The Seymour boys basketball team saw their season come to an end Thursday with an 81 – 55 loss to Nonnewaug in Woodbury.
The Wildcats came in ranked 17th in Class M, sporting a 13 – 8 record while the Chiefs were ranked 1st with an undefeated mark of 21 – 0.
It was a standing room only crowd with a large contingent of Seymour students on hand to lend support to their Cats. The roar of the crowd drowned out the referees whistle at times as the Chiefs’ gym was rocking with March Madness.
Seymour used a crash-the-boards approach all season to make it to the NVL tournament and qualify for the states for the first time in four seasons.
But the Chiefs just dominated the lane out rebounding Seymour by a 39 – 29 margin and that played a key role in the outcome.
With the Cats unable to penetrate the lane the Chiefs ran out to a quick 11 – 2 advantage at the 2:51 mark of the first period. Seymour didn’t have an answer for the Chiefs duo of Connor Boyen (28 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Collin Schneider (21 points, 8 rebounds).
Louis Krohelski (20 points, 5 assists) got Seymour going hitting a three from the corner and then penetrating the defense for a baseline drive but the Cats trailed 16 – 9 heading into the second period.
“I saw Nonnewaug play before and I felt we matched up with them pretty well,” said Seymour head coach Joe Carrafiello.
“But they came out and played the best game of the season against us. We got into foul trouble early on and couldn’t find that rhythm.”
Kyle Moran (15 points, 5 assists) buried a three from the corner and Eric Parmelee went the length of the floor on a steal to cut the lead at 28 – 21. Chris Sheppard (10 rebounds) yanked down three boards in a row but the Chiefs still owned a 12 – 7 advantage on the glass in the period.
Cody St. John (10 points) squared up to the basket and dropped in a three at the buzzer as the Chiefs took a double-digit lead at the break 31 – 21.
Seymour needed to find some consistency down on the blocks in order to get back in the game and Rich Adeniyi (12 points, 10 rebounds) provided that lift as the Cats outscored the Chiefs 13 – 12 in the third period.
The game entered the final period with Seymour still looking up at a 43 – 34 deficit. Seymour managed to hang 21 points on the scoreboard in the final eight minutes. But the Chiefs just ran another big man out there in the paint as Dylan Martland tied up Adeniyi and the frustration began to build for the Cats.
Nonnewaug was on auto pilot at that point as they blistered the net for 38 fourth period points to pull away with the 81 – 55 win.
“As disappointing as this is,” said Carrafiello. “I told the guys that in a few days when the hurt goes away they are going to see all that they accomplished.”