Each week, GOOD Morning Wilton will run news of weekend results and scores from Wilton Youth sports teams. Please send all stories and updates, along with a photo to editor@goodmorningwilton.com by noon on Monday of each week. Stories received after the deadline may not be included. Results write-ups will be grouped by sport and published in the order they are received.
Wilton Hoops
4th Grade Future Warrior Boys Win Back-to-Back Games, Beating Weston (23-3), Trumbull Elite Gold (36-14), and CT Elite Yellow (28-15) on Saturday; Losing Only on Sunday to Newtown
The Wilton 4th Grade Future Warriors Boys, sponsored by Diamond Deli, had an impressive victory against Weston winning by a score of 23-3.
The Warriors were led by Liam McKiernan (6 points, 6 rebounds), Liam Murphy (4 points, 10 rebounds), Grady Kaliski (4 points, 3 assists), and Nathaniel Kalter (4 points, 6 rebounds).
Wilton’s Defense was a force all game, led by the strong play of Patrick Lillis (5 steals), Matt Garcia (2 points, 4 rebounds), and Cael Dexter (2 points, 2 rebounds).
In the boys’ second strong performance of they day, they beat Connecticut Elite Gold in Trumbull by a score of 36-14.
Connecticut Elite came out aggressive to start the second half, cutting Wilton’s lead to 12-8. However, the Future Warriors went on a 24-6 run to end the game.
Wilton was led offensively by Murphy (10 points, 7 rebounds), Liam McKiernan (8 points, 7 rebounds) and Garcia (8 points, 2 steals).
Once again, the Future Warriors had an iron clad defensive effort led by Dexter (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals), Kaliski (4 points, 3 steals), Kalter (2 rebounds), and Lillis (1 steal).
The Future Warriors saw another solid victory on Saturday over CT Elite Yellow. This was a strong team effort with a lot of good passing and very good defense. Jack Schwartz (1 point, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal) had a powerful game dominating inside, as did Dexter (4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist). Luke Perna (7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal), Luke Ginsberg (8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals) and Ryan Luchetta (8 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) all had strong offensive performances and grabbed their fair share of rebounds as well. Charlie Keller (1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal) and Mason Andrews (1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal) also contributed with some tenacious defense that helped to produce a number of turnovers and keep Wilton’s momentum going. The final score was 28-15.
In this squad’s second game of the weekend on Sunday, they took on a 5th Grade team from Newtown which had a lot of taller players, and made getting rebounds a big challenge. Dexter (3 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals), Luchetta (2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals) and Ginsberg (4 points, 2 rebounds) fought hard against the taller opponent inside and managed to still get a lot of rebounds and score some points. Andrews (4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steals) and Keller (2 rebounds, 1 steal) again had a very strong defensive performance that helped to put pressure on the other team’s guards. Henry Soojian (2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist) and Perna (4 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal) were able to hit jump shots which helped Wilton on a day when points were hard to come by. Wilton kept the game close in the first half but Newtown pulled away in the last eight minutes, defeating the Future Warriors, 17-25.
7th Grade Boys Dominate Fairfield Hoyas by 24 Points
The Wilton 7th grade Boys team, sponsored by Servco, dominated only once beaten Fairfield Hoyas by a margin of 24 points on Saturday. The Warriors entered this week’s contest after losing two straight last weekend. The Hoyas who have only lost once this season never saw the Warriors coming as all 10 players scored and they completed their best, all-around team effort this season.
Max Andrews led the way with 14 points and Matthew Giller was right behind with 11 points–the main difference was that Andrews scored most of his points in the paint while Giller was hot shooting from the outside. The Warriors saw the first quarter end with a 14-14 tie but never looked back as they led by 7 at the half 28-21.
The Hyzy brothers hit back-to-back 3-pointers to help gain more momentum in the third quarter as Kevin finished the day with 10 points and Craig had 7. Parker Woodring played a solid game scoring 4 points, dishing 6 assists and grabbing 7 rebounds and Connor Cummings was a force under the boards, adding 6 points in the paint and grabbing 2 rebounds. Zarius Eusebe contributed great all-around play, adding 4 points and 3 rebounds, but it was the guard play and hustle of Dillon Mannix (5 points), Max Silva (2 points) and Sean Wiseman (3 points) that helped seal the lopsided win 66-40. The team of Andrews, Giller, Silva, Mannix and Woodring allowed only 5 points in the fourth quarter and scored 12 in the first two minutes of the fourth. Wilton hopes to keep this momentum going as they face the team Orcutt Bridgeport next weekend that eliminated them from last year’s playoff run.
5th Grade Girls Persist with Three Weekend Wins, Beating Weston (31-3), Ridgefield (13-11) and Stamford (32-16)
The Wilton 5th grade girls team, sponsored by Wilton Sport Shop, kicked off an action packed weekend with a convincing 31-3 league victory over Weston. Ashleigh Masterson (10 points, 7 rebounds) and Molly Hancock (9 points, 3 rebounds) led a complete team victory that saw all players contribute. Maddie Dineen (8 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 points), Caroline Hage (4 rebounds, 2 assists) and Lauren Moe (2 points, 3 rebounds) attacked the boards, while Siena McDermott (2 points, 2 rebounds), Kaitlyn Sullivan (2 points, 2 steals) and Marin Burke (2 points, 2 blocks) did a great job handling the ball. Anisa Burrows had 2 points and 1 rebound before twisting her ankle and leaving the game.
