Windham pulls away from East Lyme in the second half
Jan. 4—WILLIMANTIC — Paul Martineau spoke of the metaphorical "target" Tuesday night, the same bullseye that defines all defending state champions.
"Earlier this year," Martineau said from his victorious locker room, "the kids were playing like they were still on the honeymoon. I kept telling them, 'hey, that's over.'"
The defending Division V state champs went to 5-2 with a 58-48 win over defending Eastern Connecticut Conference Div. I champion East Lyme. The 5-2 record for Windham might even be better than it looks.
The Whips have been without center Isaiah Mangual (although he may return Friday) and sophomore shooter Malcolm Hunter has battled some nagging injuries as well.
"And we're playing a lot stiffer competition," Martineau said, alluding to moving from Div. I to Div. II of the ECC with Waterford, Fitch, Ledyard and Woodstock.
The Whips trailed by a point at halftime but scored nearly as many points in the third period (20) as they did in the first half (22). They led by as many as 10 before holding off East Lyme's late rally.
Anthony Green and Travis Mangual scored 12 points apiece to lead Windham while Julian Cruz had 11 and Hunter scored 10.
East Lyme and new coach Tim Strong, who was at Montville last season, fell to 2-3.
"We're still figuring out our rotation," Strong said. "Still figuring out who is going to play where. I thought Windham won the game with a spurt in the third quarter. Other than that, I thought we were OK."
Mikey Timpano scored 15 to lead the Vikiings, including a pair of threes in the fourth quarter that kept East Lyme close. John Bureau had nine and Owen Elmer eight.
East Lyme led 23-22 at halftime.
"We've got a lot of areas we need to improve on, but guard play is right up there," Strong said. "They're inexperienced. I don't want to be negative beause they're young. But they've got to be better."
