Wildcats Knockout University, Advance in Playoffs

While it wasn’t perfect, the Bethel High boys basketball team did enough to get the win against University High in the opening round of the CIAC Division M playoffs.

The Wildcats (15-6) entered the tournament as the 10th seed, and used a strong start along with a dominating performance on the glass to oust the number 23 seed.

“It’s a good win, any win in the state tournament is a good win,” Coach Ray Turek said. “All said and done, in tournament play just move on, that’s the key.”

Bethel opened the game with a 13-3 run, and led by as many as 11 in the first quarter before taking an eight point lead in the second.

“We’ve been on the other end, when you have to make the long drive, and it’s tough to get going,” Turek said. “Them coming out here, long trip and sitting around in the gym for a while, we felt we’d have that advantage. I’m glad we capitalized and had the lead.”

The Hawks’ pressure defense forced the Wildcats into eight turnovers in the first four minutes of the second, and spurred their 13-4 run. Trailing by one, the Wildcats responded with a 10-0 run and took a nine point lead into half.

“They’re quick, they get their hands in passing lanes,” Turek said. “They got their hands on a lot of balls. Their pressure, we got a lot of points off of it, and so did they.”

When the third quarter got underway, the Hawks caught fire offensively and once again took a one point lead.

“We knew they had a couple of guys that could put the ball in the hoop,” Turek said. “They went on that good run in the third quarter and it seemed like everything they threw up, went in.”

Bethel recaptured the lead when Zach Bangs turned a missed shot by Nick Von Kaenel, into a three-point play with just under three minutes left. The Wildcats led by six in the closing seconds of the quarter, but had their lead cut in half when the Hawks made a shot from their half of the court as the buzzer sounded.

“Zach works hard, brought energy, always does. Always seems to make a nice cut to the basket,” Turek said. “He has a knack for coming up with loose balls and rebounds.”

Bangs lead all scorers with 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds, including five on the offensive glass.

After a string of runs by both teams throughout the first three quarters, neither team was able to make much of a run the fourth. The Wildcats held 11-4 advantage in rebounds in the final quarter, and made enough shots down the stretch to secure the win.

“We knew going into the game we had size on them, if we could offensive rebound and then get back in transition, we felt good about the game,” Turek said. “We were still able to transition and be fairly aggressive on the offensive glass, I think that was the difference in the game.”

Jon Byrnes finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while Alex Barry and Dan Garvin each added nine points. Barry pulled down seven boards, while Garvin had five boards along with three blocks.

“You need good balance to beat a team that constantly pressures you, because they make everybody touch the ball at some point,” Turek said. “We did a good job distributing, everybody played a pretty unselfish game tonight, we’ve been working on that in practice.”

The Wildcats will look to avenge a loss from last season when they take on the seventh seed Watertown. The game will be played at Watertown, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.