Staples Falls To Bassick In FCIAC Boys Playoffs

In an FCIAC playoff game that pitted height versus outside shooting, the former prevailed Saturday evening.

Staples seemingly had no answers for Bassick's seven-foot senior center Anthony Allen, who scored 25 points in the Lions' 83-70 quarterfinal victory over the Wreckers at Fairfield Ludlowe.

Allen also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots for the Lions (16-5), who will face eighth-seed Trinity Catholic in the semifinals on Monday night. The Crusaders shocked top seed St. Joseph 64-62 in Saturday's last quarterfinal.

Allen attributed the victory to his teammates, who worked the ball inside to him whenever possible, leading to several dunks for the big man. 

“All I can contribute the win to is teamwork," he said. "Teamwork, hard work, and practice,”  “One person is nothing in this sport.”

The Wreckers employed many different strategies in an attempt to stop Allen.  They trapped him, fronted him, double-teamed him and tried to take charges.  None of it worked.

“Our game plan all along was to use our size advantage to go inside to Allen,” Bassick assistant coach Bernie Lofton said.

Allen's size was a multi-faceted benefit for the Lions because once Staples collapsed three or four defenders on him, he would kick it out to his teammates for wide-open 3-point attempts. 

“We have a lot of talent and we’re very versatile offensively,” Lofton said. “ So in certain situations,  we’ll go into him and he’ll kick it out, but for most of today the baskets presented themselves and he did what he had to do.”

The loss was especially frustrating for the Wreckers (15-6),  who game-planned for Bassick's size but were unable to execute.

Still, the Wreckers'  phenomenal ability to shoot the 3-point shot was on display for much of the night, which allowed Staples to keep the contest close.

“Last time we played Staples,  they hit 13 threes on us, so we really tried to work hard on getting back in position and stopping the open shot,” Lofton said. 

“I think we did a great job of that in the first half, but they’re one of the best shooting teams in the state and you’re not going to be able to hold a team like that throughout the game.”

Senior Gabe Seidman kept the Wreckers in the game with 29 points, but refused to take any credit for his individual play.  

"I thought we played hard, but we were outmatched and outsized,” Seidman said. “Allen ate us up down low and we didn’t really have an answer for him.”

The Wreckers  now prepare for the CIAC Class LL state tournament, which begins a week from Monday.

 “There’s not much we’re going to change," Seidman said.  "We’ve been playing hard all season and we’re just going to continue to play that way."