Coginchaug Boys' End Regular Season with Loss

After a quick senior night procession honoring senior basketball players Tommy Ryan, E.J. Luther, Andrew Markoski, Roby Granger, and Jay Norton, the Blue Devils opened their game against the Old Saybrook Rams with an all senior line up and a malaise from their last game. The Devils were coming off a 68-45 loss to the 19-1 Valley Regional Warriors in Deep River. Halfway through the first quarter it looked like the Blue Devils were still reeling from the loss.

Old Saybrook rushed out to a 14-6 lead, highlighted by a three pointer from Jack Ayers to open the game and a pair of post moves by Nick Depalermo. In spirit of senior night, the Devils played half of the first quarter without their usual line up, and without their best player, Erikson Wasyl. Once Wasyl entered the game, the Devil's mentality changed, as the started to chip away at the Old Saybrook lead.

Sam Baker found Wasyl driving the baseline, as he finished with a flashy left-handed reverse lay up to cut the lead to 16-11. E.J. Luther played excellent man defense all night, creating turnovers and fast breaks, with one of them coming in the 2nd quarter, leading to a trip to the foul line. He hit one of two shots to trim the lead to 23-20. Tommy Ryan (12 points) had a stellar senior night, controlling the baseline on the offensive end,. Ryan's baseline lay up in the 2nd quarter was followed by a three pointer by Erikson Wasyl (24 points) to tie the game at 28 at the half.

Wasyl began the 3rd quarter with another three pointer (6-8 3pt FG) to give Coginchaug its first lead on the night. Yet, an errant pass from Markoski on the next possession, and a turnover by Luther on the one ofter that, led to quick transition points by Old Saybrook. Wasyl's three point shooting kept Coginchaug in the game, giving them a small lead at 39-36. Old Saybrook, taking advantage of the abscene of Blue Devil center Ethan Donecker, started to wear down Coginchaug's undersized players.

Oddly enough, the Devils responded on the offensive end by shying away from giving Wasyl the ball. Meanwhile, Old Saybrook took over the lead and started to pull away at 49-44. With about a minute and thirty seconds left in the game E.J. Luther drove the lane and kicked it out to an open Wasyl, who still had the hot hand, knocking down the three and shortening the gap. Turnovers continued to haunt the Devils as Old Saybrook continued to pull away at 53-47. A late baseline lay up by Tommy Ryan was all the Devils could muster after that, falling to the Rams 58-49.

The Blue Devils finished their regular season at 13-7, qualifying for both the conference and state tournaments. Their next game is a Shoreline Conference tournament game on Saturday night. More details on the game, along with state tournament pairings, will be announced later.