New Canaan Falls to Trinity Catholic

By Terry Dinan

STAMFORD – Many high school basketball coaches would be hard-pressed to find positives after losing a game by 13 points. That said, New Canaan’s Mike Evans was able to remain optimistic after watching his Rams fall 61-48 on the road against a tough Trinity Catholic squad Friday night.

“When we execute our zone defense, we’re pretty good,” said Evans. “But it’s really hard to consistently get back into it against such a high-intensity team. They’re well coached and they read zones really well. Our fatigue led to them really being able to figure us out.”

The Crusaders were led by Tremaine Fraiser, who scored 22 points. Tyrell St. John chipped in with 15 and Aaron Wheeler added 10 for the Crusaders who improved to 7-7 (6-6 in the FCIAC) on the season. The Rams  – led by senior Claude Chandonnet’s 21 points – fell to 3-12 (3-10).  Junior Zach Allen added 8 points and freshman Tyler Sweeney scored 6 for New Canaan.

Trinity was able to pull away from New Canaan early by dominating the offensive glass and creating multiple shot opportunities all over the court.  Leading 10-6 after 1 quarter, the Crusaders outscored the Rams 19-8 in the 2^nd as they connected on three 3-point goals. Meanwhile, New Canaan was unable to hit any shots from beyond the arc in the first half, and found themselves trailing 29-14 at the break.

“Trinity shot the lights out in the first half,” said Evans. “To hold them to 29 in the first half was alright. The problem was we only scored 14 points. Credit goes to them for figuring our zones and getting their guys in the right spots.”

Trinity continued to open the game up in the 3^rd quarter with runs of 7-2 and 9-3 en route to a 45-23 lead. The Crusaders would build that lead to a 27-point advantage when St. John hit 3-pointer with 4:43 left in the game, but Chandonnet would help the Rams close the gap by scoring 12 of his 21 points in the final stanza.

“I can’t get myself to take the kid out of the game, because he just goes the whole time,” Evans told NewCanaanite.com. “We’re talking about a guy who dedicates his life to basketball, so he deserves every minute he gets.”

With only five games left on the schedule, Evans is confident the team can end the season on a positive note.

“There’s hope for the future,” said Evans. “We have some bright young stars out there who can do well in the future.”

TEAM       1          2          3          4          FINAL

NC              6          8          9          25          48

TC             10       19       16        16         61

NEW CANAAN: 3-12 (FCIAC, 3-10)

TRINITY CATHOLIC: 7-7 (FCIAC, 6-6)