Miller helps Ellington get back on track
Jan. 21—Following a perfect start to the season, the Ellington High boys basketball team ran into a rough patch.
But Elijah Miller helped get the Knights back on track Friday.
The senior finished with a game-high 17 points as Ellington topped Stafford 54-43 in a NCCC game at home.
The win snaps a two-game skid for the Knights (9-2), who won their first eight games.
The Bulldogs (2-8) led 10-9 after a quarter before Ellington tied it 19-19 at the half. The Knights then outscored Stafford 15-6 in the third to take control of the game.
Darren Zahner added 13 points in the win, including three makes from beyond the arc. Teammate Cody Murphy finished with 11 points.
Tom Balanceau's 14 points paced the Bulldogs while Zack Donovan and Dylan McLaughlin each had seven.
Both teams are in action Tuesday. Ellington travels to Hartford to play SMSA while Stafford entertains East Granby.
SOMERS 40, GRANBY 23. Troy Maia finished with 18 points as the visiting Spartans won a NCCC game at "The Den" in Granby.
The win secures Somers (8-4) a berth in the Division IV state tournament. Granby, last year's Division IV runner-up, falls to 1-10.
The Spartans led 23-10 at the half and maintained the lead the rest of the way. Cody Ferrero contributed nine points in the win. Chad Orluk paced Granby with 13 points.
Somers hosts East Windsor Tuesday.
WINDSOR LOCKS 72, EAST GRANBY 40. In East Granby, Austin Smith was one of five Raiders to reach double-figure scoring in a NCCC win.
The senior scored a team-high 15 points for Windsor Locks (9-0), which received votes in this week's GameTimeCT/New Haven Register state media poll.
The visitors led 20-8 after a quarter before extending the lead to 40-19 at the half.
Sincere Monroe (14 points), Malike Alasani (12), Evan Courtney (10) and Jamari Murrell (10) also reached double figures for the Raiders. Kenzie Vick led the Crusaders (2-9) with 14 points.
Windsor Locks hosts Rockville Monday.
ROCKVILLE 78, BOLTON 57. Weston LaBrecque led the way with 36 points as the Rams won a NCCC game in Vernon.
Rockville (6-5) led 16-4 after a quarter. Bolton (5-7) trimmed the deficit to 29-22 at the half, but Rockville outscored the Bulldogs 32-9 in the third to take control.
Nine of LaBrecque's 12 makes came from three-point range. He had 21 points in the first half. Sophomore Andrew Carangelo added 13 points in the win.
Gavin LaPlante and Colby Marsh each had 14 point for Bolton while Trevor Buchanan and Ryan Orzolek had 10 apiece.
Rockville welcomes North Haven today while Bolton entertains Windham Tech Monday.
SUFFIELD 68, EAST WINDSOR 58. In East Windsor, Nick Sattan scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Wildcats to a NCCC win.
It's the fourth win in a row for Suffield (8-3) and its seventh in the last eight games.
The Wildcats led 20-15 after a quarter before outscoring the Panthers (1-7) 34-18 in the middle two quarters.
Sattan, a senior, scored eight of his points in the first quarter. Donovan Koukal-Kollie added 18 points in the win while Mike Coggins had 13 points and seven rebounds.
East Windsor's Russell Williams led all scores with 26 points, including going 10-for-10 from the foul line. The junior scored 17 of his points in the fourth.
Teammate Ray Gonzalez added 11 points for the Panthers.
Suffield entertains Coventry Tuesday, the same day East Windsor travels to Somers.
EAST CATHOLIC 89, EAST HARTFORD 50. Samson Reilly led all scorers with 27 points as the Eagles won a CCC East battle in Manchester.
East Catholic (10-1), which was ranked No. 1 in this week's GameTimeCT/ New Haven Register state media poll, led 20-8 after a quarter and 42-19 at the half.
Eleven of Reilly's points came in the second quarter. Raymond Rodriguez added 15 points in the win while Preston Fowler contributed 13 and Rob Elliott had 10.
Cam Major and Justin Victorin each scored 12 for East Hartford (3-6) while Elijah Serrano had 10.
Both teams are in action Monday. East Catholic hosts Conard while East Hartford visits Tolland.
