Wright's clutch steal sends East Catholic to Division I final

Kyle Maher, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·5 min read

Mar. 17—NEW HAVEN — East Catholic High guard Allyn Wright had done his homework on Fairfield Prep in the days leading up to the teams' Division I semifinal matchup Wednesday.

He had studied the Jesuits' offensive arsenal on film extensively and knew what they liked to run when they needed a bucket in crunch time.

So he was fully prepared when Fairfield Prep went to one of its favorite plays trailing by two points with under a minute remaining.

Wright intercepted a Griffin Harding pass intended for Mike Iannazzo on the left wing and laid the ball in on the other end while being fouled by Harding.

He completed the three-point play and No. 8 seed East Catholic topped fourth-seeded Fairfield Prep 47-40 to advance to the state championship game Sunday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

"We went over all their plays and that diagonal screen where they reverse the ball was one of them," Wright said. "They were running that play all game. So I knew it was coming. I just had to anticipate it and get the steal. I heard my man calling for the ball and the player who was passing it wasn't really looking, he just kind of threw it, so I jumped in front."

The Eagles (19-6) will face No. 2 Notre Dame-West Haven, which came from behind in the fourth quarter to defeat Windsor in the other semifinal. The game is scheduled to begin at 8:15 p.m. The two teams scrimmaged in the preseason.

"(Notre Dame's) extremely well-coached, they have a very good team, they have a great program and they deserve to be in the finals," East Catholic coach Luke Reilly said.

East Catholic is making its 14th championship game appearance. The Eagles have won six titles, including the last time the Division I tournament was completed in 2019.

Wright finished with 10 points, six assists and four steals for the Eagles. Preston Fowler and James Jones added nine points apiece. Rob Elliott grabbed 13 rebounds.

Alex Leporati had 12 points to pace the Jesuits (22-4). Ryan Preisano — who hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer Monday night to propel Fairfield Prep to the semifinals — scored all nine of his points on three 3-pointers in the final quarter to help spark the Jesuits comeback.

"He is really confident right now," Fairfield Prep coach Mike Papale said. "He's a tremendous player. He really gave us a spark tonight."

East Catholic, which has no seniors on its roster, struggled out of the gates, sitting at 4-3 in mid-January. The Eagles have gone 15-3 since.

"We had two teams during that COVID year where we thought we had a real crack at it (winning a state championship)," Reilly said. "As players, that's hard. We graduated eight or nine guys last year, so we had to figure things out. That's what the 20 games are for....There were times we had to figure out what we were going to do with the adversity and these guys showed you today what they have done with it."

East Catholic led 20-7 after one quarter and 26-20 at the half.

Two Tommy Scholl free throws cut the Jesuits' deficit to 34-26 with 58 seconds left in the third but Preston Fowler answered with a layup on the other end to give the Eagles a 10 point advantage entering the final eight minutes.

A Elliott layup gave the Eagles a 42-39 lead with 1:55 remaining.

After the teams exchanged turnovers, Iannazzo split a pair of free throws to trim the Jesuits' deficit to 42-40 with 1:02 remaining.

Wright was fouled but missed the front end of a one-and-one and the Jesuits grabbed the rebound.

But the sophomore made up for his blunder on the defensive end, picking off Harding's pass and converting the game-deciding three-point play.

"Allyn is great, he's very composed for a sophomore," Jones said. "He kept us under control and made some great plays. He really won us that game, on offense and defense."

On Fairfield Prep's next possession, Luke Reilly dove on the floor to collect a loose ball and called a timeout before the Jesuits could tie him up. The Eagles knocked down two more free throws to clinch the victory.

"We talked at halftime that it was going to come down some toughness plays and some loose balls, diving on the floor," Reilly said. "Allyn dug a couple out there late. He had the pick six that gave us enough separation there."

EAST CATHOLIC (47): Preston Fowler 4 0-0 9; Luke Reilly 2 0-0 6; Allyn Wright 3 4-6 10; Rob Elliott 3 0-0 6; James Jones 3 3-6 9; Leondre Sanchez 2 2-4 7. Totals: 17 9-16 47.

Three-point goals: Fowler, Sanchez, Reilly (2).

FAIRFIELD PREP (40): Max Manjos 0 1-2 1; Mike Iannazzo 2 1-3 5; Griffin Harding 4 0-0 9; Alex Leporati 6 0-2 12; Tommy Scholl 1 2-2 4; Ryan Preisano 3 0-0 9; Totals: 16 4-9 40.

Three-point goals: Harding, Preisano (3).

EAST CATHOLIC 20 6 10 11 — 47

FAIRFIELD PREP 7 13 6 14 — 40

For daily updates on high school sports in JI's coverage area, follow Kyle Maher on Twitter: @KyleBMaher, Facebook: Kyle Maher, and Instagram: @KyleBMaher.