Pictured: Middletown’s Elijah Wilborn walks off the court as Maloney wraps up a 50-45 CCC win.
By Paul Augeri
middlesexcountysports@gmail.com
MIDDLETOWN — The line for Middletown in the opening four minutes: 5 turnovers, 3 missed field-goal attempts, 2 misses from the free-throw line.
It was that kind of night Monday for the Blue Dragons — frustrating, and then some. Middletown was unable to string together enough baskets and defensive stops throughout what ended up being a 50-45 CCC boys basketball loss to unbeaten Maloney.
The Dragons turned it over two dozen times, missed 10 of 14 free throws and produced their lowest point total in their first loss in four games.
“Turning the ball over, you can’t do that against good teams,” Middletown coach Rick Privott said. “We had more turnovers in the first quarter than we had shots, and that’s a killer. The effort was there. We started slow, but we’re just turning the ball over way too much.”
The Blue Dragons led 22-20 at halftime, and after a back-and-forth third quarter, the Spartans came out of it with a 37-36 advantage.
In the fourth quarter, Middletown didn’t do enough at either end of the floor to get back in front.
After a Dragons turnover and ensuing tie-up that gave possession to Maloney, the Spartans (4-0) took a 46-41 lead on Ja’Vony De’Leon’s layup with 1:59 remaining. Marshall Butler put the Blue Dragons within three 20 seconds later when he banked in a shot from near the baseline.
From there, Maloney spread it out and burned 60 seconds off the clock, but gave possession back to the Dragons when Garrison Kunst was called for a charge with 39.7 seconds left. But Butler missed a shot and fouled, and Vincent Martinez made both ends of the one-and-one.
Middletown worked the ball around the perimeter, with Matt Steuerwald penetrating and scoring on a runner to cut the deficit to 48-45 with 12.3 seconds left.
Out of Privott’s timeout, Butler fouled Williams. Williams missed the front end of the one-and-one, but in excruciating fashion, he scooped his own miss off the floor. Butler fouled him (10th team foul), and this time Williams made good on both attempts with 6.7 seconds to go to seal it for the Spartans.
“We didn’t make the effort to go get it,” Privott said. “The effort to just go after loose balls, to get dirty, isn’t there. We’ve got to find it.”
Butler had four 3-pointers on the night and led Middletown with 14 points. Steuerwald finished with 13 points.
Martinez led all scorers with 15 points, Williams chipped in with 13 and Kunst had 11.
Middletown hits the road Tuesday for a game against Bulkeley.
MALONEY (4-0)
Jeremiah Williams 5 3-5 13, Tylee Flowers 1 0-0 2, Vincent Martinez 4 5-8 15, Garrison Kunst 4 2-3 11, Ethan Hicks 2 0-0 4, JaVony DeLeon 0 1-2 1, Ethan Hicks 2 0-0 4. Totals: 17 11-19 50.
MIDDLETOWN (3-1)
Matt Steuerwald 5 2-2 13, Mekhi Toler 2 0-2 4, Marshall Butler 5 0-0 14, Dariyon Drake 2 0-0 4, Elijah Wilborn 3 2-8 8, Chace Petgrave 1 0-2 2, Kai Cottle 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Rodgers 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 4-14 45.
Score By Quarters
Ma 8 12 17 13–50
Mi 7 15 14 9—45
3-Pointers: Maloney—Williams 2, Martinez 2, Kunst 1; Middletown— Butler 4, Steuerwald 1.
In other boys basketball games around the area Monday:
Xavier 59, North Haven 23
NORTH HAVEN (0-5)
Adam Pandolfi 2 0-1 4; Adan Bosticco 0 2-4 2; Ty Rooney 1 0 0-0 2, Max Cargan 0 1-2 1; Chris Hager 2 2-4 7, Matt Cocco 1 0-0 2; Jay Mazzaro 2 0-0 5. Totals: 8 5-11 23.
XAVIER (3-1)
Justin Menard 4 1-1 10; Parker Hunter 5 8-9 19; Sathvik Vakati 1 3-4 5; Colby Ciampi 1 0-0 2; Nick Beaulieu 2 0-0 5; Ryan Gazzillo 5 1-2 11; Mark Schoonmaker 1 0-0 2; Malcolm Wilson-Toliver 2 1-5 5. Totals: 21 14-21 59.
Score By Quarters
NH 5 8 10 0–23
X 14 16 22 7–59
3-Pointers: NH–Hager 1, Mazzaro 1; X–Menard 1, Hunter 1, Beaulieu 1.
Of note: Parker Hunter had 11 rebounds and 6 assists to go with his game-high 19 points.
