Playoff Hopes Fading for Coginchaug Boys

By Alan Pease

The Coginchaug boys played games on Wednesday the 30th at North Branford, and on Friday, February 1st at Valley Regional, losing both. 

vs. North Branford 

At North Branford, the Devils managed to stay close the entire way, but only managed a brief 14-13 lead early in the second period.  They trailed 10-13 after one period, and 24-28 at the half. Coginchaug tied the game 28-28 late in the third period.  Note that meant that the Devils had shut the Thunderbirds out in the period to that point, with less than a minute left in the period, and had scored only four points.  But they trailed 28-30 by periods end.  The last period saw Coginchaug surrender only a single basket, but a six for nine performance from the charity stripe was more than enough to propel North Branford to a 38-31 win, since the Devils could manage only a single free throw from Alex Kotrady and a Devin Rodrigue bucket in that final period, for a total of seven points in the entire second half.

Mike Bongiorno led the Devils with ten points, adding two rebounds.  Devin Rodrigue was the leading rebounder with seven, also scoring eight points and blocking a shot.  Jackson Doyle also scored eight, plus stealing the ball four times, grabbing three rebounds, and assisting twice.  Jack Granger had a full stat line with four points, three assists, three steals, two rebounds and a block.  Alex Kotrady had three steals, two rebounds and a point.

Off the bench, Josh Smith pulled down three rebounds, Jeff Grumm stole the ball twice, and Conor Doyle had a steal and an assist.

vs. Valley Regional

At Valley, the Devils managed to keep the game competitive early, trailing 13-15 after one on a late three from Jack Granger, and 24-33 at the half.   They kept things close until early in the second half, when a basket by Jack Granger, then a three from Devin Rodrigue pulled Coginchaug with six points at 29-35.  But the defending Class S champions went on a 10-0 run, and led 49-34 after three periods, and pulled away in the final period for a 75-48 win.

Coginchaug shot a credible 39% for the game, but 22 turnovers, along with a 47% shooting performance from Valley, did them in. 

Devin Rodrigue scored 18 points, and also grabbed six rebounds.  Mike Bongiorno scored eleven, adding two assists and two steals.  Jack Granger tied for the lead in rebounds with seven, also scoring ten and adding four assists and two steals.  Alex Kotrady grabbed six rebounds, and Jackson Doyle grabbed five rebounds, adding three points and two assists.

Off the bench, Jeff Grumm tied for the rebounding lead with seven and scored two, while Conor Doyle scored four and grabbed two boards.

Coginchaug is 5-9, 5-8 in the Shoreline conference. The Blue Devils travel to Old Saybrook tonight to play the Rams at 7 p.m. They will host Cromwell on Family Night on Friday, February 3rd, and will travel to Morgan on Tuesday the 12th, all important Shoreline contests that they need to get some wins from if they wish to get into post-season play.  Come out to cheer them on!