The Seymour boys basketball team will take on top-seeded powerhouse Nonnewaug tonight in the Class M state tournament.
The game will be played at Nonnewaug at 7 p.m.
Nonnewaug brings with it a 22 – 0 record. Seymour is 13 – 9, 6 – 4 on the road.
The Seymour Wildcats are coming off a scrappy, 55 – 50 win over Waterford Tuesday.
Coach Joe Carrafiello attributed the win to solid Wildcat defensive play.
“I knew if we played defense, we could win,” he said. “Our kids wanted it and we were able to make the plays. We play in the NVL, which is one of the best leagues in the state and that prepares us for this type of game.”
Overall, there were three ties and three lead changes during Tuesday’s game.
The Lancers took advantage of their height with 6 – 8 sophomore Nolan Long (seven points, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots) and 6 – 3 junior Tyrell Robinson (four points, nine rebounds) dominating inside and scoring off the offensive glass.
Seymour countered with 6 – 5 senior Rich Adeniyi inside. Adeniyi (seven points, 11 rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot, three forced turnovers) was a force on the glass and scored off of putbacks.
“The difference was that we wanted it more,” Adeniyi said. “We made states for the first time in three years and we didn’t want to lose after a 1.5 hour bus ride.”
Waterford forced two turnovers to start the second quarter and converted the mistakes into layups to take an 18 – 14 lead. Overall, the Lancers forced 13 turnovers, eight in the first half.
However, Seymour came back and forced eight Waterford turnovers in the first half.
Wildcat junior point guard Louis Krohelski (22 points, three rebounds, seven assists, two steals, two forced turnovers) had 10 first half points and swished two treys in the first half, three overall. He swished a 3‑pointer to make it 18 – 17 and start an 8 – 0 run and hit a layup off an outlet pass from senior co-captain Chris Sheppard to give Seymour the lead, 19 – 18.
“Usually, I miss 3‑pointers and I lack confidence, but this time, I made a 3‑pointer, gained confidence and I kept on shooting,” Krohelski said.
Sheppard (six points, two rebounds, one steal, two blocked shots, three forced turnovers, one charge drawn) was a defensive force inside and began the play with a steal.
Adeniyi scored off a putback and Krohelski laid it in off a fake move to give Seymour a 24 – 22 halftime lead.
Poor free throw shooting kept the Wildcats from closing out the game. Overall, they were 16 – 31 from the charity stripe and the Lancers were 10 – 15. One mistake Waterford made was it fouled Krohelski, who was 7 – 11 from the line, hit five straight free throws to make it 54 – 45 with 28.7 seconds to go in the game.
“Our coach stresses free throw shooting and we shoot 40 free throws a day in practice,” Krohelski said. “Sheppard and Parmelee each hit a free throw and I then had my opportunity.”
He was referring to junior Eric Parmelee (one point, two rebounds, two steals, one forced turnover). Senior Tyler Hardman (two rebounds) also contributed for Seymour.
