WESTPORT — Wilton and Staples will clash for the Staples Holiday Championship after each came away victorious in Tuesday’s semifinals.

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WILTON — The Wilton boys basketball team showed it can still be dangerous even without one of its top players.

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Eight seniors are gone from a year ago, and while the Wilton High boys basketball team won’t exactly be starting from scratch, the team has some work to do….. Read More>>>

FAIRFIELD — The Wilton High Warriors had a devil of a time trying to put away Fairfield Warde.

The Warriors held leads of eight points in the final 1:49 of regulation and four points in the last 40 seconds of the first overtime, only to see the shorthanded Mustangs fight back each time to forge a tie and have play extended.

In the second overtime, however, Wilton took a lead and didn’t relinquish it behind the play of Matt Kronenberg, who scored seven of his career-high 39 points in the frame, to help lead the fifth-seeded Warriors to a dramatic and hard-fought 92-90 victory in two overtimes over No. 4 Warde in the quarterfinals of the FCIAC Tournament on Saturday at Fairfield Ludlowe.

“They pushed us to the limit,” Wilton head coach Joel Geriak said of the Mustangs. “We had a chance to put them away earlier and they didn’t let us. They fought back and it was an exciting game.”

With the win, the Warriors (14-7) advance to FCIAC semifinals for the second straight year, and third time in four years, where they’ll play No. 1 Danbury, which defeated No. 8 Ludlowe 49-48 in overtime in the quarterfinals, on Tuesday at Fairfield Warde.

“I can’t say enough (about these kids) because when you lose 98 percent of your scoring from last year and you go into the season with nobody giving you a chance… We were hoping as a group to make it here and these kids stepped up and filled the shoes of the eight seniors who graduated, which is hard to do,” Geriak said. “They just wanted it so that’s why we got back here.”

Things were looking good for the Warriors when Kronenberg nailed a 3-pointer to give them a 59-47 lead with 5:48 remaining in regulation and after two free throws by Kronenberg gave Wilton a 63-52 with 3:57 on the clock. Two more free throws by Kronenberg put the Warriors ahead 66-58.

The Mustangs made a charge from there and capitalized on several missed free throws by Wilton.

Warde cut the lead to 68-67 on a steal and subsequent by Sean Conway and Antonio Brancato’s drive to the basket and layup with seven ticks left tied the score at 69-69. Marcel Parsons had a steal in the waning seconds and his shot from close to midcourt hit the front rim at the buzzer.

Both teams traded the lead through the first overtime and Wilton went up 80-76 on a clutch 3-pointer from Nick Kronenberg but Brancato continued to be a thorn in the side of the Warriors with a three-point play to get the Mustangs to within one, 80-79. Matt Kronenberg hit one of two free throws to put Wilton up by one.

After a timeout, the Mustangs got the ball to Brancato and scored at the buzzer to tie the game at 81-81 and force a second overtime period.

“Just like his brother (Giacomo), he wants the ball in his hands,” said Warde head coach Ryan Swaller, who stressed how badly his team wanted to play in front of its home fans in the semifinals. “He’s fearless and that’s what we expect. He needed to step up and attack the basket and he did a great job of that in the second half and overtime.”

Swaller went on to say that Antonio Brancato was needed due to the fact three of his five starters fouled out, five overall.

“Every kid I put out there contributed,” the coach said. “It’s a tough feeling right now because you’re proud of the kids who stepped up but the loss hurts.”

Wilton regained the lead at 83-81 38 seconds into the second overtime on a basket by Mike Brown in transition off a rebound by Matt Kronenberg. The Warriors extended the lead to 87-83 on two free throws by Kronenberg and then he hit a layup to extend the lead to 89-83.

Both teams turned the ball over down the stretch but the Mustangs couldn’t capitalize and two more free throws by Kronenberg put the Warriors up by six, 91-85, and Warde couldn’t make up the difference.

“I lost my footing and was getting a little tired toward the end of the game,” said Kronenberg, who missed four free throws in the fourth quarter but regrouped to convert 9-of-11 in the overtime periods. “My teammates really picked me up, I was able to keep my head on straight and I knocked them down when they counted. They (Warde) had a lot of starters foul out and their bench really stepped with Brancato had two clutch shots but we were able to battle back.”

As it turned out, Wilton missed 14 free throws on the night but it didn’t come back to bite them in the end.

