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 Basketball Association
Wilton Warrior 5th/6th Grade Boys Basketball Lose Two
On Saturday morning the Wilton Warrior 5th/6th grade boys basketball team played in a tough double-header facing off against the Greenwich Stars at Carmel Academy and then back at Middlebrook to face New Canaan.
In the game against Greenwich, the Warriors got off to a good start thanks to their high-pressure defense and hustle. Leading the way at the top of the press were Brody Hess, Cole Galante, Patrick Heffernan, Will Fischer, Tucker Farrell and Luke DiRocco. While the Warrior defense was creating havoc for Greenwich, the offense had a tough time getting on track as a number of open shots just would not fall for the Warriors. Despite only giving up 14 points in the first half, the Warriors trailed 14-10 at the half. In the second half the Greenwich team made some quick adjustments and scored the first 6 points of the quarter to push the lead to 20-10 with 11:30 left to go in the game. The Warriors continued to scrap and fight as Henry Soojin, Jack Williams, Justin Kammerman, Mason Andrews and Declan Brokaw played tough interior defense. In the end, Greenwich was just too much for the Warriors and won the game 16-32.
In the second game of the day back at Middlebrook, the Warriors hosted New Canaan. Wilton started off strong on a beautiful back-door cut and layup by DiRocco. But, once again, the Warriors had a tough time putting the ball in the hoop trailing New Canaan 8-2 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter Fischer had a great steal and layup, followed by a baseline jumper from Galante and lefty lay-in by Brokaw to cut the lead to 16-8 with three minutes to go in the half. New Canaan found its groove with a series of great passes to take a 22-8 lead before another Warrior basket by Hess. The undersized Warriors continued to play scrappy and battle on every possession led by Williams, Andrews, Heffernan, Soojin, and Stefano Cross. But the hustle was not enough to slow New Canaan down as they went on a 15-0 run in the third quarter. Gritty play from point guards Farrell and Fischer and solid wing play by Kammerman led to the 3 points for the Warriors in the fourth. In the end, New Canaan won 13-39.
Wilton 6th Grade Boys Defeat Westport PAL, 37-26:
Wilton 6B used amazing teamwork to defeat Westport PAL this weekend 37-26. The aggressive play by Anderson Campbell, Max Jarvie and Todd Woodring led to them scoring 9, 8 and 6 points respectively. All three also overpowered under the rim with several rebounds. Kyle Roesser had 9 rebounds and 4 points, and Peter Reyes and Luke Umphred had very strong games under the basket with 5 rebounds each. Jack Minnich made key plays for Wilton including sinking a shot from the 3 point line and blocking an opponent’s shot. Wyatt Jones guided the offense well with 5 assists. He and Levi Kaplan stunned Westport with 3 steals each. Henry Roy also had a strong presence on the court with 4 points and 4 rebounds, and he used his lightning speed to steal the ball an impressive 9 times.
Wilton 5th Grade Boys Push for Overtime Win Over TMT United, 47-38
Wilton 5th grade boys pulled out a 47-38 win versus TMT United on Sunday, Dec. 10 in overtime. Cole Siegel got the offense started early with 4 quick points for the team. Jack Schwartz led the team with 13 points, with 7 of his points coming from the free throw line in what turned out to be a very physical game. The boys spent a lot of time at the foul line with Cael Dexter, Matthew Garcia, Luke Ginsburg, Grady Kaliski, Liam Murphy, and Luke Perna all picking up points from the charity stripe off of aggressive offensive moves. Ryan Luchetta was a force on the defensive boards all day while Liam McKiernan handled the offensive in overtime, scoring 4 points in the extra period. It was a great overall team effort.
Wilton 7th Grade Boys Travel Defeats Fairfield PAL Hoyas and Redding-Easton
In the first game of the snow filled weekend, the 7th Grade boys faced off against a strong Fairfield team. Wilton maintained a multi-point lead most of the game until Fairfield rallied and eventually took the lead in the fourth quarter. Offensively Tommy McKiernan was going at Fairfield from all directions, inside/outside and on defense. He finished with 4 steals and 22 points, including a 3 point play midway through the fourth quarter. Bailey Finn was a force in the paint with 2 blocks, 9 rebounds and 4 of his 7 points in the 4th quarter. Alexander Reyes, Nick Walden and Jackson Duncan cleared the boards for 5, 5 and 3 important rebounds, respectively. Tommy Walsh, Duncan, Andrew Roth and Reyes each added field goals. Ryan Preisano chased down 4 rebounds and scored 5 points. Spencer Liston had 3 critical assists and 3 steals as he along with Roth, McKiernan and Griffin Turner hounded Fairfield on defense the entire game. In a tight game like this every effort and every point was impactful and the boys delivered in the last two minutes. There were clutch free throws by McKiernan and Walden, and Finn thwarted two drives to the basket by Fairfield and a power move in the post for a field goal. Some good play calling by Coach Kevin Hand and strong perimeter defense sealed the 46-44 victory in the waning seconds.