Cromwell 50, Valley Regional 43
CROMWELL (3-2)
James Grodzicki 7 1-2 15, Connor Daly 1 1-1 3, Zykarie Wilborn 4 2-4 10, Malcolm Mention 2 0-0 4, Justin Valentin 2 0-0 6, Michael Morgan 3 4-11 10, JJ Fehan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 8-17 50.
VALLEY REGIONAL (3-2)
Simon Partyka 3 1-2 8, Cameron Ruel 2 0-0 5, James Marsden 2 3-5 8, Saagar Patel 1 1-2 4, Marcus SantaMaria 5 4-7 15, Keenan Pindar 0 4-6 4. Totals: 13 13-21 43.
Score By Quarters
C 15 16 6 13–50
VR 7 7 11 18–43
3-Pointers: C–Valentin 2; VR–Partyka 1, Ruel 1, Marsden 1, Patel 1.
Of note: Marsden had 10 rebounds and Partyka had 5 steals for Valley.
Coginchaug 61, Westbrook 51
WESTBROOK (1-3)
Brandon Naccarato 5 4-7 14, Joey Caslin 2 0-0 6, Sammy Freeman 5 0-4 10, Jack Naccarato 7 2-5 21, Nick Palumbo 0 0-0 0, Evan McIntyre 0 0-0 0, Ryan Engels 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 6-16 51.
COGINCHAUG (1-1)
Tyler Garretson 9 5-5 23, AJ DeFilio 10 0-2 24, Jake Dykas 1 0-0 2, Terence Murphy 0 5-8 5, Dylan Kaczor 1 0-0 2, Jayson Penney 1 2-3 5, Ryan Grant 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 12-18 61.
Score By Quarters
W 15 8 17 11–51
C 13 13 17 18–61
3-Pointers: W–Jack Naccarato 5, Caslin 2; C–DeFilio 4, Penney 1.
Portland 69, Hale-Ray 51
HALE-RAY (2-1)
Matt Conroy 1 0-0 2, Ross Kulaga 2 0-0 4, Braden Lankarge 0 0-1 1, Mamush Ciccarello 6 1-2 19, Loudon Chupas 3 8-11 20, Nathan Matelich 2 2-2 5, Totals: 18 11-16 51.
PORTLAND (2-1)
Cody Dagget 6 2-3 14, TJ Reddington 4 0-0 11, Mason Piersall 5 5-7 13, Noah Charpentier 0 3-3 3, Cam Latronica 10 2-3 22, Luke Francesco 0 0-1 0, Eli Evison 0 2-4 2, Chris Vargas 2 0-0 4. Totals: 26 14-21 69.
3-Pointers: HR–Ciccarello 2, Chupas 2; P–Reddington 3.
Morgan 69, Haddam-Killingworth 54
H-K (1-3)
Alec Erskine 2 0-0 4, Chase O’Linn 1 0-0 3, Tate Callender 3 0-0 6, Mason Gorham 10 0-0 21, Tony Giambanis 2 0-0 4, Jimmy McGoey 2 2-4 6, Callen Powers 4 0-0 10. Totals: 24 2-4 54.
MORGAN (5-0)
Zach Johnson 12 3-4 29, Jason Cohen 3 0-0 9, Drew Nye 3 0-0 7, Alex Fratamico 2 2-2 6, Rob Zirlis 5 0-3 10, Connor Duffy 2 0-0 4, Cam Carlson 0 2-2 2, Cooper Galdenzi 1 0-0 2. Totals: 28 7-11 69.
Score By Quarters
HK 15 12 8 19–54
M 10 19 22 18–69
3-Pointers: HK-Powers 2, Gorham 1, O’Linn 1; M–Cohen 3, Johnson 2, Nye 1.
Old Lyme 44, Old Saybrook 39
OLD LYME (2-1)
Colbe Andrews 2 2-2 6, John Almy 4 1-1 12, Nick Cox 1 0-0 3, Jacob Ritchie 1 0-0 3, Frank Sablone 3 8-9 14, Maverick Swaney 3 0-1 6. Totals: 14 11-13 44.
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OLD SAYBROOK (1-2)
Ben Yost 5 0-0 10, Connor Lane 1 0-0 3, Riley Lawson 3 1-2 9, Ryan Stratton 1 0-0 2, Auggie Albert 6 0-0 12, Aaron Tolve 1 0-0 3. Totals: 17 1-2 39.
Score By Quarters
OL 15 8 10 11–44
OS 14 12 9 4–39
3-Pointers: OL–Almy 3, Cox 1, Ritchie 1. OS–Lawson 2, Lane 1, Tolve 1.
Of note: Freshman Auggie Albert pulled down 8 boards for the Rams.