Coginchaug Boys Basketball 3-3; Blue Devils Play H-K Tonight

Here’s my catch-up for the boys team. At least I was able to actually attend all of the boy’s games, although I did get to the Cromwell game quite late, due to forgetting my scoring sheets at home, and having to redo the round trip between Durham and Cromwell so I could record stats for the game.

vs. Westbrook

On Monday, December 17th, the boys travelled to Westbrook, falling behind early to trail 25-15 at the half, and going down 27-15, as the Knight scored the first bucket after the break. Over the remainder of the period, Coginchaug went on a 13-4 run to pull within three, and then scored the first ten points of the final period to go ahead by seven at 38-31.

However they would not score again in the game, as Westbrook closed on an 18-0 run for a 49-38 win. Coginchaug missed six straight shots, and had five turnovers during the fatal run.

Jackson Doyle led Coginchaug with 17 points. Devin Rodrigue was the leading rebounder with nine, also adding seven points. Alex Kotrady had seven rebounds, and Mike Bongiorno contributed six points and six steals.

vs. North Branford

On Thursday, December 20th, the Devils hosted the Thunderbirds of North Branford. In a game that saw seven separate ties, at least one in each period, and six lead changes, the Devils finally prevailed in overtime by a 38-36 count, with a Mike Bongiorno three-pointer at the beginning of the overtime period being the key bucket in the win.

Coginchaug was only two of five from the charity stripe as the game wound down, but that was just enough to preserve the victory.

Mike Bongiorno led the Devils with 15 points, and Devin Rodrigue chipped in with 12. Jackson Doyle was the leading rebounder with six, adding five points, and Jack Granger had five assists and five rebounds.

vs. Old Saybrook

On Thursday, January 3rd, the Devils hosted the Rams of Old Saybrook. They fell behind early, trailing 17-9 after one period, but lead by some monster rebounding from Jack Granger and four for four shooting from beyond the arc by Mike Bongiorno, clawed back to trail by only three at 31-28 at the half, finishing with a Devin Rodrigue rebound put-back as time expired.

There were three lead changes plus a tie in the third period, with a Jackson Doyle three giving the Devils a 38-35 lead entering the final period.

Almost every basket in the final period seemed to result in a lead change, with two from the charity stripe by Rodrigue at the two minute mark giving Coginchaug a lead they would not lose at 48-47. Another bucket from Rodrigue and single free throws from Alex Kotrady and Rodrigue offset one from the stripe by the Rams, giving the Devils a 52-48 lead with about twelve seconds left. On the Rams final possession, they missed two inside looks, but got the rebound both times, and managed to drop in a three from the corner with 1.5 seconds left.

Coginchaug still led by 52-51. After a time out, Coginchaug inbounded the ball by passing from Jack Granger, out of bounds, to Devin Rodrigue, also out of bounds on the baseline, which is permitted after a made basket. Granger sprinted unchecked down the court, and had the easy layup, but the horn sounded before he could put the ball in because the timekeeper had started the clock when the ball was passed to Rodrigue, instead of when it was passed from Rodrigue to Granger, and the ball being touched on the court. For whatever reason, that caused the refs to rule that the play needed to be restarted, even though the timekeeping error clearly did not benefit either team. Fortunately, the Devils had no problem with the repeat, inbounding on a long pass, and securing the win.

Mike Bongiorno led the Devils with 17 points, with Jackson Doyle adding 14 and Devin Rodrigue chipping in with 11. Jack Granger, Alex Kotrady and Devin Rodrigue each pulled down eight rebounds, with four of Kotrady’s rebounds, plus a block, coming after a technical foul at the start of the last period.

vs. Cromwell

On Saturday, January 5th, the boys travelled to Cromwell to take on the Panthers. I got there with about two minutes left in the half, and the score tied at 13 all, but Cromwell pulled away with three from beyond the arc, offset only by a Kotrady lay-in, for a 22-15 lead at the half. Buckets by Kotrady and Rodrigue got the Devils close at 22-19, but Cromwell crept ahead to a 35-24 lead after three periods.

Coginchaug kept things fairly even in the final period, but could not make any headway into the lead. Cromwell made seven of nine attempts from the line to ice the 52-40 win.  

Mike Bongiorno scored 13 points for the Devils, and Devin Rodrigue added ten points, with eight rebounds. Alex Kotrady had six points and five rebounds, and Jack Granger had six points.

Coginchaug is 3-3, all in conference. They have a game on Monday the 7th at Haddam Killingworth, and host Old Lyme on Thursday the 10th, and Morgan on Tuesday the 15th.