Junior captain Jack Williams had the hot hand early, didn’t let up, and finished with a career-high 30 points, leading the Wilton High boys basketball team to a 67-54 non-conference win over visiting Masuk on Wednesday night at the Zeoli Field House.
The win — in its home opener — was the first of the young season for Wilton, which evened its record at 1-1.
“We feel like we’re the underdog in the FCIAC and we know we have to work hard in practice and in games,” said Williams, the lone returning starter for the Warriors. “Rebounding will be key for us as again we are a small team up front. We have a team of players who want to show that we want to go out and win every night and compete in this league.”
Williams netted eight of the Wilton’s 10 points in the first quarter, as the Warriors led 10-7 after the opening eight minutes. The Warriors then began the second quarter with an 8-0 run, as treys by Williams and freshman Nick Kronenberg and a two-pointer by Williams staked the Warriors to an 18-7 lead.
With Williams forced to the bench with two fouls, Wilton’s offense slowed and the Panthers battled back to pull within three points, 26-23, at the half.
Masuk opened the third quarter with a basket to further cut the Warrior lead to 26-25, but Wilton answered right back and stayed ahead the rest of the way. Williams returned to the floor, made a steal just over the mid-court line, and drove the lane for two of his nine third-quarter points as the hosts took a 43-38 lead into the final quarter.
After Masuk scored the first four points of the final quarter to close within 43-42 with 7:14 left to play, Wilton head coach Joel Geriak inserted Kronenberg to give the team a spark. Kronenberg, who had already knocked down two treys in the first half, came off the bench and immediately hit another three-pointer from the corner. On Wilton’s next trip down the floor, Kronenberg (listed at a generous 5’6” in the team program) proceeded to connect again from downtown.
Kronenberg (nine) and Williams (six) combined for the Warriors’ first 15 points of the fourth quarter, extending the Wilton lead to 58-46 with the clock winding down.
At that point, Masuk began fouling the Warriors in an attempt to get back into the game. That strategy didn’t pay off, though, as the Warriors went nine-of-10 from the line, with senior Matt Kronenberg sinking seven of his eight attempts.
Williams’ 30 points included three three-pointers and five free throws. Nick Kronenberg finished with 15 points (on five three-pointers) and Matt Kronenberg had 13 points.
Although the Warriors lack size under the boards, several players demonstrated good box-out skills and got up against their bigger opponents to haul in defensive rebounds. The Warriors also used good team speed to trap the ball and force turnovers by Masuk, which got a team-high 23 points from Cam Kovachik.
“We need to play good fundamental basketball and play to our strengths to be successful,” said Geriak.“I feel the team is starting to gel. We hadn’t had a full team to practice most of the pre-season, due to several reasons, but now we are finally at full strength. We have a deep roster and a lot of kids are going to see playing time.”
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