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New Canaan 5th Grade Red – 25, Darien White 19
Connor O’Donnell with a foul shot. Credit: Terry Dinan
On Friday night the Red 5’s beat Darien 25-19, led by Matt Salmini’s 11-point performance. New Canaan took an early 6-4 lead in the first quarter behind baskets from Salmini, Bear Morris and Connor O’Donnell, and went into the half up 8-4 as both teams played stellar defense in the second quarter.
New Canaan opened things up in the third, outscoring Darien 9-6 to take a 15-10 lead into the fourth quarter. Salmini again led the way with 5 points in the third, getting help from a Ryan Tonghini jumper and a layup from O’Donnell. New Canaan staved off a Darien rally in the fourth as Chris McLallen scored 4 points and Ryan Connelly and Salmini each added 2 to help New Canaan to its first win of the season.
Greenwich Select 5 – 35, New Canaan 5th Grade Red – 30
On Saturday the Red 5’s dropped a tough 35-30 decision to Greenwich in a non-conference matchup. Travis Sturcke was New Canaan’s leading scorer with 7 points, with McLallen, Salmini and Morris contributing 5 points apiece. Despite strong defensive efforts from Will Larson and Colin Tiscornia, Greenwich pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring New Canaan 6-2 to take an 18-11 lead at the break.
The Red 5’s fought back in the third as key baskets from Sturcke and Jerome Roscoe (2 points) got New Canaan back in the game. Greenwich was able to hold on in the fourth quarter, sinking clutch free throws down the stretch to thwart a New Canaan rally.
New Canaan 5th Grade Red – 30, Shelton 5th Grade – 26
New Canaan returned to its winning ways Sunday against Shelton, pulling out a 30-26 victory. The Red 5’s fell behind 6-0 early, but quickly turned the tide after head coach Felix Belgrove made some adjustments. New Canaan went on a 14-0 run as Sturcke (4 points) McLallen (4 points) and Morris (5 points) led the way for the Red 5’s. Swarming defense by O’Donnell and Tiscornia forced several Shelton turnovers which led to quick New Canaan transition points as the teams went into halftime with the Red 5’s up 18-8.
New Canaan extended that lead early in the third quarter as Cooper Dinan (2 points) hit a fadeaway jumper and Salmini (6 points) banked in a put-back, giving the Red 5’s a 22-10 lead. Shelton fought back with a 10-0 run of its own, pulling to within 22-20 by the end of the quarter. New Canaan never relinquished its lead, as O’Donnell scored 4 of his team-high 9 points in the fourth to help preserve the Red 5’s win.
NCBA 8th Grade Black – 41, New Castle – 35
Nick Brown concentrates on the basket. (Credit: Terry Dinan)
After a holiday break the 8th grade New Canaan Black team was back in action against New Castle, one of the top teams in the conference. After a hard fought first half New Castle took the lead going into halftime. In the 3rd quarter the tide began to turn as New Canaan outscored New Castle 11 to 3.
That momentum carried into the 4th quarter where they out scored New Castle again, 16 to 10. Strong defense was the key to the game as the New Canaan big men led by Alex Gibbens, Thomas Marshall, Gus Larson, Colin Russo, Julian Tonghini and Henry Pohle dominated the second half. Nick Brown, Brandon Sechan and Ryan McAleer led the scoring drives in a very suspenseful and well fought game.
New Canaan 8th Grade Girls Edge Weston 18-16
On Saturday, the New Canaan 8th grade girls were back in action, defeating Weston’s 8th grade team 18-16 in what was a fairly evenly matched game throughout. Weston is a formidable team whom the girls had previously fallen to, so this victory felt mighty sweet.
First period ended with New Canaan leading 5-4, with Katie Dunn (#2) and Kearney McKiernan (# 10) each scored a basket and Riana Afshar (#7) delivering a one-point foul shot.
In the second period, New Canaan kept its edge, closing the period 9-8, with Michelle LaBadie #9 scoring a two pointer along with Jane Charlton (#4).
The third period gave the crowd a little more of what they were coming to expect from this game, with Charlton scoring as well as Natalie Lopez (# 11) off of a Sarah Crawford rebound and Katie Dunn locking a 1-point foul shot.
Charlton made magic in the last period scoring 5 points (2 foul shots planted as well as a two-pointer), closing out the game, 18-16.