Overtime

I guess I have been in a mood the last two days to take on some of the recent hotbed issues in high school sports.

Since it has been the source for a lot of debate on this blog earlier in the fall, if you didn’t see it here is my column today dealing with my thoughts on the people who have been tearing down Khairi Fortt and other top football recruits.

One of the great additions to our sports coverage with the Hearst Connecticut Newspaper Group has been the introduction of online content, scoring updates on Twitter and, especially, the use of video.

A perfect example of all the pieces coming together was Trinity Catholic’s stunning 67-66 win over St. Joseph last night on Jonathan Boykin’s 50-foot shot at the buzzer.

Our sports online producer, Sean Patrick Bowley, was on hand and filmed the entire game.

Here is a great edited 6 1/2-minute video Sean did, with the highlights of the dramatic last three minutes, including Boykin’s winning shot, the frenzied crowd reaction and postgame interviews with Boykin, Trinity coach Mike Walsh and St. Joseph coach Vito Montelli.

Discuss the top boys basketball rivalries in the FCIAC and Trinity Catholic-St. Joseph ranks among the best, and not just because they are the only two private schools in the conference. The teams have made a habit of playing wild, down-to-the-last-second games, and last night’s might have been the most dramatic in the series.

The Crusaders’ 67-66 win on Jonathan Boykin’s 50-foot shot at the buzzer was improbable on many levels; because of the unfortunate distraction the team was dealing with, having to make up a seven-point deficit with 34.5 seconds left, a four-point margin with 11.6 seconds remaining and, of course, the degree of difficulty on Boykin’s shot.

If you haven’t seen it, here is my story for The Advocate on the game.

Having to write a story on deadline about a game with so many twists unfortunately means not being able to touch on some key points.

Here are a few:

— It is hard to assess what kind of impact the loss of Takari Smalls had on the team. The Crusaders learned earlier in the day that Smalls, one of their leaders and two returning starters, would likely be lost for the season after he was one of five Stamford teenagers arrested in connection with a Darien home invasion Friday. He is due in court Jan. 6. Smalls was taken away by police as he left practice Tuesday, and while Walsh and school officials refused to comment, it would be impossible to think the situation did not weigh on the players’ minds.

As for Smalls, I will let the legal system run its course and wish that things turn out best for him.

— After Boykin’s shot, the biggest play of the game was Brandon Jones fouling Trinity’s Anthony Davis with 3.4 seconds left and St. Joseph ahead, 65-61. Davis coolly made all three free throws, putting his team in a position to win the game.

— On a night when the Cadets made just 18 of 35 free throws, after missing the first Greg Langston would have been better off if he missed his second attempt with 2.9 seconds left that put his team ahead, 66-64. It allowed the Crusaders to inbound the ball and get off a more reasonable shot. If Langston had missed, Trinity very likely would not have gotten a shot off. But you cannot fault Langston at all. He did the right thing. It was just a cruel irony for the Cadets.

— Speaking of Langston, he is the real deal. He displayed his All-State talents in almost single-handedly leading his team to victory. He finished with 27 points and is difficult to shut down.

— Walsh coached one of the best games of his distinguished career. Criticized in the past for not using his bench (often because he didn’t have one), he used nine players and always seemed to make the right moves, especially when his best player, Remy Pinson, picked up his fourth foul on the opening possession of the second half. His best move might have been going to a zone defense in the fourth quarter, which allowed his tired players to get a little rest.

I can tell you Walsh, as would be expected, has been torn by what happened to Smalls. Last night was one of the most difficult games of his coaching career.

Walsh has never fully received his due in large part because the school is able to bring in talent from surrounding areas. Last night was further evidence Walsh can coach with anyone.

— It is obvious Trinity is going to miss Smalls’ rebounding and scoring. But he is also one of the team’s best ballhandlers and the player who was going to inbound the ball. Walsh had no time to put in new plays to account for Smalls’ absence, which in part contributed to the team’s 22 turnovers and trouble getting the ball past midcourt against the Cadets’ relentless pressure.

— There is no way to overstate the heart the Trinity players displayed. There were several times I thought the team was ready to get blown out, most so at the end of the third quarter, when five turnovers in the final two minutes allowed St. Joseph to go on a 10-0 run to take a 48-42 lead. But Pinson hit a 3-point shot with two seconds left and Trinity made two baskets in the first 39 seconds of the final period to regain the lead.

In the first quarter, St. Joseph took a 12-4 lead and seemed on the verge of turning the game into the early rout most expected, but Boykin answered with consecutive 3-point shots.

Every time it was needed, someone on the Crusaders stepped up to make a big play.

— It is hard to get a read on either team after one game. St. Joseph, which is No. 6 in the state preseason poll, played poorly last night. Langston is a star and the Cadets have good inside players, but will they have problems against teams with speed?

Was last night’s performance by Trinity fueled more by emotions, or are some of the less-heralded players better than expected?

We will learn the answers in the weeks ahead. We will also soon learn if the FCIAC game of the year took place on opening night.

On an emotional day in which the Trinity Catholic High School basketball team had to deal with the arrest of one of its star players, the Crusaders were able to get something to smile about tonight when Jonathan Boykin hit a 50-foot shot at the buzzer to give them an improbable 67-66 win over St. Joseph.

Trinity coach Mike Walsh called it one of the biggest regular-season wins in the program’s history.

The Crusaders trailed by seven points with just 34.5 seconds remaining and by four with 11.6 left, but took advantage of the Cadets’ poor foul shooting and a terrible foul by Brandon Jones on Anthony Davis’ 3-point attempt with 3.4 seconds left when Trinity trailed, 65-61. Davis made all three free throws.

