Boys' Basketball: Maloney Suffers Hard-Fought Loss to Windsor

Maloney is no longer unbeaten, but the Spartans can hold their heads high. Few teams have handled Windsor's pressure as well - short-handed no less. 

Ryan Belote scored a game-high 24 points, but four players reached double figures for Windsor and the Warriors topped No. 2 seed Maloney, 85-70, in the Central Connecticut Conference championship game at Bulkeley’s Babe Allen Fieldhouse on Thursday.

Jared Wilson Frame and Nasean Banks led the way with 13 points each for the Warriors (23-1), who have won 22 straight since losing to Glastonbury on Dec. 18.  Windsor’s in-your-face defense set the tone and ultimately wore down the Spartans, who were never able to breathe offensively.

“One thing about these guys, defensively they really try to get after it,” Windsor coach Ken Smith said.  “And they are doing a nice job. They played pretty hard and stayed aggressive.”

That’s for sure.

Smith’s team led wire-to-wire en route to their second win over a previously undefeated opponent.  The Warriors rolled to a 90-65 win over No. 1 seed Northwest Catholic on Tuesday.

Windsor’s air-tight defense and astonishing depth (they go at least 10 deep) was simply too much for the Spartans, who probably won’t face a tougher team in the upcoming CIAC Class L state tournament.

The Warriors led by 11 at halftime and opened up a 20-point lead with a 16-7 run at the start of the third quarter.

Maloney coach Howie Hewitt summed up what makes Windsor so good defensively.

“They just make you hurry,” Hewitt said. 

“You get shots that are open, but they are not the shots you really want. If it’s anything between eight and 16 feet, shoot it all you want, because you’re not used to shooting those in transition.”

That was a problem all night. The Spartans were harried and their offense was out of sync until Belote (six 3-pointers) led a spirited comeback.  He scored 14 points in the third quarter, helping Maloney chip away at a 21-point lead.

“Ryan is a very good shooter. He’s definitely an All-State player,” Smith said.  “The kid just took them on his shoulders.”

Still, the Spartans never seriously threatened to tie the game. Darrius Edwards (23 points) capped a 9-4 run with a free throw that made it 72-61 with 3:41 to play, but Windsor answered with a 9-2 run. Anderson’s alley-oop layin highlighted the spurt, which put the Warriors up by 18 with 1:37 left.

If it’s any consolation, they showed more fight than Northwest Catholic did against the Hartford Courant’s No. 3 team in the state. And that was without 6-5 senior center Zach Milslagle, the team’s second-leading scorer (10.0 ppg) and leading rebounder (7.8 rpg) who suffered a sprained knee in Tuesday’s overtime win over Hartford Public.

“Our kids have played their (butts) off all year,” Hewitt said. “I’m not surprised that they did (fight back). We cut it to 10 in the fourth quarter.  There’s ton of fight in our kids and we are really proud of that, because they really could have folded.”

“I was so proud of my teammates,” said Milslagle, who said he would have played if it were a state tournament game. “No one gave up. Everyone gave 100 percent, played as hard as they could so I have nothing to say except I’m proud of them.”

Hewitt took a minute to reflect on the Spartans run up until this point.

“We are absolutely proud of what they accomplished, but we want to make sure they understand how it feels right now because we haven’t had the practice of feeling this way,” he said. “You have to take it with you. If it doesn’t hurt inside, then you have to hand in your stuff.”

Now, the Spartans must regroup and get ready for the CIAC Class L state tournament. Luckily, they have a bye as the No. 2 seed. That gives them a week to rest after a taxing four-game stretch. Milslagle said he will be ready to go for the state tournament.

But he wished he could have played in the final of this one.

“It was extremely hard (to watch),” he said. “I wanted to play so bad. I didn’t want to let my teammates down or anything.”

The atmosphere was electric just before tip-off, with students trading chants.  The Maloney contingent chanted “Un-defeated,” as the players warmed up.  The Windsor faithful answered with “so –was - North - West!”

And Windsor, the No. 1 seed in the Class LL tournament, quickly showed that Tuesday’s blowout win over Northwest Catholic was no fluke.  The Warriors gained separation with an 8-2 run early in the second quarter and carried a 37-26 lead into the locker room.  Every time Maloney made a run, the Warriors responded.

“We got open shots in the second quarter, but Windsor, they didn’t miss,” Belote said.

“I would hit a shot and they would come down and hit a three.  All credit to them. They are a very good team. For us to play like that against that kind of team, it shows that we are a pretty good team. Windsor was just on fire.”

Corrections: Meriden Patch originally reported that Maloney will have the number 1 seed in the CIAC Class L state tournament. It it is actually the second-seeded team. The original article also stated that Windsor was up by 13 points at halftime, which was really 11. Changes have been made in the text to correct the information.