams were feeling each other out for four quarters.

“It’s almost as if everyone was playing in slow motion,” Ellington head coach Don Flint said. “I assume it was [the venue].”

East Granby head coach Jeff Moger agreed that the teams had to adjust to the court, which is the home of the NBA Development League’s Springfield Armor and is eight or nine feet longer, as well as the depth perception of having a lot more space behind the baskets.

“Guys were going to the basket and realizing, ‘Oh, the basket is another six feet away still,’” Moger said. “So there was this weird feeling. The three 3-point lines were also confusing.”

What's more, because of the special occasion, which was set up by East Granby parent Joe Arsenault and agreed to by both schools’ athletic directors, both coaches agreed in the second quarter to play every player on their benches for two minutes.

“I thought it was a wonderful thing as both coaches agreed in the second quarter to get everyone in,” Flint said. “We probably won’t ever do another venue like this again, so it was neat to get everyone in for two minutes in a venue like this and it was pretty exciting. We didn’t lose anything. We were down three when they went in and down three when they went out.”

“Certainly in the first half, both teams were feeling each other out,” Moger added. “We were trying to get a lot of guys a chance to play and there was a lot of different personnel changes, guys playing with other guys who they haven’t played with a lot.”

Still with all the challenges, none of the coaches or players would have traded the experience for the world.

“It was a great experience for our kids,” Moger said.

“I was like a little kid coming in here; I thought it was great,” Flint said. “The coaches were excited, the kids were excited, but for some reason, maybe we were in awe the whole game. We never got out of that spectator mode.”

East Granby’s Ray Marek scored a game-high 12 points, while Ryan Aeschliman scored 11 points, Jack Beatty had 7, Kyle Bowers had 6, Noah Fersch had 5, Brian Watterlond and Tyler Arsenault had 4, Alex Moger 2 and Dylan O’Brien had 1.

Fersch, the team’s point guard, was the engine of the offense, using dribble penetration in the paint to draw defenders to him before dishing off to an open teammate for a layup.

“He’s one of those guys everyone likes to play with because he makes you better,” Moger said of Fersch. “You know if you get into that position, he’s going to get you the ball. He plays with a lot of heart, a lot of intensity and he gets guys into a lot of foul trouble. Just his pressure on the floor puts a lot of pressure on the defense.”

East Granby (9-5) also hit nine of 14 free throws, including three by Aeschliman, two by Watterlond and two by Beatty, in the fourth quarter to extend and, ultimately protect, its lead.

Ellington (6-8), which was led by Jon Bassett’s 10 points, struggled to find its rhythm from the perimeter

“We were beside ourselves on the bench trying to figure out [what to do],” Flint said. “We put full-court pressure just to get our energy level up, and even that didn’t work. I don’t think they scored an outside shot. It was just penetration and finish. We didn’t do a good job defensively on the weak side of our rotation, we allowed those layups to go in.

"If we had to do it all over again, maybe that’s what we do. We just penetrate, penetrate, penetrate and try to get to the line. We believe in our outside shooters; unfortunately, nothing was there today.”

Justin Dionne added 9 points for the Purple Knights, Matt Anderson had 8, Troy Russell and Jake Gagne had 6, Mike Cleary had 4, Matt Lechkun had 3, Josh McCoy had 2 and Rob Wyse had 1.

East Granby led 12-11 after the first quarter and 21-17 at the half, before Ellington pulled ahead for the first time in the third 24-23 on a basket by Cleary.

The Purple Knights took its largest lead of the game - 3 points - on its next trip down the floor on a bucket by Bassett with 5:36 left in the third.

But East Granby ultimately took the lead for good on a Marek lay in with 3:23 left in the third, and extended its advantage to 35-28 on baskets by Aeschliman and Beatty and two free throws by Arsenault.

The game reflected two teams at different stages of development at this part of the season.

East Granby, winner of six of its last seven, is hitting its stride.

“We beat three Class M teams in a row now,” Moger said. “We still can’t beat Coventry, but we got Granby, Suffield and [Ellington], it’s good for our program. It’s what we try to do beating these bigger schools.”

Ellington, however, is struggling to find its identity.

“They have to keep their heads up,” Flint said of his players. “Whenever you have a little bit of a slide, it’s disappointing.  We’ve got to go back to basics. We’re going to go back and work on our assignments, work on our rotations.”

Correction: The original article said that Marek had 6 points; he had 12. The Granbys Patch regrets the error.