It seemed like déjà vu all over again for the Griswold and Norwich Free Academy boys basketball teams.
A year ago the Wolverines withstood a furious Wildcats rally and stunned NFA on a buzzer-beating shot from Kaiden Kazlauskas in front of a raucous crowd at Griswold High School.
The teams returned to the scene of last year’s barnburner on Wednesday night and the exciting Eastern Connecticut Conference divisional crossover contest wasn’t decided until Griswold junior Carmelo Curtis made a free throw with 1.8 seconds left to give the Wolverines a four-point cushion.
Behind terrific 3-point shooting and daring drives to the basket down the stretch, Griswold remained unbeaten with a hard-fought 69-65 victory in Jewett City.
“What a great game for people to watch,” Griswold coach Rob Mileski said, “It was entertaining even to coach.”
NFA rallied from a 12-point deficit early in the and took a 59-58 lead midway through the fourth quarter on Jayvon Thompson’s driving layup following a turnover.
“NFA is NFA,” Mileski said. “They’ve got some athletes. Jeff’s (Wildcats coach Brown) is doing a really good job with them.”
Griswold regained a slim down the stretch. A driving layup from Kolby Mills was followed by a terrific bounce pass from Aaden Cutter to a cutting Mills for another layup. Kazlauskas then made a nifty move along the baseline for a reverse layup, giving the Wolverines a 64-59 advantage with just 1:15 remaining.
“What an athletic play by Kaiden,” Mileski said.
Wildcats sophomore guard Josh Lavoie answered with a pair of free throws and a driving layup which were sandwiched between a Nick Watters hoop and it was a one possession game at 66-63.
NFA came away with a steal with 29 seconds left but Ethan Graham’s three-pointer from the corner rattled just off the rim.
“That’s basketball,” said NFA head coach Jeff Brown, whose club fell to Fitch, 48-45, on a late 3-pointer the night before. “If that goes down you never know what could have happened. It’s kind of been the story of the season so far, just a couple of shots here and there. We’re playing hard and playing well so I can’t really complain. I’m just going to wait for those shots to fall.”
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Mills’ layup of an inbounds pass made it 68-63 with five seconds left. Lavoie answered with a pair of free throws before Curtis (seven points) sealed things with a free throw in the final second.
“Down the stretch we made a couple of plays,” Mileski said. “I told the kids to stay with it. The game plan for the last four minutes was the same game plan as it was 32 minutes ago … fundamental defense, box out, take care of the ball … all that stuff.”
Griswold, which made 13 three-pointers, sank nine baskets from beyond the arc in the first half – including five from Brayden Weidner – and built a 38-29 lead at the break.
Mills, who finished with a game-high 17 points, opened the third quarter with a three-pointer to make it 41-29.
“They always shoot well against us for some reason,” Brown said. “They get up for the NFA game. There’s a good atmosphere in here. It’s fun.”
Weidner scored 15 points, Kazlauskas added13 points, and Cutter had 12 points for the Wolverines (5-0), who defeated Montville, 65-61, the night before.
“It’s a really good start,” Mileski said. “It’s a young team but it’s still a veteran team. Last year they had some success. They beat NFA, North Haven and Stonington twice. It’s a fun group.”
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Graham led four players in double figures for NFA with 15 points. Thompson scored 11 points, sophomore Jamier Ford and Lavoie netted 10 points apiece, while sophomore Carter Stringer added nine points.
NFA (2-3) opened its season with wins over Woodstock Academy and Lincoln (R.I.) before dropping its last three against East Catholic, Fitch, and Griswold.
“There’s more togetherness, more teamwork and just looking for each other and playing for each other this year,” Brown added. “We’ve had a tough schedule. Three sophomores are starting, and they’ve been thrown in the fire early, so we’ll see how we go from here. Our kids are still hanging in there. They’re young and it’s still early in the season.”
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Griswold holds off NFA for ECC crossover win
