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02/24/2019 11:00 PMThe Valley Regional boys’ basketball team scored a couple of big wins as the Warriors finished their regular season and then began postseason play last week. Valley wrapped up the regular season with a 42-41 home victory over Coginchaug on Senior Night, after which the Warriors dismantled East Hampton by the final score of 47-25 in the quarterfinal round of the Shoreline Conference Tournament. Valley, which has an overall record of 16-5, is facing Old Lyme in the Shoreline semis on Tuesday, Feb. 26.
On Feb. 23, No. 3 seed Valley Regional hosted 6th-seeded East Hampton in the Shoreline Conference quarterfinals and recorded a 22-point win to advance to the semifinal round. The Warriors took control of the game in the second quarter and never looked back on their way to beating the Bellringers.
Head Coach Kevin Woods lauded his team for playing great defense in the victory. Valley brought East Hampton’s offense to a standstill in the second period, limiting the Bellringers to a single point in the frame.
“I think the thing is our defense is absolutely incredible. We were tough from the beginning to the end of the game. We missed some good looks early on. We probably should have had a bigger lead after the first quarter,” Wood said. “Our guys are hungry, and to see that level of composure and poise from the younger guys on the team is very encouraging.”
With a 7-6 lead after the first quarter, Valley’s defense stopped the Bellringers in their tracks as the Warriors outscored them by a 17-1 margin during the second. Valley held a 24-7 advantage at halftime and went on to get the 47-25 victory.
Junior Chris Sparaco led the scoring attack for Valley Regional by netting 15 points to go along with 11 rebounds, one block, and two assists. Junior Cade Ensinger had seven points with five steals and five assists, while senior captain Kevin Fasulo grabbed 10 rebounds to go with one steal and three assists.
Coach Woods believes that this trifecta is poised to make a big impact for the Warriors in the postseason.
“Cade has played in the biggest games. Kevin Fasulo has played in big games, too. To have those guys offer leadership in those types of games is important,” said Woods. “Cade’s easily one of the top-three point guards in the league. He certainly scores enough, but it’s the other stats where he fills up that’s so impressive. Chris Sparaco has been a bit up and down, but he’s a lot healthier now, and it’s starting to show. He can be scary when he gets going.”
Juniors Gavin Grabowski (13 points, 1 steal), Ryan Shasha (2 points and 2 steals), and Brian Rankin (2 blocks) also contributed to the Warriors’ victory versus East Hampton.
Earlier in the week, Valley Regional honored seniors Fasulo and Jason Montecalvo when the team hosted Coginchaug for its regular season finale on Senior Night. The Warriors spread out their scoring in the win. Grabowski had eight points with one block and one steal, junior John Tibbets finished with eight points, six rebounds, and two blocks, while fellow junior Dylan Sparaco also scored eight points. Fasulo had six points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and one block, Chris Sparaco notched 10 boards with three steals, and Ensinger had four points, seven steals, five assists, and one block. Montecalvo scored six points to go with one assist and a steal for the Warriors.
Coach Woods knew that Coginchaug had more on the line in that game than the Warriors. However, that didn’t matter to the Warriors, who were bolstered by a couple of big 3-pointers from Montecalvo in their win against the Blue Devils.
“Coginchaug needed to win that game to get into Shorelines. We didn’t have as much at stake. Coginchaug had that extra fire, but our guys really wanted to win that game badly for the seniors,” said Woods, whose team went 15-5 in the regular season. “Jason Montecalvo hit two monster threes—one at the end of the half and then the other in the second half—to give us some breathing room.”
Valley is playing at No. 2 seed Old Lyme the Shoreline Conference Tournament semifinals on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. With a victory, the Warriors would move into the final to face either top-seeded Cromwell or No. 5 seed Morgan on Friday, March 1 at Polson Middle School in Madison. Valley will also compete in the Division V State Tournament beginning with first-round action on Tuesday, March 5.
“We’re going to be extra motivated down the stretch,” said Woods. “These guys want to prove it all out on the court.”
From the Sidelines
The Valley Regional boys’ basketball team’s varsity roster features senior captain Kevin Fasulo, senior Jason Montecalvo; juniors JT Dickson, Cade Ensinger, Gavin Grabowski, Jake Grow, Drew Kelly, Macklin Miezejeski, Brian Rankin, Ryan Shasha, Chris Sparaco, Dylan Sparaco, and John Tibbets; and sophomores Cameron Ruel, Marcus Santamaria, and Keenan Pindar.
In the regular season, the Warriors earned victories over Morgan (57-51 and 43-41), Old Saybrook (54-41), East Hampton (51-41), Windham (62-56), Hale-Ray (46-33), North Branford (91-64 and 77-42), Haddam-Killingworth (54-31 and 75-45), Portland (72-53), Westbrook (51-23), Coginchaug (53-38 and 42-41), and Rockville (49-48).
Valley also took defeats against Old Lyme (59-50), Cromwell (70-56 and 42-36), Old Saybrook (88-79), and Amistad (69-50) during the regular season.