“If we make our foul shots, we’d go over 100 points,” Geriak said. “That being said, the kids didn’t stop.”

With these two fast-breaking teams, fans knew it was going to be a track meet and they proved it from the outset.

Warde grabbed a 14-12 first-quarter lead, with Giacomo Brancato scoring eight points, but Wilton rallied in the second with a 13-0 run to put the Warriors out in front 25-17, capped by a 3-pointer by Kronenberg, who had 12 of his team’s points with two treys.

Wilton maintained its lead in the third quarter, going ahead 43-36 on a layup by Drew Connolly (3:34). The Mustangs rallied and a 3-pointer by Giacomo Brancato (18 seconds), pulled Warde to within two, 48-46, going into the fourth.

An 11-1 run to start the quarter, off three 3-pointers and capped by a Kronenberg trey (5:48), made the score 59-47 in favor of the Warriors.

Kronenberg also had eight rebounds and a steal and Jack Williams chipped in with 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Connolly had 13 points and James Maloney added 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Giacomo Brancato scored 24 points to lead Warde and he pulled down 10 boards while his brother Antonio scored 20 points and JJ Conway had 16 points and six rebounds.

“From the one through 10 who played, it was a team win,” Geriak said.

WILTON — Leading by only six points over Norwalk, the Wilton Warriors, led by Drew Connolly, broke the game wide open as Wilton won 76-53.

Connolly, a junior, scored nine of his game-high 21 points and made plays all over the court to kick-start a 23-5 run from the middle of the third quarter to the end.

“He carried us by himself,” Wilton head coach Joel Geriak said. “He just carried our team through the whole third quarter and into the fourth quarter.”

With Wilton leading by four, Connolly knocked down a 3-pointer.

After an AJ Jerome basket for Norwalk, Connolly responded with a basket of his own and two free throws to give Wilton a nine-point lead.

Connolly then blocked a Norwalk shot, came up with the ball and made a pretty one bounce pass to teammate Matt Kronenberg for an easy layup putting Wilton up double digits.

“Last game he showed what he can do against Westhill when he had 23 (points),” Geriak said. “He’s coming into his own now.”

After another fastbreak assist to Kronenberg, Connolly went back to the free-throw line and knocked down both free throws putting up Wilton comfortably, 50-34, in the third quarter.

“We talked at halftime — we knew we could get out on the fastbreak so we started pushing tempo a little bit more — that’s what we did last game against Westhill as well and that’s when we broke it open,” Connolly said. “Getting fastbreak layups and easy buckets.”

With teammates Jack Williams and Matt Kronenberg defended well by the Bears, it was Connolly’s time to step up and he knew it.

“We know that there are not a lot of teams in the league, if any, that can cover all three of us at the same time. When one of us is feeling it, that’s who we get the ball to and we feed off of each other,” Connolly said. “Jack was hitting his shots from the outside, Kron and I were doing a good job getting to the paint and setting up some shooters and that’s usually how it goes with one of us behind the 3-point line, spotting up there, and the others are attacking the hoop trying to create something.”

Senior James Maloney, Williams and Kyle Shifrin each scored consecutively to extend the Warriors’ run to 20-2 towards the end of the third quarter.

Norwalk’s Zach White then drained a 3-pointer for the Bears with four seconds left, the Warriors then inbounded the ball quickly and got it to Williams as he launched a three-fourths court shot.

Nothing but net as the buzzer sounded giving the Warriors a 59-37 lead heading in the final quarter.

“We didn’t play any defense, that’s been our problem all year,” said Norwalk head coach Tom Keyes about the third quarter. “We turned the ball over quite a few times and they turned them into easy baskets.”

The fourth quarter saw the Warriors extend their lead to 70-48 before both teams cleared the benches.

“For one, play defense that helps. At halftime I was not happy with them. That was probably the second worst half we have played all year. We missed I think 13 layups we had on our stat sheet, can’t have that,” Geriak said. “I ripped into them a little bit saying ‘you can’t let teams stick around with you because a team that will stick around will beat you.’ The third quarter they put their foot on the gas and luckily in the fourth quarter they didn’t take it off.”

The Bears stuck close with the Warriors right from the beginning, trailing only by five, 17-12, after the first quarter.

