'Those two are like Steph and Klay': Hess and McRae turn around Norwich Tech's season
The Norwich Tech boys basketball team sure picked a good time to get hot.
Powered by the high-scoring duo of Daniel Hess and Connor McRae, the Warriors defeated Prince Tech and Windham Tech in their final two regular season games to qualify for the state tournament.
Brimming with confidence, Norwich Tech stayed hot. The Warriors crashed the Connecticut Technical Conference tournament party with victories over Kaynor Tech and Platt Tech, rolling into Wednesday’s semifinal against Windham Tech in Willimantic.
The No. 7 Norwich Tech-No. 3 Windham Tech winner will face either top-seeded Cheney Tech or No. 4 Bullard Havens for the CTC championship on Friday at the higher seed.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been to the league finals,” Norwich Tech coach Mike Froscello said.
Froscello, who is 26, guided the Warriors to a 5-15 mark a year ago in his first season at the helm. After graduating six seniors, Norwich Tech dropped its first five games this season.
“There were a few games early on that we just kind of fumbled and that kind of hurt us coming to this point,” Froscello said. “We had a lot of learning curves with a young team.”
The Warriors postseason hopes looked slim following a 71-68 non-league loss against Plainfield on Feb. 8. They needed to win three of their last four games to make the CIAC Division V state tournament.
More: Norwich Free Academy rolls past Manchester in Class LL opener
Mission accomplished.
“The last half of the season we really played together,” Froscello said. “We’ve been meshing as one. Everyone is starting to learn their roles. It’s been a good year.”
In what were de facto playoff games, Norwich Tech edged Prince Tech, 67-65, before outshooting Windham Tech, 84-68.
Hess collected 22 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks, while McRae added 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists against Prince Tech.
Hess and McRae then lit up the scoreboard in the Warriors’ big Senior Night win against Windham Tech. Hess made 7 of 9 3-point baskets and finished with 32 points, 16 rebounds and six assists, while McRae drained 5-of-8 shots from beyond the arc and scored 31 points.
“Those two are like Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) out there,” Froscello said. “They’re hitting everything.”
The Warriors’ senior duo made more big shots in Norwich Tech’s 69-52 victory over Kaynor Tech in the CTC tournament play-in round at Norwich.
More: Plainfield's Morgan Yonush reaches 1000-point milestone
After trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, the Warriors took the lead for good at 38-36 on Hess’ 3-pointer early in the third quarter. McRae (19 points) knocked down two treys early in the fourth to extend the Warriors’ lead to 60-46.
“(Kaynor’s) press got to us a little bit in the first half,” Froscello said. “We finally got to our spots and started hitting shots and broke the press like I knew we should have in the beginning.”
Hess posted his third straight double-double (21 points, 12 rebounds) in the Warriors’ 50-47 CTC quarterfinal round win over No. 2 Platt Tech in Milford.
“Hess has been our breakout player the last six or seven games,” Froscello said.
The Warriors are also getting key contributions from starters Collin Schulze, Wyatt Quint, and Aiden Lewis, and top reserves Josh Lodyko and John Mastorakis.
Quint, a senior, had seven points, 10 rebounds, and four steals in the win over Platt Tech; Lewis, a sophomore, buried three 3-pointers and scored 11 points against Prince Tech; and Schulze, a junior, had 13 points, seven assists, and five steals in the tourney clinching win over Windham Tech.
Norwich Tech’s lineup against Kaynor also included juniors Jadrien Robinson, Matt Benjamin, and Ryan Lillibridge, sophomores Emerson Avery and Cole Arnio, and freshman Lucas Weitknecht.
The first round of the CIAC Division V tournament begins on March 5.
“We’re hoping to make a little run,” Froscello said. “We’re only graduating three seniors. The future looks good.”
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Norwich Tech boys basketball jelling at right time
