Boys basketball Week 8: Manchester hopes to finish strong, Cromwell’s Victor Payne drops 44 on Morgan

Last season, the Manchester boys basketball team was struggling.

The Red Hawks lost their last seven games after coach John Reiser dismissed five players for disciplinary reasons and they finished 11-9 and lost in the first round of the Division II tournament.

This season, Manchester is 13-2 (as of Monday), and has won five straight games, including victories over South Windsor and Cheney Tech last week.

“We had a big disruption and we kind of crashed after that,” Reiser said of last season. “We’re having a much better year this year.”

Manchester started the season with eight of its first nine games on the road but is finishing with its last five at home, starting Monday night with a game against Enfield.

“We’ve been playing pretty well for a while,” he said. “The days we’re not shooting as well as we like, we rely on our grit. We’ve gutted some games out. We play hard and we share the ball well.”

Seniors Quentin Ford, who averages about 14 points per game, and Jayveon Robinson, who leads the team in rebounds and assists, have been the overall leaders of the team. Junior Derrick Sheets is the leading scorer, averaging about 20 points per game while junior Chance Clark scored 26 points in the win over Cheney Tech.

Top performances of the week

Colby Dunnack, Windham Tech: Dunnack had a double-double (13 rebounds, 12 points) along with four assists and two blocks.

Riley Fox, Conard: Fox scored 33 points and had 17 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals in a 78-64 victory over Holy Cross.

Ryan Hammarlund, Southington: Hammarlund scored 31 points in a 73-68 victory over Bristol Central Thursday.

Jason Mahon, Enfield: Mahon had 27 points in an 82-56 win over Tolland Tuesday.

Abijah Miller, SMSA: Miller scored 26 points in a 69-56 win over Stafford Friday.

Troy Miller, RHAM: Miller had 25 points in a 58-47 win over E.O. Smith Tuesday and 23 points in a 58-48 victory over Stafford Monday.

Gianni Mirabello, Northwest Catholic: Mirabello scored 27 points in a 76-53 win over Farmington Friday.

Victor Payne, Cromwell: Payne scored 28 of his career-high 44 points in the fourth quarter as Cromwell beat Morgan 58-53 Wednesday and he had 27 points in a win over North Branford Friday.

Eli Pelletier, Lewis Mills: Pelletier had 23 points in a 66-34 victory over Litchfield Saturday.

Samson Reilly, East Catholic: Reilly had 31 points in a 69-51 win over East Hartford Tuesday.

Storylines of the week

Last year’s Division IV champion Cromwell (13-2) scored four points in the second quarter against Morgan and 35 in the fourth en route to a 58-53 victory Wednesday. The Panthers scored 23 points in the first three quarters. Senior Victor Payne had 28 of the Panthers’ 35 in the fourth. “We stopped turning the ball over in the fourth and finally made some shots,” Cromwell coach John Pinone said. One of Cromwell’s two losses came to Morgan earlier in the season.

Cheney Tech senior Da’mnic Gittens broke the school scoring record of 1,422 points, set by his coach Ismael Caro, in an 83-43 win over Prince Tech Friday. Gittens had 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the victory.

Farmington had five starters in double figures, led by DJ Hawkins’ 19 points, as the River Hawks handed Windsor (12-3) its third loss last week, 74-70. Jahkai Veal (15 points) made 9 of 10 free throws for Farmington.

Games to watch this week

Conard (9-5) at Glastonbury (10-4), Tuesday, 6:45 p.m.: Conard has won four straight, Glastonbury three in a row before the two meet in a CCC West game.

St, Bernard (14-2) at East Catholic (13-1), Tuesday, 6:45 p.m.: After losing to East Catholic 68-60 at Mohegan Sun on Dec. 18 in a game between two of last year’s state champions in Division I and II, St. Bernard gets a rematch between two teams who could potentially meet in the Div. I state tournament.

Xavier (12-3) at Hillhouse (12-4), Tuesday, 7 p.m.: The last time these two SCC teams met, Hillhouse won, 52-51, on Jan. 9. Xavier has won five straight; Hillhouse is looking to bounce back from a 65-55 loss to Doherty Memorial (Worcester, Mass.) on Saturday.