WILTON, Conn. – Wilton High School’s boys basketball team got off to a slow start against Trinity Catholic and ended up falling to the Crusaders, 62-47, in the semifinals of the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference tournament at Fairfield Warde High School.
The sixth-seeded Crusaders (14-8) advance to the Class L state tournament next week. No. 2 Trinity Catholic (21-1) will meet the winner of Tuesday’s late game between Bridgeport Central and St. Joseph in Thursday’s league championship game.
Trinity scored the first nine points of the game and maintained the lead throughout. The Warriors rallied to 45-35 with 6:06 left in the fourth quarter before the Crusaders pulled away for good.
“It was a combination of their defense playing well, and we missed shots that we usually hit,’’ Wilton coach Joel Geriak said.
The Crusaders held Wilton’s leading scorer, Eric Houska, to just two points. He entered the game averaging 14. Weston Wilbur scored 14 to lead the Warriors, with 12 in the second half. Olondi LeGrand scored 11 for the Warriors, who were held 14 points below their season average.
Wilton also had trouble containing Trinity’s Schadrac Casimir and Brandon Wheeler, who combined for 40 points.
“It’s tough when you fall behind early,’’ Geriak said. “But we’ve been down a couple of times before. We always fight back. We missed a couple of shots that if they fall, we’re right there.”
Casimir had 15 points in the first half for Trinity, which led 32-17 at halftime. The Warriors chipped away and scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to get to within 45-35 with 6:06 left but managed just two field goals over the next four minutes.
“They’re tough because of their quickness,’’ Geriak said. “Casimir’s very quick, and he’s a good on-ball defender. They get a lot of deflections and steals. The kids are disappointed, but we’ll go get ready for the state tournament.”
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