Norwalk got points from five different players in the first quarter while Wilton’s Kronenberg led the Warriors with 10 points.

The Warriors struggled at the beginning of the second quarter as the Bears took a 21-20 lead after Deandre Russell scored on a layup midway through the second frame.

Connolly would give the Warriors the lead right back, but again Russell scored giving it back to the Bears.

A 3-pointer from freshman Nick Kronenberg gave the Warriors a two-point lead, which they would not give back, as Connolly’s hot start started and he scored the final four points of the half.

“On regular defensive possessions we didn’t really play any (defense). It’s disappointing because we were in the game,” Keyes said. “I thought we played a pretty decent first half but if you don’t play four quarters you’re not going to beat a team like Wilton.

“They’re a good team, they’re well-coached and they know how to win and good luck to them and everyone else in the playoffs,” he added.

For Norwalk, its season ends at 4-16 (3-13 FCIAC) as they failed to qualify for the FCIAC Tournament and the Class LL Tournament.

“I would have liked to send them out with a win,” Keyes said. “A lot of good kids in this senior group that deserved a little better wins-and-losses wise compared to what we did.

“Overall not a great season, wins-and-losses wise, but we do have a lot of positives, a lot of nice kids and a lot of good memories with this group as well,” he added.

Wilton (13-7, 10-6) is the No. 5 seed in the FCIAC Tournament and will play No. 4 Fairfield Warde (12-8 10-6) on Saturday in the quarterfinals at Fairfield Ludlowe at 5 p.m.

“I do feel confident, we have nothing to lose to be honest with you. Nobody at the beginning of the year gave us a chance to get there,” Geriak said. “The kids know that, they fought through it, they proved they belong in the top part of the FCIAC and now we have our chance to prove it on Saturday.”

WILTON — The Wilton Warriors lackluster effort against Staples earlier in the week raised coach Joel Geriak’s level of concern but the coach had a huge grin on his face tonight as his team gave him all the hustle he could want.

Wilton established a 17-point lead at intermission and then weathered two mini-uprisings by New Canaan in the second half for a 62-47victory at the Zeoli Field House.

The Warriors played furious defense and battled for every loose ball from the opening whistle. Geriak had used the practice time they had earlier in the week to instill the importance of both aspects of the game.

Wilton grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the first quarter alone and held the Rams Tyler Sweeney to two points in the first half while they established their 17-point advantage.

“That was our game plan tonight, Tyler is an All-FCIAC player. I’m not sure what he ended up with tonight but we wanted to make him work for everything,” said Geriak. “Staples beat us up pretty well and we challenged our kids yesterday in practice if you want to make FCIAC’s this is a game you have to win so in practice we had them going after every loose ball and rebounding drills. We had them going into the bleachers and they took it to heart.”

Wilton is 11-6 overall and 8-5 in FCIAC play.

Jack Williams led the offense with 25 points and six rebounds while Matt Kronenberg finished with 14 points and Drew Connolly added 13.

It was not a great shooting night for either team but New Canaan finally started to get Sweeney open midway through the third quarter and they put together an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 34-24. Wilton rallied behind Williams and Connolly to extend the lead to 45-30 going into the fourth frame.

Sweeney exploded for nine points In the final quarter which gave the Rams one more chance to mount a dramatic rally. His long trey made the score 49- 41 but Kronenberg matched with a traditional three-point play to steal the momentum back.

“They got it down to eight or nine and Kronenberg drove and attacked the rim,” said Geriak. “He wasn’t having a good night shooting tonight but he found a way to help our team win. He has been carrying our team the last couple of game.”

New Canaan fell to 4-14 overall and 3-11 in conference play. Sweeney finished with 15 points and Michael Svagdis added 14 including eight points in the second quarter. Head coach Mike Evans was at a loss as to why his team came out so slow. Wilton was not bigger or faster but seemingly won every 50-50 ball which speaks about effort.

“We just can’t do it for a whole game,” said Evans. “The story of our season is consistency. This game was a microcosm of our season and I just keep scratching my head,”

Evans was pleased with their second half and wondered aloud what would have happened if his team could have stone-walled Kronenberg late in the game.

“I really like what we did in the third quarter. To weather that storm and get it back to eight points and it was in the same decade of points and then it went away,” said Evans.”It’s on me first. I mean Joel did a great job and the kids were great we just can’t do it for a whole game.”