By Andy Hutchison
WILTON — It is sometimes said that to be the best you have to beat the best.
On Wednesday, Staples High’s boys basketball team, the No. 4 seed in the FCIAC Tournament, beat the bracket’s best, with a 71-54 triumph over the top-seeded Ridgefield Tigers in the semifinals at neutral Wilton High. Ridgefield is also the five-time conference champion.
With the win, Staples is just one victory away from the title. The Wreckers are going for their first FCIAC crown since the 1962-63 campaign.
Staples will take on No. 3 Danbury in the pinnacle contest, back in Wilton, at 6 p.m. Friday, March 3.
In the semifinal win, Chris Zajac scored 23 points, including a 9-for-10 performance from the foul line. Gavin Rothenberg drained four 3-pointers en route to a 16-point effort, Cody Sale dropped in 15 and Sam Clachko hit a trio of 3-pointers and totaled 11 points.
It was Staples’ second victory over the Tigers this season, previously handing Ridgefield one of its two regular-season setbacks; the other came at the hands of the Danbury Hatters as those teams split a pair of matchups.
Danbury had defeated Staples in their lone clash during the regular season.
Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories in Fairfield County, since the 1990s. Learn more about us here.
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