Griswold boys basketball outlasts Weaver: Here's how they advanced to the CT semifinals

JEWETT CITY ― Clearly, this Griswold boys basketball team is not satisfied with solely an ECC tourney title and is disinterested in ending its season any time soon.

In a packed gym, the Wolverines extended its joy ride Monday to the CIAC Division IV state semifinals, slaying a much-taller Weaver-Hartford squad, 61-58, in the quarterfinals and inching closer to a re-run to the Mohegan Sun. Griswold (22-3) stands just two wins away from its first state basketball championship, knocking off an eight-time CIAC champ that featured a 6-9 and 6-6 starter.

"We really don't want to see this end," Griswold coach Rob Mileski said. "This is a great win: 22-3, state semis, beating Weaver … I saw (former coach) Gary Kinel and he said this is the best Griswold team he's seen. That's high praise coming from someone who coached Griswold to over 500 wins."

The Wolverines, who start no player taller than 6-foot-2, never blinked and, as Mileski predicted, tired out this inner-city team with an up-tempo style, mid-range offensive game and pressing defense. Griswold held its own rebounding and, in turn, punished Weaver by forcing 22 turnovers.

"We thought we were in better shape and could wear them out in the fourth quarter," Griswold senior Jacob Strain said. "At first, it was an adjustment just to see how big they were. But we kept with our plan to speed up the game. They got tired."

Despite an outside shooting onslaught by Weaver 6-4 guard Jamir Hicks (20 points), Griswold led by 19-18 after one quarter and 35-33 at halftime. The Wolverines relied on the lost art of mid-range shooting with balanced scoring on a variety of 10-to-15-foot pull-up jumpers against Weaver's big men.

Early in the third quarter, Weaver's 6-9 Christian Wilson (18 points) got free inside to give the Beavers a 46-41 edge. Griswold responded with an 8-2 run to end the quarter, including a Strain back-door pass to Jeff Souvenance (11 points) for a layup and a 47-46 Griswold lead.

ln the fourth, Lucas Strain (15 points) hit a three and Evan Merchant (11 points) made a free throw for a 55-50 Wolverine lead. Souvenance and Jacob Strain sunk baskets for a 61-52 lead with 3:03 to go.

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Weaver responded with a 7-0 run, the last two on a Wilson layup to cut the gap to 61-59 with 42 seconds left.

"Weaver had only three fouls at that point and couldn't send us to the line for a one-and-one," Mileski said. "We were trying to milk the clock but our kids like to go fast."

After the teams traded turnovers, Griswold got the ball back up two. Weaver wasted precious time trying to foul three times, sending Jacob Strain to the line with 9.9 seconds left. Mileski called timeout.

"I was very nervous and was glad he called timeout to settle me down," Strain said.

Strain hit the first free throw creating a 62-59 margin and missed the second. In typical Griswold hustling fashion, Souvenance got the rebound. Griswold's Christian Russell was subsequently fouled and missed a free throw with six seconds left, but Griswold poked the ball off a Weaver player and out of bounds. Griswold missed a free throw but a Weaver 60-foot heave was off the mark.

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Weaver coach Shawn Bell saluted Griswold for its effort and execution against the taller Beavers.

"We were hoping to take more advantage of our height, but we missed some chippies and Griswold is well-schooled in fundamentals and plays together," Bell said. "Their shooters shoot, their slashers slash, they're very cohesive. This was the type of tight game you expect from a four versus five seed. It's always tough on-the-road team in these games.

"Griswold now heads to Waterford High School on Wednesday (7 p.m.) to play top-seeded Cromwell and its famous coach, former Villanova All-America big man John Pinone.

"We want to keep going," Jacob Strain said. "We believe in ourselves."

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Griswold Boys Basketball outlasts Weaver, advances to CT semifinals