Top boys basketball players, teams and storylines from Week 2: Northwest Catholic’s Matt Curtis joins 1,000-point club
In some sense, Matt Curtis was born to hoop.
The Northwest Catholic junior is the son of one of Connecticut’s all-time leading scorers. His father, also named Matt, scored 2,263 points at Cheshire in the 90 1/4 u2032s — sixth-most in state history. It was only natural that his son would have a nose for buckets, too.
It took Curtis just 49 career games to join the illustrious 1,000-point club of high school basketball, hitting the milestone Tuesday in a win over Conard. Not only did he etch his name into the history books, he did so with a career-best 42 points for the Lions (4-0).
“It’s good to accomplish that, but it’s good to get back to normal and focus on the season,” Curtis said. “Honestly I’m just blessed that coach [John] Mirabello played me as a freshman. That was a huge deciding factor of where I was going to go to high school. ... He had been pushing me to score, to be the guy.”
Curtis entered the game 37 points shy of 1,000. No one had told him he was approaching the milestone, mostly because they expected it to happen in the team’s following game.
Still, he came out and dropped 30-plus points in the first half to eek closer.
“I had no idea,” Curtis said. “I knew I was getting close. My assistant coach told me at halftime, ‘You need like 5 more points to get 1,000.’ I had no idea. ... I only played like three-and-a-half quarters. My shot was just really on. I want to say like, 15-for-17 from the field in the first half. Not to sound cocky or anything, I just wasn’t missing.”
Players of the week
Dajon Nelson, Prince Tech: Nelson scored a career-high 36 points in a win over Cheney Tech and followed that with 26 points in a rematch with the Beavers two days later.
Justin Menard, Xavier: Menard scored 33 points and had six assists in a win over Branford. He added 22 points in a win over Cheshire.
Matt Curtis, Northwest Catholic: Curtis scored a career-high 42 points in a win over Conard and scored his 1,000th career point in the process.
Troy McKoy, Windsor: McKoy scored 37 points in a win over Hartford Public.
Trevor Buchanan, Bolton: Buchanan dropped 32 points in a win over Coventry.
Gabe Matias, Innovation: Matias scored 28 points and had 11 rebounds in a win over University, and had 13 points and seven rebounds in a win against Civic Leadership.
Josh Burke, Canton: Burke scored 32 points in a win over East Granby and is averaging 30 points, five assists and five rebounds on the season.
Joey Johnson, Windham Tech: Johnson posted a monstrous double-double in a win over Grasso Tech with 24 points and 23 rebounds.
Alex Demosthenous, RHAM: Demosthenous scored just two points in a win over Tolland but blocked a would-be winning basket at the buzzer to preserve the win for the Raptors.
Jeremy Arnum, Valley Regional: Arnum scored 20 points in a win over Haddam-Killingworth, with 16 coming in the fourth quarter and overtime to lift Valley past the finish line.
Teams of the week
Prince Tech: Prince Tech went 2-0 last week and has won 26 straight games dating back to last season. The Falcons are led by Tyshawn Jackson and Dajon Nelson, both of whom have kept the team undefeated and dominant in the CTC.
Maloney: The Spartans are 4-0 to start the season, with Vincent Martinez and Garrison Kuntz leading the charge for the Meriden team.
Innovation: The 2019 Division V champs are still winning. At 4-0, the Ravens have continued to dominate the CRAL, as Gabe Matias and Mike Blackman have kept the train rolling.
Storylines
Bristol Central junior Donovan Clingan picked up a scholarship offer from Michigan on Tuesday. The 7-foot-1 center already has 20-plus offers from schools including UConn, Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa.
He had a Zoom call with Michigan’s coaching staff this week, including head coach Juwan Howard.
“Great coaching staff,” Clingan said. “Juwan Howard, very cool dude. Funny. [Assistant coach] Howard Eisley, the whole staff is cool. Extremely blessed. It’s crazy, it doesn’t feel real. Not just this offer, but everything.”
Clingan is averaging 32 points and 14.3 rebounds for the Rams (3-0). He said he hopes to make a college decision before his senior year so he can play his final year of high school basketball carefree.
What to watch this week
Hall at Windsor, Tuesday: Matt Walker and Hall will face off against Windsor and star sophomore Troy McKoy in a CCC showdown.
East Catholic at Manchester, Tuesday: The star-studded Eagles travel across town to play the Red Hawks of Manchester in a local rivalry game.
Capital Prep at Innovation, Wednesday: Two undefeated teams go head to head with the Trailblazers of Capital Prep headed to New Britain to face the Ravens.
Shawn McFarland can be reached at smcfarland@courant.com.
