Photos: Boys Win CCC Hoops Title

Windsor boys basketball added new hardware to the trophy case Thursday night, defeating previously undefeated Maloney (Meriden) to win the Central Connecticut Conference Championship.

Maloney's Ryan Belote scored a game-high 24 points, but four players reached double figures for Windsor and the Warriors topped No. 2 seed Maloney, 85-70, in the game at Bulkeley’s Babe Allen Fieldhouse on Thursday.

Jared Wilson Frame and Nasean Banks led the way with 13 points each for the Warriors (23-1), who have won 22 straight since losing to Glastonbury on Dec. 18.  Windsor’s in-your-face defense set the tone and ultimately wore down the Spartans, who were never able to breathe offensively.

“One thing about these guys, defensively they really try to get after it,” Windsor coach Ken Smith said.  “And they are doing a nice job. They played pretty hard and stayed aggressive.”

That’s for sure.

Smith’s team led wire-to-wire en route to their second win over a previously undefeated opponent.  The Warriors rolled to a 90-65 win over No. 1 seed Northwest Catholic on Tuesday.

Windsor’s air-tight defense and depth was simply too much for the Spartans, who probably won’t face a tougher team in the upcoming CIAC Class L state tournament.

The Warriors led by 13 at halftime and opened up a 20-point lead with a 16-7 run at the start of the third quarter.

Maloney coach Howie Hewitt summed up what makes Windsor so good defensively.

“They just make you hurry,” Hewitt said. 

“You get shots that are open, but they are not the shots you really want. If it’s anything between eight and 16 feet, shoot it all you want, because you’re not used to shooting those in transition.”

That was a problem all night. The Spartans were harried and their offense was out of sync until Belote (six 3-pointers) led a spirited comeback.  He scored 14 points in the third quarter, helping Maloney chip away at a 21-point lead.

“Ryan is a very good shooter. He’s definitely an All-State player,” Smith said.  “The kid just took them on his shoulders.”

Still, the Spartans never seriously threatened to tie the game. Darrius Edwards (23 points) capped a 9-4 run with a free throw that made it 72-61 with 3:41 to play, but Windsor answered with a 9-2 run. Anderson’s alley-oop lay-ip highlighted the spurt, which put the Warriors up by 18 with 1:37 left.

If it’s any consolation, they showed more fight than Northwest Catholic did against the Hartford Courant’s No. 3 team in the state. And that was without 6-5 senior center Zach Milslagle, the team’s second-leading scorer (10.0 ppg) and leading rebounder (7.8 rpg) who suffered a sprained knee in Tuesday’s overtime win over Hartford Public.

“Our kids have played their (butts) off all year,” Hewitt said. “I’m not surprised that they did (fight back). We cut it to 10 in the fourth quarter.  There’s ton of fight in our kids and we are really proud of that, because they really could have folded.”

The atmosphere was electric just before tip-off, with students trading chants.  The Maloney contingent chanted “Un-defeated,” as the players warmed up.  The Windsor faithful answered with “so –was - North - West!”

And Windsor, the No. 1 seed in the Class LL tournament, quickly showed that Tuesday’s blowout win over Northwest Catholic was no fluke. The Warriors gained separation with an 8-2 run early in the second quarter and carried a 37-26 lead into the locker room. Every time Maloney made a run, the Warriors responded.

“We got open shots in the second quarter, but Windsor, they didn’t miss,” Belote said.

“I would hit a shot and they would come down and hit a three. All credit to them. They are a very good team. For us to play like that against that kind of team, it shows that we are a pretty good team. Windsor was just on fire.”