Wilton boys basketball team edges Greenwich

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Wilton boys basketball team edges Greenwich

By David Fierro

Updated 10:42 pm, Tuesday, January 12, 201

  • Drew Connolly (#22) of Wilton, center, has his shot blocked by Joe Lanni (#2) of Greenwich, at right, during the boys high school basketball game between Greenwich High School and Wilton High School at Greenwich, Conn., Tuesday night, Jan. 12, 2016. At left is Kieran Carroll of Greenwich. Photo: Bob Luckey Jr. / Hearst Connecticut Media / Greenwich Time

Photo: Bob Luckey Jr. / Hearst Connecticut Media
Drew Connolly (#22) of Wilton, center, has his shot blocked by Joe Lanni (#2) of Greenwich, at right, during the boys high school basketball game between Greenwich High School and Wilton High School at … more

Strong perimeter shooting and solid defensive play have been the Wilton High School boys basketball team’s trademarks for quite some time under coach Joel Geriak.

Tuesday, both aspects helped propel the Warriors past host Greenwich in a key early-season FCIAC game.

Junior forward Jack Williams scored a team-high 16 points and Wilton relied on its effective man-to-man defense to edge Greenwich 55-51.

 “Our defense, especially in the second half, was good,” Geriak said. “We knew this was going to be a tough game for us. It’s always hard to play here and Greenwich is a very good team. We’re not as big as most teams, so we have to rely on our defense and overall scrappy play, each game.”

Junior guard Matt Kronenberg scored 11 points, junior guard Drew Connolly added nine and junior forward Josh Wood effectively face-guarded Cardinals leading scorer Conor Harkins most of the game for the Warriors (5-1, 2-0 FCIAC).

Greenwich (3-3, 1-2) received a game-high 18 points from senior forward Mike Gianopoulos, who was a difficult matchup for Wilton throughout. Behind a 12-0 run, the Cardinals opened a 42-36 lead early in the fourth quarter. But the Warriors soon found their rhythm offensively.

“Defensively, we played well, holding them to 55 points,” GHS coach Patrick Heaton said. “We just have to hit our shots and score more. They did a good job of taking Conor out of the game with what they did defensively.”

Senior center James Maloney (10 points) scored on consecutive putbacks, putting the Warriors ahead for good at 48-44 with 3:07 left in the final quarter. Trailing 36-34 after three quarters, the Cards seized the momentum with 12 straight points. Hitting the boards hard, 6-foot-5 senior Kieran Carroll scored on a pair of putbacks during Greenwich’s run.

The home team jumped out to a 7-1 first-quarter lead, but the Warriors closed to within 13-10 heading into the second quarter. Guard Robert Clark’s 3-pointer from the left corner gave Greenwich an 18-11 advantage early in the second quarter, but Wilton finished the second stanza strong, getting six straight points from Williams against the Cards’ man-to-man defense.

“This is a huge FCIAC win for us,” Williams said. “Defensively, we were able to slow down their best player and Drew (Connolly) hit some big shots for us down the stretch. Hopefully, we can keep our momentum going.”

Clark had 11 points, senior point guard Henry Golden scored eight and Kieran Carroll contributed eight for Greenwich, which hosts Ridgefield on Friday.

“It was a close game between two good shooting teams,” Gianopoulos said. “With them focusing on stopping Conor (Harkins) we had to step up offensively.”

david.fierro@scni.com; 203-625-4423

WILTON 55, GREENWICH 51

WILTON (55)

Matt Kronenberg 4 3-4 11; Jack Williams 8 1-2 18; Drew Connolly 3 3-4 9; Sean Breslin 2 2-2 8; James Maloney 5 0-0 10; Kyle Shifrin 0 0-0 0.

GREENWICH (51)

Mike Gianopoulos 9 0-4 18; Henry Golden 2 3-4 8; Robert Clark 5 0-0 11; Kieran Carroll 4 0-0 8; Joey Lanni 1 0-0 2; Quinlan Carroll 1 0-0 2; Conor Harkins 0 2-2 2.

WILTON 10 16 10 19 — 55

GREENWICH 13 11 10 17 — 51

3-pointers: W — Williams, Breslin; G — Golden, Clark.