New London Thrashes Maloney to Reach Class L Final

Torin Childs-Harris was dejected.  New London was one win away from a shot at redemption and he could only watch for most of the first half.

He made the most of his opportunities after halftime, however. Childs-Harris scored 17 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, helping unbeaten No. 3 seed New London advance to the Class L championship game with a 72-56 victory over second-seeded Maloney in New Haven Wednesday night. 

Harris’ backcourt mate, Kristopher Dunn, had 18 points and Keith Porter added 10 for the Whalers (26-0). The wire-to-wire victory has them in position to atone for last season’s championship-game loss to Stratford. New London, the only unbeaten team in the state, will try to do just that against Northwest Catholic (25-1) at Mohegan Sun Saturday at 6:15 p.m.

A night that ended with Harris throwing down a two-handed dunk off the backboard didn’t start as well. The 6-foot-3 senior sat most of the second quarter after picking up his second foul. 

“It was so frustrating, but it was amazing to see how my team stuck together when I was out,” said Childs-Harris, who hit three straight 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that ended any hopes of a Maloney comeback. 

“I had to step up for my team,” he said.  “Me not being there left (my teammates) with doubts. I had to let them know that even though I was out, I’m not gonna stop playing.” 

The Spartans didn’t stop playing, either.  Maloney used an 8-2 run to pull to within 40-34 with 3:18 left in the third.  

But New London had all the answers.  The Whalers responded with a 10-3 run and led 50-37 heading into the fourth quarter. 

Still, the Spartans didn’t go away. Senior Zach Milslagle had 18 of his 21 points in the second half and fellow senior Ryan Belote had 20 points for Maloney (25-2), which cut a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to nine before Childs-Harris took over. His third 3-pointer from the left wing gave the Whalers a 63-49 lead with 3:14 to play. 

“The guy comes down the floor and hits three threes in a row,” Belote said. “You just have to tip your hat to that.” 

“It’s still a ball game in the fourth quarter and the kid makes three threes in a row, from out there,” Maloney coach Howie Hewitt said. 

And after Child-Harris put New London comfortably ahead, he got to show off a little. Dunn stole a pass near midcourt and tossed the ball off the backboard for a trailing Childs-Harris, who emphatically slammed it home with two hands with 38 seconds left. The crowd inside the New Haven Athletic Center roared with approval. 

“It was fun because he really threw it up there for me to go get it,” Childs-Harris said.  “It showed that I can still jump. I’m not losing any hops.” 

New London, ranked No.1 in the Hartford Courant’s top 10 poll all season, threatened to run Maloney out of the gym early.  The Whalers opened the game on a 14-4 run and led 18-9 after one quarter. But Belote scored 15 points in the first half while singlehandedly keeping the Spartans within striking distance.  He scored 11 points in the second quarter by wiggling free from the pesky New London defense. 

Belote deftly pump-faked a defender then drilled a 3-pointer that drew Maloney to within 26-20 with 2:19 left in the half.  The teams traded baskets over the final two minutes and New London carried a 32-24 lead into the locker room. 

The Whalers made some halftime adjustments and held Maloney’s sharpshooter to just one 3-pointer the rest of the way. 

“The key was, we told our kids, ‘We don’t have to be shot blockers,’” New London coach Craig Parker said. “We kept going for his little up fakes. We just told them, ‘Stay on your feet. You don’t have to block his shot. Just stay in front of him and play good defense.’ They did a better job of that in the second half.” 

Their reward is a matchup with Northwest Catholic, which is led by 6-8 sophomore forward Kuran Iverson. The Indians’ only loss came against Windsor in the first round of the Central Connecticut Conference tournament. 

Parker said he hopes the crowd will be a factor being that Uncasville is a short, 15-minute drive from New London.

“It’s close to home,” he said. “We hope New London turns out. We are just going to play our hardest. We have one more game and we’re going to lay it on the line.”