In Wilton’s second contest of the weekend, the 14-1 Wilton Warriors welcomed 8-1 Ridgefield to Middlebrook School, and came away with a hard fought league victory (13-11). Hage (8 rebounds, 1 steal) and Moe kept Ridgefield off “the glass”, while Dineen (4 points, 4 steals) and Masterson (7 points, 6 blocks) pressured Ridgefield throughout. McDermott (2 points) had a key drive for a score, while Hancock (2 assists, 2 steals) and Sullivan (1 assist, 2 rebounds) were sharp with their passing. Burke added a timely steal.
In their second game Sunday afternoon, Wilton improved to 15-1 on the season in a game that saw all eight suited-up players score, led by Sullivan (6 points, 2 assists) and Hancock (5 points, 6 steals). Hage again owned the boards (9 rebounds, 4 points), with help from Masterson (5 points, 5 rebounds), Moe (4 points, 3 rebounds) and Burke (2 points, 3 rebounds). Dineen (4 points, 2 steals) and McDermott (2 points, 2 assists) added their usual unselfish, scrappy play, resulting in a 32-16 dominating defeat of Stamford.
Wilton 56er Boys Fall in Tough Game Against Milford, 37-51
On Saturday, Feb. 4 the Wilton 56ers Boys basketball team (10-5) played a strong Milford (12-2) team. In the first half, the 56ers struggled against an aggressive Milford press. Plagued by multiple turnovers and shooting struggles, at the end of the first half, Wilton trailed 13-38.
The boys came out strong in the second half. Wilton’s offense woke up, led by Bailey Finn (24 points) and Andrew Roth (6 points), with additional support by Colin Tsai, Wyatt Jones, Jefferson Mitchell and Michael Byrnes all finding the basket. On the defensive end, Wilton turned up the pressure, with aggressive playing by Michael Wall, steals by Harrison Lent (3 steals) and key rebounds by Kyle Roesser (4 rebounds) and Andre Wiest. Wilton outscored Milford 24-13 in the second half, but ultimately fell 37-51.
5th/6th Grade Girls Defeat Southbury, 21-15
The Wilton 5th/6th grade girls defeated Southbury Parks & Rec 21-15 at home on Saturday. Key rebounds by Aly Rappaport and Avery Schestag allowed Wilton to keep constant pressure on Southbury. Strong defense by Harper Judelson and Annie Savarese, with steals from Ella Mulfinger kept the intensity going. Maddie Ratcliffe led Wilton’s assertive offense with four baskets. Baskets from Anna Joy, Georgia Russnok, Maddie Phelan, Rappaport and Schestag added to the score to lead Wilton in a great win over Southbury.
Team Effort from 6th Grade Girls Lead to Double Victory Weekend: 29-23 Over Trumbull, and 20-17 Over Fairfield
Team effort, determination and heart describe how the Wilton 6th grade girls’ basketball team defeated Trumbull. Superb offense was played by Kelly Holmgren, Charlotte Casiraghi, Mary Scally, Lucy Corry, Emerson Patillo, Molly Snow and Sawyer Pendergast, who scored the first 4 points of the game. Strong rebounding by Kendall Scholz, Ava Fasano and Heather Plowright helped bring home the victory, 29-23.
The Warriors were on fire this weekend with another win over Fairfield, 20-17. Holmgren and Scally didn’t miss a shot, and were aided by strong offense from Snow, Patillo, Plowright, Cory, Casiraghi and Fasano. The game saw another display of stalwart rebounding by Pendergast and Scholz.
8th Grade Boys Win FCBL A Division South Regular Season Championship
Wilton 8th grade boys team, (main image above) sponsored by Tavern on 7, defeated Fairfield-Wakeman, 70-53. With the victory Wilton won the FCBL A Division South regular season championship with an 8-1 record. Matt Gulbin (21 points), Trevor Martines (14 points), and Josh White (13 points) were able to consistently penetrate the defense to finish at the rim. Owen Lillis (6 points), Michael Coffey (5 points, 6 rebounds), and Chase Autore (3 points) contributed to the offense. Sean Sullivan and Mack Kepner led team in assists, each with 3 and Matt Murphy had 2 assists, 3 blocked shots and 5 rebounds.
Next, Wilton defeated Bloomfield, the team that knocked them out of last season’s playoffs, in a non-league game, 66-57. Alex Cocoros (6 points) and Sullivan (3 points) helped get Wilton off to a strong start shooting from downtown. Gulbin (15 points) and Martines (11 points) were both effective near the rim, while White (13 points) was scoring inside and outside (2 treys).
In their second non-league game of the weekend, Wilton defeated another A Division South team with just one loss, Stamford Boys & Girls Club, 61-57. Stamford came out of the gate fast, running its fast break to take a 22-10 lead after one quarter. Wilton then went on to outscore Stamford in each of the next three quarters to slowly chip away at the lead. White (17 points) hit a 3-pointer to give Wilton its first lead, 57-55. After Stamford tied it back up, Murphy (6 points, 5 blocked shots) scored on an alley-oop to regain the lead. Coffey (18 points, 9 rebounds) sealed the outcome, making two free throws with five seconds to go. Martines played a complete game (7 points, 5 assists, 5 steals) with his steals leading to multiple transition baskets.