Chiefs squash Jackets, 86-55

WINSTED — The Gilbert boys basketball squad hosted a successful and dangerous opponent in the Nonnewaug Chiefs on Monday, Feb. 14. Nonnewaug, who sullied the Jackets’ perfect season earlier this year, took an early lead and pulled far away in the second half, seizing an 86-55 win.

Nonnewaug opened the scoring quickly, and it only took back-to-back field goals for Gilbert head coach Mark Douglass to take an early time out to settle and rally his team. Douglass’ bench seemed to respond to the coach’s message, as two sneaky steals gave Robert Skinner clear court opportunities to score.

The Chiefs maintained their lead, however, and put up such strong offensive speed and finish they began to pull away in the middle minutes of the first.

Gilbert was clearly far more composed, organized and patient at both ends of the court in the early minutes of the second. The Yellowjacket defense was particularly strong and allowed the offense the opportunity to cut the Chiefs’ lead down to a more manageable size.

Skinner was remarkable at both ends of the court, pressing Nonnewaug into coughing up turnovers and steals as well as driving hard to the net to draw fouls. Gilbert began to pull within range of tying, but the Chiefs continued to show impressive finish on almost every scoring opportunity they were given. Gilbert trailed 43-31 heading into the halftime break.

The Chiefs came out of the break with two very strong minutes, scoring in bunches while pressing Gilbert all over the court and forcing numerous turnovers. Unfortunately for the Jackets, Nonnewaug followed those two strong minutes with four more.

Suddenly, and much to dismay to the vocal Gilbert hometown crowd, Nonnewaug had a monumental lead over the Jackets. A once close game now seemingly far out of reach, the Jackets trailed 63-43 at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter took an ugly turn as frustration settled over the Gilbert bench. The equally aggressive Chiefs seemed to gain the majority of favorable calls, which cultivated the ire of a wounded Jackets team.

The coaches and athletic staff seemed to recognize the contest was quickly slipping into unsporting viciousness and replaced their top lines with some of the younger members of their benches to finish out the evening. The Jackets took the hard loss at home, 86-55.

Despite the loss, the Gilbert lineup put up some impressive scoring, most notably in Skinner, who tallied a team-leading 23 points, including four three-pointers. Austin Brochu finished with nine points, while Elyde Romero, Dan Williams and Devon Molway finished the evening with four apiece.

The Jackets fall to 13-4 while Nonnewaug remains strong at 15-2.

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