Boys Basketball: Windsor, EC win at Cecchini Challenge

Dec. 28—For Anthony Williams and the Windsor High boys basketball team, the third time was the charm Tuesday.

The junior's third-chance putback in the final 10 seconds lifted the Warriors to a 58-56 win over Classical (Providence, Rhode Island) in the inaugural Jiggs Cecchini Holiday Basketball Challenge at Mohegan Sun Arena.

With the game tied 56-56, Williams missed a contested layup with 14.3 seconds to play. Classmate Jakeel Martin's tip-in missed and junior Quintin Floyd grabbed the offensive rebound, but his floater hit off the front of the rim.

Williams was there for another offensive board and made the putback with 8.4 seconds left.

Following a timeout, Classical (1-3) inbounded from halfcourt with 2.3 to play. Freshman Eliezer Delbrey inbounded to Jordon Duke, who passed the ball back to Delbrey.

But swarming defense from Floyd prevented a shot and secured the win for Windsor (5-0), which was ranked fourth in the GameTimeCT/New Haven Register preseason state media poll.

The Jiggs Cecchini Holiday Basketball Challenge featured four games — two boys, two girls — pitting a Connecticut school against a Rhode Island school.

Connecticut finished the event 4-0. East Catholic topped Bishop Hendricken (Warwick) 69-50 in the other boys game while Hamden topped Ponaganset (North Scituate) 66-32 and Holy Cross edged St. Mary Academy-Bay View (Riverside) 71-63 in the girls games.

Windsor led 18-4 after a quarter before the Purple came to life. Classical cut the deficit to 33-25 at the half and 45-42 after three quarters.

Williams finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds while adding four steals. Floyd had 12 points, six rebounds and three steals while Martin had 12 points.

Delbrey poured in a game-high 23 points for Classical.

Windsor returns to the court today when it plays Wilbur Cross at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven as part of the Saulsbury Invitational.

EC 69, BISHOP HENDRICKEN 50. Samson Reilly led the Eagles with 21 points as they picked up a win in a battle between reigning state champions at the Jiggs Cecchini Holiday Basketball Challenge at Mohegan Sun Arena.

East Catholic (5-0), which entered the game ranked No. 1 in the state media preseason poll, led 15-11 after a quarter and 31-28 at the half before blowing the game open in the third.

The Eagles outscored the Hawks (4-1) 17-6 in the quarter, including eight points from senior James Jones. Bishop Hendricken made one field goal in the third.

Four of Reilly's six makes came from beyond the arc Tuesday. Preston Fowler added 17 points while Rob Elliott had 14. Jones finished with 11. Azmar Abdullah finished with a game-high 22 points for the Hawks.

East is back in action Tuesday when it welcomes CCC East foe Tolland.

ENFIELD 73, COMPUTER SCIENCE 32. Alex Herron recorded a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead host Enfield to a non-conference win.

Enfield (2-2) led 28-17 at the half before outscoring Computer Science (1-3) 18-6 in the third to break the game open.

Lamar Davis added 15 points in the win while Isaiah Plummer had 14 and Kaden Birkett had 10. Teammate Josiah Whaley contributed four assists and four steals.

Javier Negron paced Computer Science with 15 points.

Enfield is back in action Friday when it welcomes Aerospace while Computer Science travels to International Tuesday.

GLASTONBURY 61, WATERFORD 48. David Smith's 22 points led the way as the Guardians picked up a win to open the Artie Kohs Classic at Xavier High in Middletown.

Glastonbury (4-0), which matched last year's season win total with the victory, plays host Xavier in the title game tonight. The Falcons (3-1) topped Newington 46-40 Tuesday.

The Guardians led by five after a quarter and nine at the half before the Lancers (1-3) cut the score to 40-34 entering the fourth.

Glastonbury outscored Waterford 21-14 in the final eight minutes to secure the win.

Adam Molusis added 14 points in the win while Connor O'Leary had 13 and Andrew Burns had 10. Evan Piotrowski led Waterford with 14 points.

Waterford and Newington play a consolation game today.

SOMERS 39, UNIVERSITY 21. In Killingly, Troy Maia scored 22 points to give the Spartans an opening-round win at the Ellis Tech Holiday Tournament.

Somers (3-2) plays Tourtellotte in the title game today. The Tigers (1-2) topped host Ellis Tech 67-47 Tuesday,

The Spartans built a 16-4 lead after a quarter, including 13 points from Maia. Somers extended the lead to 25-7 at the half.

Cody Ferrero and Braden Davis each added five points in the win. Ka'Ron Wright scored eight points to led University (1-3).

The Hawks and Ellis Tech play a consolation game today.

STAFFORD 55, BACON ACADEMY 46. In Colchester, Tom Balanceau scored 16 points as the Bulldogs came back to win a non-league game.

Stafford (1-1) trailed 11-5 after a quarter before taking a 22-21 lead into the half. The Bulldogs stretched the lead to 38-35 after three before outscoring the Bobcats (0-4) 17-11 in the fourth.

Four of Balanceau's five buckets were three-pointers. Teammate Zack Donovan added 14 points while freshman Colin Tozier had 11. Luke Grimord's 14 points led Bacon Academy.

COVENTRY 66, PARISH HILL 27. Dylan Aloisa and Aidan Hecht each scored 13 points to lead the Patriots to a non-league win in Coventry.

Coventry (4-2) led 8-5 after a quarter before outscoring Parish Hill (0-6) 26-7 in the second to take control.

The Patriots made eight 3s as a team, including three each from Aloisa and Hecht. Aloisa added five steals to his scoring while sophomore Justin Aloisa had 10 rebounds and four assists. Michael Monroe led Parish Hill with nine points.

Coventry is off until Jan. 4 when it hosts Stafford in a NCCC game.