The win came against the backdrop of the news that junior forward Takari Smalls would likely be lost for the season after he was one of five Stamford teenagers arrested in connection with a Darien home invasion Friday. He is due in court Jan. 6. Smalls was taken away by police as he left practice Tuesday.

There were about 20 different plot twists to the game and I’ll try to get to all of them tomorrow.

After several weeks of planning, the BlueStreak-Overtime FCIAC Player of the Week award is now a reality and the nominating process is now open for the first-ever winner.

Here is the procedure: nominations will be accepted from noon on Wednesdays until noon the following Tuesday. The award will be based on an athlete’s performance during the week (not on the season to date), from that Monday-Saturday. Thus, you want to wait to nominate a basketball player until after Friday night if he/she plays two games that week. If a basketball player has just one game on a Tuesday, you can nominate him/her after that game.

For athletes in other sports, please wait until they have finished competing for the week. I suspect most nominations will come in Friday night through Tuesday. You are only allowed to submit one name each week.

To nominate someone, please click on the “Send Your Nominations” link at the top right of the blog. Please do not use the comments section of this posting. Give me the athlete’s name, school and the reasons for consideration (please include all pertinent statistics). After the voting closes, I will pick three finalists. Matt Cole, the president of BlueStreak, will then pick the winner, who will be announced each Wednesday and receive a plaque with his/her name on it as well as a T-shirt.

The hope here is to provide another forum to recognize athletes in all sports from all 19 FCIAC members, so please spread the word and encourage people to come to the blog and nominate someone. Coaches, athletic directors and readers are encouraged to participate in the process.

Thanks again to Matt Cole for helping to make this vision a reality.

So start voting and come back Wednesday to see the announcement of the first winner of the BlueStreak-Overtime Player of the Week award.

The nominating process for the first winner of the BlueStreak-Overtime FCIAC Player of the Week award will begin tomorrow at noon and run through noon next Tuesday. I’ll have more specific instructions for you tomorrow. A new design for the voting is forthcoming, but for the time being, to the upper right of this post, you will see a box set up for the voting. All you have to do is click on the “Send Your Nominations” link and email your candidate and why that person should be considered.

I’ll go over the procedure in more detail again tomorrow. Hopefully we will get a large number of candidates for athletes in all sports from all FCIAC schools.

Start spreading the news!

The Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance Preseason Boys Basketball poll was released tonight. St. Joseph and Bridgeport Central, considered by many the top two teams in the FCIAC, are sixth and ninth, respectively. Trinity Catholic, which will start the season with one of its most inexperienced teams in recent memory, is 16th. Stamford, the defending league champion, is 22nd.

Here is the complete poll:

Pre-Season
Released December 14, 2009

Also Receiving Votes: Stratford 22-1 109; New London 20-2 90; Northwest Catholic 20-4 88; Hyde Leadership 21-3 85; Pomperaug 12-10 64; Trinity Catholic 22-1 54; East Catholic 11-10 38; Notre Dame-West Haven 17-6 29; Holy Cross 17-4 26; Career Magnet 15-7 25; Kolbe Cathedral 15-9 21; Stamford 21-3 19; Torrington 19-6 17; Cromwell 23-1 14; Maloney 7-13 11; Bristol Central 6-14 10; Norwich Free Academy 19-4 10; Wilbur Cross 10-11 10; Lyman Hall 20-4 5; Staples 13-9 5; Capital Prep 19-3 4; Sheehan 15-7 3; Norwalk 10-11 2; Bunnell 15-7 1; Hartford Public 16-6 1; Xavier 14-7 1

Voters: Marc Allard (Norwich Bulletin), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam Acorn), Mike Cardillo (Connecticut Post), Henry Chisholm (Connecticut Post), Garrett Dale (Torrington Register Citizen), Anthony Della Calce (Central CT weeklies), Ted Glanzer (The Valley Press), John Goralski (Southington Observer), Dave Greenleaf (CCC website), Mike Guerrera (Southington Citizen), John Holt (WFSB Channel 3), Larry Kelley (Times Community Newspapers), Greg Lederer (Cheshire Herald), Ken Lipshez (New Britain Herald), Andrew Lovell (New Britain Herald), Matt Norlander (Darien/New Canaan News-Review), Dave Phillips (Shoreline Times), Ryan Pipke (New Britain Herald), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Peter Vander Veer (Elm City Newspapers), Tom Yantz (Hartford Courant), Rich Zalusky (Willimantic Chronicle), Jimmy Zanor (Shore Line Newspapers)

As announced here two weeks ago, this week we are introducing the BlueStreak-Overtime FCIAC Player of the Week award, sponsored by BlueStreak Sports Training in Stamford, which has agreed to become the exclusive advertiser on my blog.

Each week, athletic directors, coaches, media members in our newspaper group and all readers out there will be able to nominate a candidate, along with an explanation of why that person should be considered. I will narrow the list down to three finalists, and then BlueStreak president Matt Cole will pick the winner, who will be presented with a plaque and T-shirt. There will also be an overall winner for each sports season.

The procedure is easy. Sometime soon there will be a permanent box on the blog to make nominations. For the time being, each Wednesday at noon I will make a post on the blog announcing that the nominating process is open. It will close the following Tuesday at noon, with the winner announced the next morning. The finalists will be judged on their performances that week, so you should wait until an athlete is finished competing for the week before making the nomination.

This award will be promoted in the Stamford Advocate and our sister papers, but please spread the word around. We want this to be a way to recognize athletes in all sports at all 19 FCIAC schools, and not one for the most popular sports at the largest schools.

My thanks go out to Matt Cole for helping to make this vision a reality.

So come back on Wednesday to start the nominating process and be on the lookout a week from Wednesday for the announcement of our first winner.