Ridgefield Falls To Fairfield Prep 60-55 In Class LL Boys Basketball Semifinals

The greatest season in Ridgefield boys basketball history ended one game shy of the ultimate destination, as the Tigers fell victim to Fairfield Prep's 3-point shooting assault in the fourth quarter.

Robbie Bier and Kevin Potter each made three 3-pointers in the final period as the Jesuits held off Ridgefield 60-55 in the Class LL semifinals before a raucous capacity crowd at Waterbury's Wilby High School.

Fairfield Prep (21-6) will face St. Joseph, a 62-42 winner over Glastonbury, in Saturday's championship game at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

As disasppointing as the result was, the Tigers could hold their heads high, far exceeding their expectations at the start of the season.

"It was an unbelievable season," Ridgefield senior guard Bryan Galvin said. "If you had told me at the beginning of the year we'd make the state semifinals and be 21-4, I never would have believed you."

Veteran Ridgefield coach Carl Charles devised a superb game plan to shut down Terry Tarpey, Fairfield Prep's leading  scorer, who was limited to 11 points. Senior Chris Esemplare led the Tigers with 20 points, hitting six 3-pointers.

In the first quarter, the Jesuits couldn't solve the Tigers' 1-3-1 trap and Ridgefield jumped out to a 12-4 lead.

"We respected everybody on that team, so we knew Potter could shoot, we knew Bier could shoot," Charles said. "But we were working extra hard on Tarpey, no question about it."

Down the stretch, however, the Tigers had no answers for Bier, who scored 13 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, nor for Potter, who had nine of his 12 in the final period.

"We came into the game knowing we had to lock (Tarpey) down because he had 30 the previous game, but it was other guys that beat us," Galvin said. "Robbie and Potter, they hit big threes down the stretch."

The Jesuits made six field goals in the fourth quarter, all on 3-pointers by either Bier or Potter.

After Bier's jumper from well beyond the arc pushed Fairfield Prep's lead to 51-45 with 1:54 to play, Ridgefield made its final push.

Mike Kinney's follow and Esemplare's last 3-pointer pulled the Tigers within 51-50 with 1:13 to play and had the Ridgefield fans in a frenzy.

Potter answered with a 3-pointer 17 seconds later to make it 54-50 before Galvin's layup with 17 seconds remaining again pulled the Tigers within two. But Bier sank all four of his free throws in the final 14 seconds to put away the contest for Fairfield Prep.

Still, Charles felt the Tigers let the Jesuits off the hook in the second quarter. After taking the early body blow, Fairfield Prep only trailed 25-23 at the intermission.

"The thing that was disappointing was the turnovers in the second quarter," Charles said. "We had a chance to build  a nice lead and the turnovers really hurt us.

"At halftime, I thought defensively we played well enough to win the game. It was our offense that was really bothering me, turnovers, the sloppy passes."

The Tigers stretched their lead to 29-23 on Jeff Racy's jumper with 5:44 left in the third quarter, but Tarpey's two free throws with 22 seconds left in the quarter gave the Jesuits a 36-35 edge lentering the final period.

Potter's 3-pointer snapped a 39-39 tie with 6:38 left in the contest and put the gave Jesuits ahead for good.

"When you stop and think, 21 wins, four losses, it's the best record in school history," Charles said. "No team had ever gotten more than 15 (wins) at Ridgefield. We have a lot to be proud of. In my third year here, with the help of these guys, we've put the program where it's on the map and now we just have to keep it going."