In their second game of the day, the 7th grade boys took a quick 11-2 lead, but the Redding-Easton team kept fighting back throughout the game. They had no answers for Finn though, as he filled the stat sheet with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocks, 2 assists and a steal. The strong inside presence of Finn, Reyes and Walden opened up the perimeter for 3 pointers from Preisano and Roth who finished with 8 and 6 points, respectively. Reyes seemed to be in the right places at the right times on offense and defense to finish with 15 points, 6 rebounds, an assist and a steal. Turner also did a bit of everything out there adding a few rebounds, an assist, a point, a steal and a blocked shot. Duncan and Walden were energizers on defense with Duncan adding 5 points and Walden securing 5 big rebounds. In another solid performance McKiernan distributed 4 assists and added 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and a couple of blocks. Walsh and Liston were pests on defense, but Liston was cool from the free throw line as he finished with 7 points and Walsh finished with 2. It was a great 71-53 win to end the weekend.
Wilton 7th/8th Grade Boys Basketball Team Beats New Canaan… Again!
It was a bright sunny Sunday morning. The snow had already melted from the snowstorm the day before. The Wilton 7th/8th boys once again faced their rival, the New Canaan 8th grade boys basketball team. Wilton beat them once before, but could they do it again?
The Wilton boys had home court advantage, a full healthy roster, determination and grit from coming off of a devastating loss against St. Mary’s the day before. They were determined to win and they did. Wilton led each quarter with the first quarter leading 16-14; the second quarter leading 28-24; third quarter leading 40-28 and a nail biting final score of 45-41.
AJ Preisano led the team in points hitting three 3-pointers, two short jumpers and two free throws for a total of 18 points. For a good part of the game, the Wilton team resembled the Golden State Warriors with a combined total of seven 3-pointers scored by Dillon Mannix, Will Sullivan, Jefferson Mitchell and Preisano.
Free throws helped win the game for the team, with Wilton in the bonus and New Canaan trying to stop the clock by committing fouls. Mannix, Colin Tsai, Preisano, and Connor Robertson all made their free throw attempts with a combined 10 points on free throws.
James Minnich, Harrison Lent, Connor Lillis, and Sean Wiseman created plays, had great ball movement and attacked the basket on the outside, while Tim Martin and Dylan Smith dominated the inside.
Special thanks to Coach Redding and Coach Ditimi for a great start to the season!
Wilton 8th Grade Boys Win First Game of Season Over Norwalk United, 53-49
The Wilton 8th grade boys team, sponsored by Pinocchio Pizza, won its first game of the season Sunday, defeating Norwalk United, 53-49.
Norwalk got off to an 8 point halftime lead, but in the second half Wilton stormed back, led by Connor Cummings and Max Andrews attacking the glass and each scoring 10 points and playing solid defense. The comeback was also aided by the clutch offense of Craig Hyzy (10 Pts) and Parker Woodring (6 pts), and the solid all-around game of Kevin Hyzy (6 pts) who added some big rebounds to help seal game. Wilton got some big stops in this close contest as Zarius Eusube (2 pts) was all over the place creating chaos for Norwalk’s guards while Grant Masterson (2 pts ) and William Murphy did a great job on boards against Norwalk’s big front court.
Wilton 6th Grade Girls Victorious Over Both Stamford and Trumbull
The Wilton 6G team, who were the FCBL Champions last season, started off this basketball season on a bit of a shaky ground falling to East Hartford’s 5/6G team last weekend. However, the team quickly recovered and this past Friday evening the Warriors buckled down on defense and offense to beat the Stamford Young Timers, 50-22 on their home court.
Wilton continued its winning streak on Sunday as they took on the Trumbull Travel 6G team, defeating them by 15 points with a final score of 30-15.
Anisa Burrows and Ashleigh Masterson led the scoring in the combined games with 22 points each. Madeline Dineen was the lead scorer in Sunday’s game, leading the pack with 8 points, as the rest of the team all scored to balance out the points in both wins.
Marin Burke, Julie Collias, Riley Fitzgerald, Caroline Hage, Molly Hancock, Lauren Moe and Ella Mulfinger all played tenacious defense and worked really hard to ensure their team’s success.