Week 3: Comeback falls short against Killingly

Once again, the Woodstock Academy boys basketball team was in the game until the end.

Unfortunately, the Centaurs just could not get over the finish line against Killingly.

The Centaurs could only get a couple of buckets in the last 4 ½ minutes of the game and fell short to their hosts on Wednesday, 45-38.

The Centaurs had the same thing happen on Friday in Jewett City against Griswold, trailing by only five at the half.

The Wolverines, however, pulled away in the second half for a 50-36 win.

The losses dropped Woodstock Academy to 1-5 on the season.

“We just have to get better at it,” said coach Donte Adams of the team’s troubles in the final minutes of games. “We’re just continuing to work at it every day. That’s the best part about it, the guys come in, ready to work. I think we’re going to get it together. I have to make adjustments. Teams don’t want to play us man, they want to play us zone, the more we work at it, the better we’re going to get.”

It was a rough start for the Centaurs as senior Yianni Baribeau carried Killingly early.

He scored all of Killingly’s first quarter points, 17, to put the hosts up by 10 by the end of the first quarter.

The Centaurs did limit the senior forward the remainder of the way, limiting him to eight points over the next three quarters.

“He got hot early,” Adams said. “I told the guys to stick to the game plan. A lot of their guys are not as aggressive as he is so he is going to get his shots off. We have to live with it. He got hot in the first quarter but we were able to contain him through the rest of the game.”

The Centaurs were down by nine at the half but with Baribeau unable to score in the third quarter, whittled that to five, 32-27, by the end of the third.

Sophomore Garrett Bushey found a bit of a hot hand himself as he hit three 3-pointers in the second and third quarters to help pull the Centaurs within striking distance.

Bushey finished with a team-high 13 points.

“Garrett can crash the boards hard, can shoot the 3 and can get inside the paint to get touches there and create for others,” Adams said.

A three-point play by another sophomore Brady Ericson (10 points, 7 rebounds) pulled the Centaurs within four points early in the third quarter and it stayed that way after a Bushey hoop with 4 minutes, 27 seconds to play.

Unfortunately, the Centaurs only got two buckets the remainder of the way, one by Brandon Nagle (10 rebounds) and the other by Ericson while Killingly got one hoop and made 5-of-9 from the free throw line to claim its fourth win in five games.

Nagle and Ericson led the Centaurs with eight points apiece as the Wolverines improved to 6-0 on the season with the win.