Words and photos by Andy Hutchison.
FAIRFIELD — The top seed Staples boys basketball team withstood a push from No. 3 Ridgefield and pulled away late for a 62-48 victory in Wednesday’s FCIAC Championship game at Fairfield University.
Staples had 10 of the game’s 11 steals, many of them late in regulation, to thwart Ridgefield’s rally.
“I think we started to pick up the pace defensively at the end of the third quarter,” Staples Coach David Goldshore said.
Game MVP Sam Clachko had four of those takeaways, Mason Tobias three steals, and Matty Corrigan two.
The standout scorer in the game belonged to Ridgefield. Jayson Genova scored 27 points, hitting five of his team’s six 3-pointers, to help keep the Tigers in the game.
But the Wreckers had a balanced attack. Tobias scored 14, Clachko scored 13, Austin Heyer 12, and Corrigan 11. Dhilan Lowman scored seven and Henry Veissid five to round out the scoring.
Staples led 16-7 after one quarter and 27-25 at the half. The Tigers got to within a point a couple of times early in the third and were within just two late in the stanza.
Tobias scored down low off a pass from Clachko making it 43-39. A Tobias foul shot and Clachko layup pushed the lead to eight. Ridgefield scored in the final seconds of the third to make it 47-41 Wreckers going to the fourth.
The Tigers again cut into the deficit. A 3-pointer got them within a bucket at 47-45 early in the fourth. Clachko scored down low and Corrigan completed a 3-point play with a basket and foul shot. The Tigers would not go away. Another Ridgefield 3-pointer made it 52-48 at the midpoint of the fourth.
But the Tigers ran out of gas. Staples finished on a 10-0 run with Heyer, Tobias and Clachko sinking free throws to help put the game on ice.
Clachko had a team-high seven rebounds and four assists in a game he could not wait to be a part of after sitting out last year’s pinnacle game win, also over Ridgefield, due to injury.
“It’s so much better being able to be a part of it with my teammates,” said Clachko, who noted it was exciting and tough at the same time to sit and watch last year’s game.
Goldshore noted that Clachko’s impact on the program has been substantial since he was a freshman. The senior captain has left a legacy that will be talked about for years to come, the coach said.
But it has been a team effort for sure. Perhaps so many players factoring in on the scoresheet is a microcosm of the squad as a whole.
“This is a family — we’re a family,” Goldshore said of what makes the program successful. “It takes a village in order to do what we did here.”
What the Wreckers have done is gone undefeated — 20-0 in the regular season and 3-0 in FCIAC tourney action.
“It’s hard to go undefeated and win your conference,” Goldshore said.
But the Wreckers aren’t done. Clachko noted that this is one step along the way and the ultimate prize is a state title.
The Wreckers are the No. 1 seed in the Division I bracket and, following a first-round bye, will host No. 16 Manchester in the second round Tuesday, March 10 at 6 p.m. (check casciac.org for updates and changes).
“Hopefully we have a great state run ahead of us,” Goldshore said.
Andy Hutchison
Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories, since the 1990s. He is the sports editor at the Newtown Bee. He writes for the Monroe Sun. He was director of communications and radio color commentator for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (now Islanders) hockey team. He has won numerous writing awards, including regional and national first-place honors.
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