BEACON FALLS — No matter the sport, coaches are of the philosophy, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” Unfortunately for the Woodland boys basketball team that often overlooked analogy reared its ugly head just days before the start of the regular season.
Woodland was heading into the season on the heels of a school best six straight state tournament appearances. On paper, the Hawks had the key players returning to continue that run this year.
Senior captains Austyn Brown and Sam Merriman and junior captain Eric Beutel had already established themselves last season. The Hawks were flying high with hopes for another successful season under head coach Tom Hunt in his eighth year at the helm.
“Eric came in last year with a huge upside,” Hunt said. “His size and work ethic along with a great touch from the outside makes him a player who can play at the next level in college.”
Then it happened. Beutel, a 6-foot-5 presence in the paint, went up for a rebound in a preseason game and came down awkwardly breaking his leg.
“It’s always tough when a player gets injured, but in all my 20 years of coaching this one really hurt because of all the hard work he put in to get ready for this season,” Hunt said.
Beutel said over the summer he worked hard on his foot work, ball handling and shooting in anticipation of playing a large role in the offense.
“My initial reaction was surprise and then anger,” said Beutel of his injury. “This injury is so uncommon and to have it happen just a week into preseason was very frustrating. Then I found out that I would miss several months and the entire season and that’s when the reality of it all really settled in.”
Beutel came in last year as a sophomore hoping to provide valuable minutes after Woodland lost its leading rebounder, Kirk Chamenko, to graduation. Beutel did a little more than that, scoring seven points against Sacred Heart in his first varsity game.
From that point on the sophomore sensation put the NVL on notice. He put up 15 points twice and 13 against neighboring rival Naugatuck. In the game that qualified the Hawks for the state tournament last season, the sophomore center came through with 11 points and seven rebounds.
The injury to Beutel put the promising post player on the shelf for the season and sent the coaching scrambling back to the drawing board to devise a new game plan.
“If I had to find a positive out of this whole situation,” Hunt said, “it would be that it made me a better coach because I had to go out and devise a whole new system that the team could buy into. When you stop learning and being open to change it’s time to hang it up and stop coaching. This injury has really challenged that belief.”
Woodland had plenty of talent after the injury to Beutel, but the game plan had to change a little without a solid presence in the paint.
Brown and Merriman have emerged as the top guns for Woodland this season and lead the team in scoring through 13 games.
Brown, a junior transfer from Holy Cross last season, began his career with the Hawks modestly scoring four points against Sacred Heart. It didn’t take long before he got the notice of the rest of the NVL and was scoring double-figures on a regular basis.
A 21-point game in a win over Seymour showed what the speedy guard could do on offense and his 19-point effort in the win over Derby helped Woodland to its sixth straight postseason appearance.
This season, Brown is the second leading scorer in the NVL, averaging 21.3 points per game. The senior has tallied 33 points in a game three times and led the Hawks in scoring in 11 of the first 13 games.
Merriman saw varsity action last season, but in a limited role with seven seniors on the team. Merriman did get to show his wares with an 11-point performance against Torrington in a double overtime loss.
This season Merriman has been the Hawks other go-to player. He’s led the team in scoring twice, with 22 points each time, and averages 14.5 points per game.
“My injury may have given Sam and Austyn more opportunities on offense,” Beutel said. “But, in reality, they get more chances to score because they are very good at protecting the ball and they make the most out of their opportunities.”
This season has given Beutel a different perspective on the game.
“Watching the game from the bench allows me to see the game a little differently,” he said. “I have noticed the importance of boxing out and when or when not to throw a pass. These things will only help me to be a better player when I return next season.”
Hunt concluded, “I’m a firm believer that what knocks you down will only make you better. I’m putting everyone including the NVL on notice. Eric will come back next season and he will come back better than he was.”
Woodland is 2-11 on the season, but has left a few games out on the court. The Hawks have seven games left on the schedule, starting with Torrington Thursday, to make a push for the postseason. Woodland needs to win six of the final seven to continue the streak of postseason appearances.
Woodland will visit Naugatuck on Friday, before hosting Wolcott Feb. 9 and Watertown Feb. 10.
