WILTON — The all-around play of Jack Williams and the clutch shooting of Nick Kronenberg helped carry the Wilton High boys basketball team to its first win of the season.
Williams, a junior captain, finished with 30 points, seven steals, five rebounds and three assists while Kronenberg, a freshman sharpshooter, buried three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Warriors pulled away from Masuk on their way to a 67-54 non-conference victory over the Panthers in Wednesday’s home opener at the Zeoli Field House.
“We played nine-to-10 deep and our freshman (Kronenberg) kid, who isn’t one of our top players, came in and had a good game,” Wilton head coach Joel Geriak said. “Offensively, Jack Williams carried us tonight and he’s a special player. I’ve been trying to keep it a secret but it’s going to be out there now.
“I’m very happy after this game how we fared,” he added.
Kronenberg racked up 15 points, all off 3-pointers, and with Wilton (1-1) clinging to a 43-42 lead midway through the fourth quarter, he drilled a 3-pointer off an assist from Williams to make the score 46-42 (5:34). After a putback by Masuk’s Michael Slattery pulled the Panthers to within two, 46-44 (5:20), Kronenberg buried another trey from his brother Matt Kronenberg for a 49-44 lead (5:05), which keyed a 7-0 run that put the Warriors ahead.
“The kid has ice water in his veins,” Geriak said of his 5-foot-5 rookie guard. “He shoots the ball very well and he makes teams respect him, which opens up the entire offense. That’s the difference. When he did that we started to get to the basket, just because he was on the floor.”
Nick Kronenberg said he gained a lot of confidence when he hit two first-half 3-pointers.
“My job on varsity is to play defense and stay in the corner and if a ball gets to me, let it fly,” said the freshman, who scored his first varsity points on a 3-pointer in the season opener against Pomperaug. “I felt really good I could help the team in any way and I’m glad we got the win.”
Williams had four points during the run and capped it with a drive to the basket for a 53-44 lead (2:55).
“We kept attacking, hit our shoots and that made a difference in the game,” the junior captain said. “I always try to attack and dish off to my teammates. It’s definitely a big win and to get the win at home in front of our home fans is big.”
Williams added that Nick Kronenberg gave juice to the team’s run down the stretch and his brother Matt Kronenberg (13 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal) helped salt away the victory by going 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final minutes. Williams also went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Masuk (1-1) gave the Warriors all they could handle through three quarters but were susceptible to the Warriors’ pressure defense (13 steals).
Wilton had a 10-7 lead after the first quarter but in the second, Williams got into foul trouble and was forced to sit. The Panthers took advantage and closed the gap to 26-23 at intermission.
“We knew coming in that they liked to bomb away from 3-point range,” Masuk head coach Peter Szklarz said. “I think we got a little fatigued (in the fourth quarter) and we were short a couple of guys so that opened things up for them. We were hanging right there with them (through three quarters) but we were careless with the ball. We need to take care of the ball better and cut down on the turnovers.”
In the third quarter, Wilton led by as many as seven and carried a 43-38 advantage into the fourth. Williams had nine points in the third to pace the Warriors.
A basket by Cameron Kovachik, a senior center who led the Panthers with 23 points and made his presence felt on the glass, pulled Masuk to within one at 43-42 (7:15) but after that Nick Kronenberg made his presence felt and the rest is history.
“It’s win No. 1 and it helps getting the monkey off your back,” Geriak said. “We didn’t rebound as well as we’d like but we’ll work on it.”
Wilton will be back in action in the Newtown Holiday Tournament against Staples in a non-conference encounter on Monday, Dec. 28.