NFA boys basketball team suffers another heartbreaker in ECC quarterfinals
WILLIMANTIC ― The Norwich Free Academy boys basketball team has been involved in some wild games over the past two seasons. A year ago there were a pair of buzzer-beating losses against rival New London and an incredible loss on a 3-pointer at the buzzer against Fairfield Prep in the state tournament.
The heartbreak for the Wildcats continued on Thursday night.
Windham’s Tyler Mangual converted a layup with just 7.4 seconds left and NFA’s game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim, giving the Whippets an 83-82 victory in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I tournament quarterfinals at Windham High School in Willimantic.
Windham (16-5), the defending Division V state champions, rallied from a 25-point first half deficit.
“We fought too hard,” NFA coach Dave Cornish said. “But we had too many turnovers when we had a big lead. I told them the only way we could lose this game is if we start turning the ball over. And we did.”
NFA led Windham at halftime
NFA (10-11) gave Windham fits in the first half with a swarming, trapping defense. The Wildcats attacked the offensive glass with abandon and built leads of 34-14 after one quarter and 48-34 at halftime.
The Whippets closed the gap to 64-55 after three quarters. Windham then opened the fourth quarter with a 10-0 spurt and took its first lead (65-64) on a pair of free throws from Travis Mangual Jr. with 6:30 remaining.
The fourth quarter was a thrilling, see-saw battle that featured one clutch shot after another.
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Wildcats’ junior guard Armanee Davis converted a floater in the lane to cap an 8-0 spurt that gave NFA a 73-67 lead with 3:14 left.
But the Whippets responded. Malcolm Hunter canned a pair of free throws, Tyler Mangual made a nifty spin in the lane for a bucket and two more free throws from Hunter tied it at 73 with 2:39 left.
NFA junior guard Eshaad Hernandez buried a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Wildcats a short-lived 76-73 cushion.
The Whippets regained the lead 79-76 on a Hunter 3-pointer with just 57 seconds remaining.
After a pair of free throws from NFA junior guard Tony Williams, who led the Wildcats with 26 points, closed the gap to 79-78, Hunter made two more free throws for an 81-78 lead with 44 seconds left.
Williams then went coast-to-coast for a layup. After a steal from sophomore Kody Jamieson, Williams converted a short bank shot and NFA led 82-81 with 21 seconds remaining before Tyler Mangual's game-winning basket.
For the Whippets, Travis Mangual Jr. collected a game-high 28 points with eight rebounds and seven assists, Hunter finished with 18 points, Tyler Mangual added 13 points, while Julian Cruz chipped in 12 points.
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Armanee Davis, who fouled out late in the fourth quarter, scored 14 points, senior Cam’ron Sinvil had 10 points, while freshman Ethan Graham also had 10 points for the Wildcats.
Windham made 23 of 32 foul shots, while NFA went to the line just nine times and made five.
“We did a lot of good things tonight and then we went back to our old self,” Cornish said. “We really couldn’t recover. Their momentum was picking up and we kept fouling. Give Windham credit. They knocked down their foul shots.”
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Norwich Free Academy falls short against Windham in ECC tourtney
