NAUGATUCK — The rivalry between Naugatuck and Woodland has been a bitter one in almost all sports the past few years. This is the first year, however, that the Greyhounds and the Hawks have been put in the same division as far as basketball is concerned due to the new NVL divisions created because of the arrival of Oxford.
Not every game of a rivalry is a nail-biter, though, and that showed last Friday at Edward Mariano Gymnasium in Naugatuck.
The Greyhounds never showed any signs of letting up as they won 77-51. Naugy outscored Woodland in every quarter and allowed more than 12 points in just one quarter.
Naugy’s leading scorer, Jarron Chapman, was the Greyhounds’ top guy again with 22 points on 11 of 18 shooting.
While Chapman was again the star, he was certainly not the only one who shined for Naugy.
The ‘Hounds had four players score eight or more points, including Dayvon Russell with eight, Josh Aviles with nine and CJ Wall with 12.
Aviles had just returned from a tailbone injury suffered last month, and coach Mike Wilson was glad to have him back. He knows that his team is at his best when everyone suits up.
“This was only the second, maybe third time that we had our squad in entirety,” said Wilson, who has constantly had to deal with players either getting injured or being ineligible to play for other reasons throughout the season. “I feel we can go 10 deep when healthy.”
Wilson, however, is not the only one who knows how many players can contribute significantly on his team. Woodland coach Tom Hunt was very impressed with Naugy’s bench last Friday.
“Naugy, in my opinion, is one of the deeper teams in the NVL,” Hunt said.
Depth was not the only thing that showed for Naugy. The ‘Hounds grabbed 52 total rebounds in 32 minutes, including 14 on the offensive glass. They also had five players with at least five rebounds.
On top of that, the Greyhounds shot 50 percent from the field and had three players shoot at least 50 percent from three-point range.
All of these factors led to the win for Naugy.
However, Wilson said that the ‘Hounds still have some areas in need of improvement as they approach the NVL and state tournaments.
“Our goal every year is to improve daily,” Wilson said. “We did not play well defensively and gave up way too many easy buckets. I feel we have a lot of improving to do.”
However, Wilson admitted that he isn’t disappointed with where his team stands at this point in the season.
“We are in a great position in the standings because the kids have believed in each other and have played with such an unselfish mindset,” he said.
For Woodland, Austyn Brown, who is averaging 22.4 points per game for the Hawks, was again the top guy with 22 points versus Naugatuck. Brown has been the go-to-guy time and time again for the Hawks.
Ever since member of the 1,000 point club, Tanner Kingsley, graduated last year, the Hawks needed one of those guys, and coach Hunt said that Brown has stepped into that role very well.
“Austyn has relished the role of being the number one guy,” Hunt said. “Guys look to him because of his strengths offensively.”
As far as playoffs are concerned, the Hawks had to win out in their final five games to qualify for a state berth and an NVL tournament spot seems to be a long shot at this point.
The Hawks’ push for a state tourney berth came to an end Tuesday night against Watertown. Woodland fell the Indians, 66-42.
Brown and Kyle Soisson scored 17 points apiece for the Hawks.
The Hawks (3-14) fell to Wolcott, 74-47, on Thursday. Woodland was led by a game-high 20 points from Brown. Kyle Soisson scored 12 of his 16 points from three-point range for the Hawks.
The Hawks will host Wolcott Friday at 7 p.m.
Regardless of the record, Hunt can not deny that his players have worked hard all year.
“They continued to play the full 32 minutes,” Hunt said. “The boys have showed great effort all season no matter what the situation is.”
Naugatuck followed up the win over Woodland with a 80-69 victory over Wilby Tuesday night.
Russell had a game-high 24 points as he made 17 of 20 foul shots. Chapman added 23 points and Jason Bradley had 11 for Naugy. Fejiro Onakpuma chipped in nine points and Wall eight.
The Greyhounds improved to 12-3 with back-to-back wins over Watertown, 66-40 on Wednesday, and Torrington, 71-60 on Thursday.
Chapman scored 20 of his game-high 29 points in the second half on the road versus Torrington. Russell chipped in with 15 points.
Naugy will host Wolcott on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
