Boys Take CCC Title With Ease

The Windsor defense got it started and the offense took over.

Windsor (23-1 overall) took advantage of costly turnovers in Manchester’s backcourt and cruised to a 103-72 victory in the CCC championship game Thursday night at the Babe Allen Field House at Bulkeley High School.

Windsor’s Jerry Buchanon led a balanced attack with 28 points while Jared Wilson-Frame had 23. Buchanon put on a scoring clinic by driving to the basket, hitting three-pointers and free throws.

12 different players scored for Windsor, who beat a very strong Northwest Catholic team 78-71 in the semi-final on Tuesday night on the back of Wilson-Frame, who scored 45 points. On Thursday, it was Buchanon’s night to shine.

“I try to tell Jerry that he needs to be able to score in a different way,” Windsor High coach Ken Smith said. “Don’t leave any points on the floor. And he has adapted to that philosophy and understands it really well.”

That doesn’t mean Wilson-Frame had an off night by any means. “Jared does a lot of different things for us like rebounding and blocking shots,” Smith said of the 6’4” freshman who has averaged 12.6 this season. “He is a bigger presence in a lot of different ways.”

Windsor has Manchester’s number this season with three wins in three different venues – in Windsor, in Manchester and now at a neutral site.

“Last time we played them, they gave us a really tough time at their place,” Smith said. “This time we stepped it up, rebounded well, blocked out well and we shot the ball well.”

Jaquel Edwards scored 23 for Manchester (18-6 overall), who held a precarious 8-6 lead before Buchanon tied the score and started a 6-0 run that put the Warriors ahead to stay midway through the first quarter. Chris Walker had 19 points and Tyron Davis added 12 for the runner-up, who knocked off undefeated Hartford Public to earn a spot in the championship game.

“In the first half we didn’t get back on defense,” Manchester coach Bob Healy said. “We didn’t find their shooters, we turned the ball over and that’s not a good combination against this team.”

Windsor pressed Manchester in the backcourt and forced turnovers that led to a 30-20 lead after the first quarter and 61-41 halftime advantage. The game was long decided by the time Dayon Hokin drained a free-throw for the 100th point with 12 seconds left on the clock.

“We wanted to come and be aggressive. We played this team twice during the season so we knew what to expect and knew what we had to do to win,” said Buchanon, who leads Windsor with 17.1 PPG. “We got more aggressive on defense.”

With the CCC championship in their pocket, Windsor is zeroing in on a bigger prize. The No. 4 Warriors host No. 29 Staples (9-11) Monday, March 5 at 7PM in the first round of the CIAC Class LL state tournament. No. 10 Manchester host No. 23 Greenwich (11-9) on Monday at 7 p.m..

“Coming into states, we will try to work hard and keep winning,” Buchanon said.

Smith knows he has a good team and hopes the momentum from the tournament win carries over to next week.

“They are very disciplined and very good kids,” Smith said. “I feel like we are better than we were last year. We have to figure out a way though to right the ship and win a few games and hopefully get lucky.”