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For a few moments on Tuesday night it looked like it would be the same old story for the New Canaan Rams boys basketball team. After watching a big first half lead dissipate and eventually turn into a late fourth quarter deficit, the Rams seemed destined to go down to yet another heartbreaking loss.
Instead, the Rams found a way to turn the tables—and their fortune—completely around.
Sophomore Nick Crovatto’s driving layup with less than 8 seconds to play broke a 55-55 tie as the Rams defeated Staples 57-55 at New Canaan High School. The win avenged a 48-23 December loss to the Wreckers and was the first for New Canaan (3-12, 2-9 FCIAC) in almost a month—a month that has seen the Rams flirt with victory several times only to fall in the end, a trend head coach Mike Evans hopes is behind his team.
“We got our confidence back,” Evans told NewCanaanite.com. “I think we took a punch in the face in the third quarter which we’ve done every game, and we finally punched back and punched again. We know we can win now.”
Junior Tyler Sweeney once again provided most of the Rams’ power shots, scoring a team-high 20 points, including three on a put-back and foul shot after a Jackson Selvala steal that turned a 53-52 Staples lead into a 55-53 Rams advantage with less than a minute to play.
Staples (6-10, 4-8 FCIAC) tied the game on its ensuing possession as Justin Seidman scored two of his 18 points on the night with 43 seconds left, setting up Crovatto’s heroics after a New Canaan timeout.
“It happened pretty fast,” Crovatto said. “ We were looking to get a last shot, and they pressured up and gave me a lane. My teammates told me to just drive it in so that’s what I did.”
“Nick will just run through a brick wall,” Evans said. “The guts it took—we had a broken play at the end and you look at that guy with the ball in his hands and you just know that you’re not going to call a timeout and run another play. What a career he’s going to have as a high school player.”
The Rams jumped out to an early lead as Sweeney scored the first five points of the game. After Staples tied it up at 5 apiece, New Canaan went on a 6-1 run to close out the opening quarter with an 11-6 lead.
Consecutive three pointers by Sweeney and junior Austin Bell to open the second quarter extended that lead to 17-6 for New Canaan. The Rams led Staples by as many as 19 points in the second, until the Wreckers made a run of their own. Staples outscored New Canaan 10-2 over the last two minutes of the half to cut the Rams lead to 30-20 at halftime.
Staples came out of the intermission on fire, scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter to tie the game at 30-30. A three-point play by junior James Crovatto stopped the bleeding to give New Canaan a 33-30 lead with 5 minutes left in the quarter. The Rams maintained their lead through the quarter as huge threes from Sweeney and Bell preserved a 44-38 New Canaan lead as the teams headed into the fourth quarter.
The Wreckers stayed with the Rams throughout the balance of the fourth as Nick Crovatto picked up his fourth foul with more than five minutes to play and had to sit. Staples eventually took their first lead of the game when Dylan Dreyfus nailed a three-pointer after regaining possession off the missed back end of a one-and-one free throw, giving the Wreckers a 53-52 lead with 1:40 left to play.
After Sweeney was called for an offensive foul on New Canaan’s ensuing possession, Staples seemingly had the game in hand. Selvala, however, stole a pass and drove the length of the court for a layup attempt. When the shot rolled out, a trailing Sweeney grabbed the rebound and converted the put-back, getting fouled in the process. Less than a minute later, Crovatto broke the final tie with the game-winner.
“We’re going to celebrate it, but we’re not going to think about it too much,” Crovatto said. “We have games coming up in the future and we’re still pushing toward states. We have to win five more games and we’re just looking ahead.”
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staples | 6 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 55 |
| New Canaan | 11 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 57 |
NC - Tyler Sweeney, 20; Austin Bell, 11; James Crovatto, 11; Nick Crovatto, 9
Staples - Justin Seidman, 18; Max Sussman, 10; Sean Pritchett, 10; Jared Vishno, 10
Fouled out: New Canaan - J. Crovatto
Records: Staples 6-10 (4-8 FCIAC); New Canaan 3-12 (2-9 FCIAC)