WILTON — If the Wilton boys basketball team could bottle the first half of Tuesday’s game against rival Ridgefield, the Warriors might never lose.
They shot 8-of-14 from 3-point range, built a 24-point lead at the intermission and coasted to a 51-39 victory over the Tigers at the Fujitani Fieldhouse in a game was not as close as they score indicated.
SLIDESHOW: Wilton 51 Ridgefield 39
Jack Williams and Matt Kronenberg each hit three pointers in the first half as Wilton raced to a 42-18 lead at the intermission.
“Obviously, they’re open looks but it was all penetration, inside-outside looks, stepping into the shot and making them,” Wilton coach Joel Geriak said. “It wasn’t just passing it around and firing them up.”
Geriak wasn’t thrilled with the way the Warriors finished the game as they scored only nine points in the second half.
Still, Wilton led by 26 after the third quarter and played reserves in the final quarter.
The Warriors reached the midpoint of the season at 7-3 and need only one more victory to qualify for the state tournament for a school record-tying fifth straight year.
Williams, who scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half, ignited the offense by making all three of his 3-pointers in the first four and a half minutes.
Ridgefield (5-5) scored the first points of the game on a 3-pointer by Matt Bartalucci 24 seconds into the contest.
However, spurred on by a raucous crowd, the Warriors ripped off the next 14 points, held Ridgefield scoreless for nearly five minutes, and steadily pulled away.
“We got into passing lanes all night, made it very tough for their shooters to get open looks,” Geriak said. “They made some here and there but they had a hand in their face every single time.”
Williams’ third trey gave Wilton a 14-3 lead with 3:39 left in the quarter before a 3-pointer by Ridgefield’s Brendan McNamara briefly stopped the bleeding for the Tigers.
Wilton led 18-9 after the first quarter.
“What was going on in the building just gave us the energy to get off to a quick start and win the game,” Williams said.
After playing behind eight seniors last season as a sophomore, Williams has taken on a great role and become more of a leader.
He converted two layups in the final minute of the first half to give the Warriors their 24-point halftime margin.
“(Williams) was hidden by that phenomenal team I had last year,” Geriak added. “You have eight seniors, he’s not going to get a chance to shine like he is this year.
“But he elevated his game last year. He couldn’t go off his dribble like he can now with the pull-up jump shot. He has those shots now.”
Jack Wood’s 3-pointer pushed Wilton’s lead to 29-13 with 4:06 remaining in the second quarter.
Crowd favorite Nick Kronenberg, a five-foot-six freshman, then got into the act as his 3-pointer extended the lead to 34-16 with 1:22 left in the half.
Matt Kronenberg added a fourth 3-pointer in the third quarter and tallied with 14 points. Wilton finished with nine 3-pointers.
The Warriors outscored Ridgefield 8-6 in the third quarter, then scored only one point in the final quarter as the Tigers sliced 15 points off the deficit, though the outcome never was in doubt.
“Overall, defensively in the first quarter we struggled but defense wasn’t really our issue,” Ridgefield coach Drew McClellan said. “They ended up with 50.
“It was execution on offense. We didn’t play with poise or confidence. That’s a good team. They’re going to have a quarter where they shoot like that and you just have to figure it out.”
The Warriors frustrated the Tigers throughout with tenacious defense as Ridgefield didn’t surpass 30 points until under three minutes remaining in the contest.
Nick Laudati paced Ridgefield with nine points and Matt Saporito added eight.
“We definitely got in their heads and they couldn’t get the shots they wanted,” Williams said. “We contested shots real well and rebounded very well, too.”
The Warriors are back in action on Friday at Trinity Catholic (7 p.m.).