Norwich Free Academy falls short against Waterford in ECC tournament

WATERFORD – March Madness started a week early for the Norwich Free Academy boys basketball team.

The Wildcats suffered a maddening and quirky 71-68 loss to Waterford in the ECC Tournament Division I quarterfinals Thursday at Waterford High School.

Fifth-seeded NFA (10-10) felt it held a solid chance to advance to Saturday's semifinals. The Lancers (10-11) finished first in a weak Division II but lost six of seven games down the stretch, including an 81-63 loss at Division I NFA just 10 days ago.

Waterford, however, figured to be no pushover playing at Sweeney Field House, especially with a 6-foot-10 productive center such as Juan Morel towering over the height-challenged Wildcats.

Though the Wildcats did a decent job neutralizing Morel (21 points), they were torched by the game's shortest player: 5-7 sophomore Parker Spencer. Spencer scored a career high 27 points on a variety of outside shots and drives. Spencer featured a personal 12-0 run that gave the Lancers the lead for good after falling into an 11-4 early deficit.

“They call this a trap game,” NFA coach Jeff Brown said. “We knew it would be a tough game coming down here. We wanted to play as long as we could in the ECCs, but we didn't execute in certain points of the game. We handled them at home but this is high school basketball where the ball bounces differently one game to the next.”

Ebbs and flows

Several times, Waterford went on runs and forced into a flurry of turnovers.

Spencer scored 12 straight to give Waterford a 16-14 lead after one quarter. Then Morel, who was scoreless in the first, got hot as NFA went cold and the Lancers built a 28-15 cushion.

The Wildcats closed the half on a 14-2 run with Keegan Johnston and Gage Hinkley scoring two buckets apiece and NFA was within 34-29 after two quarters.

Morel, who also grabbed 21 rebounds, started to take over early in the third to help Waterford take a 49-36 edge. NFA answered thanks to reserve Malachi Murray, an explosive left-handed guard who hit a pair of threes and a two to key an 11-0 run.

More: St. Bernard, Stonington top seeds in ECC boys basketball tournaments

Camron Barboza's 17-foot hoop with one second left in the third cut Waterford's lead to 50-49.

“I felt like we were closing the door a few times but then would leave it open,” Waterford coach Bill Bassett said. “Murray and (Armanee) Davis hit big shot after big shot. They wouldn't miss. NFA whipped us badly up there. We had to match their energy but we're streaky. We've had streaks where we're unbeatable and other streaks where we're not. But in the tournament it's one game at a time.”

Late NFA run

Waterford twice led by nine in the fourth quarter only to see NFA make it interesting behind Davis, who scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth, and Murray (14 points).

Murray's 3-pointer with 1:08 left made it 67-61. After a Spencer free throw, Davis' trey with 33 seconds left cut it to 68-64.

Spencer answered with two free throws but Davis canned another three with 17 seconds left to make it, 70-67.

Spencer made one free throw, but Waterford fouled Davis on a three-point attempt with just 0.8 seconds left while clinging to a 71-67 lead. Davis made the first free throw but missed the second, then intentionally missed the third, which is a violation.

Waterford inbounded but threw the ball over the opposite endline, giving NFA the ball under its hoop with a chance to tie. Spencer, though, came up big by batting the pass away.

“Spencer is not big,” Bassett said. “He's 5-7 if he has his hair up, but he's a good ball-handler and scorer. Sometimes he goes rogue but for the most part he's a talented sophomore running a team full of juniors and seniors."

States await

NFA hopes for a better outcome in its CIAC Division II state opener in 10 days. The Wildcats are seeded No. 20 and could face Glastonbury, which lost to NFA by 10 in January.

The Wildcats will not be an easy out with its guard-oriented team and collection of shooters such as Davis, Barboza, Murray, Johnston and sophomore Ethan Graham, one of NFA’s top scorers with 12 points a game.

“We're hoping for our best game of the year, of course,” Brown said. “We're capable. We've played well lately with double digits wins over Waterford and Windham. We played tough against St. Bernard and  Hamden and beat Fitch. We'll keep plugging away in practice."

More: Plainfield advances in ECC boys basketball tourney

Other quarterfinal round games

Defending champion Griswold advanced to the Division II semifinals with a 69-53 win over Bacon Academy at Griswold High School. The Wolverines (13-8) will meet Wheeler on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Waterford High School.

Kaiden Kazlauskas posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, Kinkade Rubino scored 15 points, and Kolby Mills collected 11 points, seven rebounds, and five steals for Griswold.

Theo Koustofavas led the Bobcats with 19 points.

Tourtellotte (13-8) defeated Killingly (10-11) behind 24 points from Jake Patterson. The Tigers made 10 threes in the 59-55 victory.

Killingly led by 4 at halftime but couldn’t hang on.

Johnny Kazantzis scored 23 points for Killingly, which built a four-point halftime lead. Quin Crowley had 19 points, and Quinn Sumner posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds for Killingly.

Plainfield, fresh off a win over Putnam in the play-in round, fell to No. 2 seed Wheeler, 53-43, in North Stonington

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Norwich Free Academy falls short against Waterford in ECC tournament