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Second-Chance Points: Wilton Ready To Contend For Title; Trumbull Is This Year’s Sleeper
Dave Ruden
01.14.2015
TRUMBULL — It is hard to remember a team having a worse shooting night than Wilton last Friday at Trumbull. At halftime the Warriors were 4 for 33 from the field.
“We shoot 3s,” Wilton coach Joel Geriak said. “That’s what we do. We took 16 in the first half and 10 were wide open looks. We just didn’t knock them down.”
If you want to take a glass-half-full view — and there was one — it is that the Warriors trailed by just eight points and were still in a game that would end up being their first loss.
“To our credit we shot like crap, but we attacked and we did some other things,” Geriak said.
The Warriors have been the FCIAC darlings the past two years, maximizing their personnel, playing a pleasing style and possessing one of the league’s highest basketball IQs. Geriak, who was passed over numerous times for head coaching jobs, made a lot of athletic directors second-guess past decisions in the process.
But this season is different. The Warriors don’t want to win most popular. They want to be homecoming kings.
Geriak believed his team had the chance to make the next step this winter and so far it has done nothing to disprove his confidence.
Matt Shifrin, the team’s emotional leader, is averaging over 20 points a game, while Scott Shouvlin and Richie Williams are at around 10. Any of the three is capable of getting hot and carrying the Warriors for stretches.
“They believe they belong in the top echelon of the FCIAC this year,” Geriak said. “You do have bad shooting nights.”
That is going to be the key for Wilton. Teams that live by the 3 and die by the 3 eventually face the latter fate. Can a team win a title playing that style?
A good test comes beginning next week. A four-game stretch features, in order, Stamford, Westhill, Bridgeport Central and Danbury. Those teams possess more overall athleticism but are not as fundamentally sound. It should prove revelatory to what the future holds.
To Wilton’s credit, it went into the Trumbull game being trumpeted by the press. The loss was due to a lack of execution rather than swelled heads.
“I think the kids’ effort was there,” Geriak said. “When we did things right, we just didn’t make the shot. “They believe they are more than a sleeper, and so do I. The key is more consistent defense. We can’t give up extra possessions.”
Trumbull This Year’s Sleeper
So if Wilton is no longer the FCIAC’s top sleeper, which team will fill that role?
Here’s a vote for Trumbull. The Eagles are turnover prone and almost let Wilton back in the game by rushing shots rather than using clock, but they have good puzzle pieces.
Most coaches around the league seem to agree Trumbull is a team to keep an eye on — “I think they’re an FCIAC team; I think they’re a top six or seven team, I believe that,” Geriak said.
The only dissenting view — for now — comes from Trumbull coach Buddy Bray.
“It’s way too early,” Bray said. “I’m expecting some potential. We have seven seniors but we have to work a lot harder. Right now we have to concentrate on good practices and getting ready for the next opponent.”
Ed McElroy is one of the league’s most underrated perimeter shooters, Rashard Rodriguez does a little bit of everything well and Ben McCullough is a banger inside.
“We have to be better on the road than we’ve been,” Bray said. “We’re more comfortable at home, now we have to bring the same intensity and attitude on the road. We haven’t done that yet.”
Those words were spoken four days before Trumbull went up to Danbury on Tuesday night and handed it a second loss, 64-48.
Don’t sleep on the Eagles.
Bracketology
No. 1 Norwalk (8-0) vs. No. 8 Fairfield Ludlowe (5-3). After two years where they failed chemistry, the Bears looked like a much more cohesive unit against Bridgeport Central. I’m still not sure what to make of the Falcons. That seems to be a majority view around the league.
No. 2 Westhill (7-1) vs. No. 7 Stamford (5-3). This would be a rematch of last year’s first-round game. I toyed with the idea of putting the Black Knights as high as No. 4. I still can’t figure out if they were overrated or are underachieving.
No. 3 Wilton (6-1) vs. No. 6 Bridgeport Central (5-2). I love the way the Hilltoppers’ Marcus Blackwell plays defense and rebounds. I love his unselfishness. But for the time being, while his teammates gain experience, Blackwell is going to have to be a little more selfish on the offensive end.
No. 4 Trumbull (4-2) vs. No. 5 Danbury (6-2). Ranking the Eagles’ too high? Their only losses are to Norwalk and Westhill. They have many good players most fans are unfamiliar with. I know, I know, imagine if Matt Turner had stayed….