A season of highs and lows

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Woodland’s Tyler Collodel (3) is fouled by Naugatuck’s Antoine Sistrunk Feb. 25 in Naugatuck. Naugatuck won the game, 63-26. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI
Woodland’s Tyler Collodel (3) is fouled by Naugatuck’s Antoine Sistrunk Feb. 25 in Naugatuck. Naugatuck won the game, 63-26. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI

BEACON FALLS — Five games after the Hawks toppled Naugy at home, the Woodland boys basketball team ended the season with a crushing 63-26 defeat at the hands of the Greyhounds in Naugatuck.

The swing epitomized what has been a rollercoaster season for the Hawks (4-16).

“It was a season of highs and lows. We looked great at times and other times looked like we never played together,” head coach Tom Hunt said.

The Hawks failed to score more than nine points in any quarter Feb. 25 versus Naugatuck (5-15), as no player tallied more than seven.

The Hawks will be losing all three captains to graduation this year. Point guard Tyler Collodel, center Eric Beutel, and shooting forward Jon Scripo are all starters and leave some big shoes to fill.

Collodel led the team in assists with 87 (4.8 per game) and steals with 41 on the year.

“The defensive tenacity on Tyler’s part was unbelievable,” Hunt said. “He brought that to the table every play of every night for 32 minutes. It is unlike anything I have seen since I’ve been at Woodland.”

Beutel, the team’s big man, led the way in field goal percentage at 52 percent and offensive rebounds with 45 on the season.

“As coaches we have to go back to the drawing board to see how we can play without a big man,” Hunt said.

The 6-foot-4-inch senior battled through injuries in his final two seasons to help the Hawks on both offense and defense.

Scirpo was the team leader in rebounds with 105 and was second on the team in steals, assists, and blocks. He was an all-around player that was the team’s switch army knife.

“Scirpo played a great role for us. He could hit any shot for us moving inside out as we needed him to for the game plan,” Hunt said.

Woodland’s Jon Scirpo (20) lays in a basket versus Naugatuck Feb. 25 in Naugatuck. Naugatuck won the game, 63-26. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI
Woodland’s Jon Scirpo (20) lays in a basket versus Naugatuck Feb. 25 in Naugatuck. Naugatuck won the game, 63-26. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI

The upside to losing the three captains is that they are the only seniors on the squad.

“We have eight or nine guys that could be competing to fill our starting spots,” Hunt said.

Hunt will have a young team moving forward including scoring leader freshman Zach Bedryzcuk. Bedryzcuk started 20 games and hit 34 percent of his 3-pointers on his way to scoring 196 points.

“Bedryzcuk shot the three well and was able to stretch the defense this year,” Hunt said.

Zach Graveline started the last five games of the season and will be looked at to hold on to that spot next year. Jack LaPerriere, Adem Rifati, Ryan Swanson and starter Rich Rousseau will all be back to help lead the new-look Hawks.

“Biggest asset next year will be team speed. It will be up to coach Kingsley and I to use a scheme to turn that into wins,” Hunt said.