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03/24/2018 12:00 AMFeaturing a slew of experienced upperclassmen, the Guilford boys’ basketball team had state title aspirations entering the 2017-’18 campaign. Although the Indians weren’t quite able to take it all the way, they still put together one of the best seasons in the history of the program.
Head Coach Jeff DeMaio’s squad came into this year with a senior class of seven athletes who had all previously seen valuable varsity minutes. With all the ingredients for a successful year, Guilford lived up to the expectations by posting a program-best record of 19-1 for a regular season in which the Indians’ only loss came against Xavier on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Along the way, the Indians won a share of the SCC Hammonasset Division title with those same Falcons.
In the SCC Tournament, No. 2 seed Guilford earned a first-round bye and then edged Career 49-47 in the quarterfinals to advance to its first SCC semifinal in 16 years, where the Indians took a 71-69 loss to eventual champion Hamden.
After that, Guilford began the Division III Tournament and as the top seed and received another first-round bye. The Indian defeated No. 16 seed E.O. Smith 64-48 in the second round, before taking a 56-51 quarterfinal defeat against 9th-seeded Avon, the eventual runner-up. When all was said and done, Coach DeMaio’s club finish the year with an exceptional record of 21-3.
“When I look back on it in terms of a group of kids, one of the best teams in the history of the school. We wanted to go further in states, but with the growth of our team and the individuals, it was a special year,” said DeMaio. “We really felt we had a chance to win it all, but it was still a terrific season.”
Guilford’s senior class was led by its center and lone captain Noah Rubino, who surpassed the 1,000-point milestone for his career this season. The Indians’ other seniors were forwards Sam Inchalik and Sam Dombroski; guards Ethan Skinner, Josh Krause, Matt Donlan; and guard/forward James Hyman. The group finished off a two-year stretch that saw them go 37-10 overall with a record of 26-6 in conference contests.
“They were all tremendous individual players,” said Coach DeMaio on his senior class. “That 26-6 conference record the last two years is tied for second with Hillhouse, Notre Dame-West Haven, and Cross. It’s pretty special to accomplish something like that, and the seniors were a big part of that.”
The Indians certainly saw their share of monumental moments on the way to claiming their 21 victories this year. One of them came when they won a lopsided decision in a match rematch against a squad that had given Guilford a tough time in their initial meeting.
“Our biggest win of the year was at Fairfield Prep when we clinched the division and won by 31 points after going to overtime with them the first time. It was a really big road win that sticks out,” DeMaio said. “There was disappointment with how the season ended, but it doesn’t take away from their success.”
DeMaio was named the SCC Coach of the Year this season. Dombroski and Rubino were All-SCC First Team selections, while Donlan and Krause made the Second Team. Rubino, who was also selected to play in the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Senior All-Star Game, finished his career with 1,066 points and more than 900 rebounds with the Indians. For this season, Rubino averaged 13.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, Dombroski averaged 13.9 points and snared 7.3 boards per game, Krause scored 11.8 points per game to go with 4.2 rebounds, and Donlan averaged 10.8 points, four boards, and four assists per game.
In terms of team awards on the varsity squad, Dombroski and Rubino shared Guilford’s Most Valuable Player Award, Hyman was the Sportsmanship Award recipient, and junior guard Colin Kellaher was named the Most Improved Player.
For the JV team, junior guard Ryan Costanzo was selected as Guilford’s MVP, while sophomore guards John Petonito and Ethan Vashel received the Most Improved and the Sportsmanship awards, respectively.
Looking ahead to next season, Guilford will have to traverse a more difficult slate of SCC adversaries. Consequently, Coach DeMaio wants his returning athletes to continue improving their skill sets during the offseason, so they can help the Indians follow up their historic performance from this winter with another solid campaign.
“Our conference games on the schedule will get much tougher next year, so we need the guys that lack that varsity experience to step up,” said Coach DeMaio. “In my 26 years of coaching, this was the best team that I’ve coached. They were big, strong, and athletic, and they were unselfish and had great team chemistry.”
From the Sidelines
In the regular season, Guilford’s 19 wins came against Masuk (68-49), Law (86-46 and 63-42), Whitney Tech (86-55), East Haven (73-70 in double overtime and 61-38), Hand (59-42 and 57-34), Lyman Hall (71-55 and 77-50), Fairfield Prep (66-65 in overtime and 74-43), Sheehan (65-41 and 53-39), Xavier (58-51), Cheshire (56-46 and 65-55), Amistad (62-46), and Platt Tech (69-48). The Indians’ only regular-season loss came by a 63-60 final against Xavier.
This was Jeff DeMaio’s ninth season as the Guilford boys’ basketball team’s head coach. DeMaio was assisted by JV Head Coach Jeff Lamb, who also completed his ninth year with the program; along with freshman Head Coach Dante Parisi, who was in his second year; and Sam DeMaio, who joined the program as a first-year volunteer assistant coach.
The Indians finished 7-1 in divisional play for their first division crown since 2002, when they shared the Hammonasset title with Hillhouse and North Haven.