Boys Basketball -- New London tops a flat Trinity Catholic

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<a href="http://www.thehour.com/story/516998/">Boys Basketball -- New London tops a flat Trinity Catholic</a>

BRIDGEPORT -- There were some whispers going around the Webster Bank Arena before Wednesday night's opening game of the 2011 Northeast Classic; people wondering just how good New London's Kris Dunn was after all the hype surrounding the much-recruited prep star.

The slender point guard answered all the questions with a 31-point outburst to lead the Whalers to a 72-63 win over Trinity Catholic on Wednesday.

The matchup was an intriguing one with the Crusaders coming in as the undefeated defending CIAC Class M champions and New London the once-defeated defending Class LL crown holders.

Trinity, with a strong returning cast from last year, added blue-chip transfer Jason Boswell of the Bronx, and the Crusaders had looked impressive over their first three wins.

While Dunn is already slated to be on the roster of Providence College next year, he leads a squad with seven seniors.

So Wednesday night's matchup was a rarity: A cross-state, cross-divisional meeting of two of the best programs Connecticut has to offer.

Trinity showed it had the players to battle Dunn and the Whalers as Boswell finished with 22 points while senior Kevin Leumene added 20 more. Schadrac Casimir overcame a quiet first half to score 12 points after intermission, finishing withi 14. Sophomore center Paschal Chukwu, Trinity's 7-footer, contributed seven points and 16 rebounds.

But there was something missing and it cost the Crusaders, who are now 3-1.

"I don't think we played with intensity," Trinity coach Mike Walsh said. "We have to play much more intense against a team like New London, obviously. They're a good team and Dunn is a really, really good player, but we have to play with a sense of urgency and intensity and we did not do that at times tonight."

New London went into intermission with a 37-28 lead due in large part to their pressing defense, but the Crusaders began breaking down the press in the third quarter and actually forced the Whalers to go to a zone defense.

This allowed the Crusaders to get the ball back into the hands of Casimir.

"In the first quarter their press definitely killed us," the junior point guard said. "We didn't execute our offense in the first half as well as we did in the second half and our defense was way better in the fourth quarter, but I think if we keep doing what we're doing, by the end of the year we'll be a state championship-caliber team."

After some early scoring by Trinity, Casimir nailed a 3-point jumper to cut the Whalers' lead to 42-38.

Then a questionable foul on the Crusaders' Chukwu led to Walsh being hit with a technical foul. New London hit three of the four shots from the charity stripe to go along with another hoop to extend their lead back to 47-38.

Boswell hit another trey, but Dunn went end-to-end to make the score 49-41.

Another shot from behind the arc by Leumene and two foul shots by Casimir -- courtesy of a technical foul on the Whalers bench -- got Trinity back within three points of the lead at 49-46.

The Crusaders were not able to get any closer and back-to-back lay-ups by Keith Porter and Dunn put the Whalers back on top 56-49 going into the final frame.

Trinity kept battling behind Boswell and Casimir in the fourth quarter. The Crusaders got as close as 65-60 with 1:14 left on the clock after another clutch three-pointer by Leumene, but the Whalers were able to answer and put the game away even after Dunn fouled out with 54 second left in the game.

"We came back, we didn't quit, but it's the fourth game of the season and we need to get better and better," said Walsh. "We didn't get in an offensive flow and we weren't moving the ball well in the first half."

It was that and a lot of Dunn. He showed in the first quarter that all the attention he has garnered was warranted.

His aggressiveness at both ends of the court produced 13 points and three steals in the frame, but Boswell -- a 6-foot-7 junior -- showed he was not about to fade into Dunn's shadow, tossing in eight points to keep the Crusaders within striking distance and trailing only 21-17 after the opening quarter.

The Whalers were able to extend their lead to nine points in the second quarter due mostly to Porter. The junior forward scored eight points while Dunn was held to three foul shots during that eight-minute span. New London still could not find an answer to stop Boswell, who added seven more points.

The rest of the Crusaders were held in check, especially Casimir, who had only two points in the opening two quarters.

New London is now 3-1, as well, and they showed they are not just a one-man show. Porter finished with 14 points as did senior center Voghens Larrieux, who spent much of his night battling Chukwa under the boards.

"Kris Dunn got us off to a nice start, getting some steals and getting other players involved," said Whaler's coach Craig Parker. "Trinity Catholic is a really good ball club and we're just happy to come away with a win tonight."

The second game of the classic featured another defending CIAC champion.

St. Joseph was the host team and are defending Class L champions. The Cadets battled Archbishop Molloy from Queens, N.Y. Molloy is coached by the legendary Jack Curran, who has amassed 937 wins over a 53-year career.

He failed to get win No. 938, however, as the Cadets pulled out the win.

On Wednesday night, after The Stamford Times deadline, Trinity Catholic faced Curran's team while St. Joe's squared off against New London.

Results can be found on The Stamford Times website.

Source: http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/story/516998

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