Connecticut Post
David Fierro
January 6, 2015
GREENWICH -- Though it was an early-season game and both team's rosters were dramatically different, Tuesday night's matchup between Bridgeport Central and Greenwich nearly featured the intensity and drama of last winter's FCIAC final.
Holding a nine-point lead late in the third quarter, the scene was set for the Cardinals to surprise the Hilltoppers and earn their first FCIAC win of the season. Yet Central closed the third stanza with a flurry, opening the door for it to escape Greenwich High with a much-needed victory.
Ending the third quarter with a pivotal 8-0 run, then forcing several key turnovers in the fourth quarter, defending FCIAC and state champion Central edged Greenwich, 63-59, in a rematch of last season's conference final.
Senior guard Dyshaun Pulliam scored a game-high 22 points, while senior forward Marcus Blackwell added 14 points for 4-1 Central. The visitors had trouble on the foul line, making just 14 of 33 free throws, and also had their share of turnovers.
"We missed 19 foul shots, which is terrible," Central coach Barry McLeod said. "Tonight, we also missed three or four point-blank layups and had some turnovers. If we made half of those foul shots, it could have been different. But give credit to Greenwich, they played with a lot of intensity and played well enough to win."
Senior forward Griffin Golden scored a team-high 16 points for the Cardinals, who trailed 33-32 at halftime, before seizing a nine-point, third-quarter advantage.
"We still have a few guys banged up, but with our team, it's next guy up and tonight several players stepped up for us," GHS coach Patrick Heaton said. "Tonight, we hurt ourself with our mistakes."
Pulliam's long 3-pointer from the right side gave the Hilltoppers the lead for good at 57-54 with 4:01 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals closed to within 58-56 on junior guard Mike Gianopoulos' layup off a steal from junior guard Joey Lanni and cut Central's edge to 60-59 when junior Henry Golden (9 points) nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with 28 seconds to go. But Pulliam made a pair of foul shots and Omar Keita sank one during the final seconds to seal the Hilltoppers' triumph.
Conor Harkins' baseline jumper, Gianopoulos' layup and Griffin Golden's short jump shot capped a 10-0 GHS run, giving it a 44-37 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter. Trailing 48-39, Central stepped up the pressure on its man-to-man press, hit the backboards hard and cut Greenwich's lead to 48-47 going into the final quarter. Daniels' layup off a steal created by the press and Pulliam's putback at the buzzer made it a one-point game.
"If they kept that lead they had going into the fourth quarter and made a couple of more baskets, I don't think we would be able to catch them," McLeod said. "That was the biggest part of the game. It really turned things around for us and gave us some momentum."
Said Heaton: "It went from us having an eight or 10 point lead to being up by just one very quickly. That was huge, but we still came out and gave a great effort in the fourth quarter."
Back-to-back layups from Daniels gave Central an 18-12 edge heading into the second quarter, but GHS handled the Hilltoppers' press well in the second quarter, enabling it to score points in transition.
"We knew they were going to press us a lot, so we played a lot of guards and guys who can handle the ball," Henry Golden said. "Tonight, we did pretty well against their 2-2-1 press, but had a little trouble with their man-to-man press."
Kieran Carroll's putback gave Greenwich its first lead of the second quarter at 29-28, but Fitzroy Henry's layup put Central up at the half by two.
"Greenwich came up with some big rebounds and were able to break us down a few times with their offense," said McLeod, whose team only had eight players available Tuesday. "We had a couple of guys home sick and I know Greenwich is missing some players too, so we were both shorthanded a little bit. Right now, we're a team that's learning and improving."
Gianopoulos added 12 points, while Harkins had 10 for the Cardinals.
"This is a game that we can build off," Griffin Golden said. "We have Westhill Friday, which is going to be a big test for us, so hopefully this game will give us some momentum going into Friday."
david.fierro@scni.com; 203-625-3323
CENTRAL (4-1)
Dyshaun Pulliam 8 6-9 22 Dondre Daniels 4 4-7 12 Marcus Blackwell 6 2-19 14 Jonathan Hartley 0 0-0 0 Kayshan Washington 1 0-0 2 Omar Keita 2 1-2 5 Joaquin Johnson 2 0-2 4Fitzroy Henry 1 1-4 3 Totals: 24 14-33 63.
GREENWICH (1-5)
Addison Yost 0 0-0 0 Henry Golden 4 0-0 9 Kieran Carroll 2 1-2 5 Griffin Golden 6 3-4 16 Conor Harkins 4 0-0 10 Mike Gianopoulos 5 2-4 12 Joey Lanni 0 0-2 0 Connor Langan 2 1-2 5 Alex Tannenbaum 0 1-2 1 Kevin Woodring 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 7-16 59.
BRIDGEPORT CENTRAL 18 15 14 16 -- 63
GREENWICH 12 20 16 11 -- 59
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