Taking care of business

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NAUGATUCK — The Greyhounds are taking care of business down the final stretch of the regular season.

Naugatuck (12-5) has won 10 of 11 games heading into Friday’s game against St. Paul. The only blemish over that stretch came against Wolcott on Jan. 11, a 57-53 loss at home in which the Greyhounds squandered a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.

The Greyhounds got their chance at redemption when they headed to Wolcott for the rematch on Tuesday and delivered a statement in a 65-48 win.

“We definitely came up here with a chip on our shoulders,” said Naugatuck head coach Mike Wilson after the game.

There was more on the line than payback. The win put the Greyhounds in the driver’s seat for the No. 2 seed in the Naugatuck Valley League tournament at 12-3 in the league and kept them alive for the Iron Division title with three games to play.

The late-season game took on a playoff atmosphere as students packed the Morris Gymnasium, raising the noise level to a fevered pitch.

“We avenged ourselves,” Wilson said. “The kids played hard and we knew this wasn’t going to be an easy place to play.”

The difference in the game was the Greyhounds’ domination on the boards. Naugatuck outrebounded the Eagles 46-17, led by Avery Hinnant, who had 22 rebounds to go along with 10 points.

“We have been pounding the glass this year,” Wilson said. “It has certainly made a world of difference.”

After a back-and-forth first half, the Greyhounds headed to the locker room at the break clinging to a 30-26 advantage.

Jean Lukau (28 points) opened the second half with a 3-pointer for Naugy, but with 3:34 to go in the third quarter Wolcott’s Chris Harris (21 points) hit a 3 to cut the lead to 35-34.

That’s when Hinnant went to work. Hinnant muscled his way inside for consecutive put-backs, pulling down seven rebounds in the quarter.

Naugatuck led 46-34 going into the final quarter, but the game was far from over.

After Harris and Brian Parzhilla (14 points) knocked down back-to-back 3s, Wolcott trailed 49-44 with 5:43 to play. Visions of another comeback had the Wolcott crowd in a frenzy, especially since Naugy started the second half shooting poorly from the charity stripe.

Naugatuck’s bench provided fresh legs as the game entered the final stretch. Derrick Jagello (6 points, 6 rebounds) and Andrew Robertson (5 rebounds) continued to give Naugy the edge on the boards. Gawayne Fisher (8 points), Justin Barth, Keywan Garris, Shane Carey and Robert Sanders provided valuable minutes with the game hanging in the balance.

“This is the first time in quite a while that we are able to go nine or ten guys, and that is huge,” Wilson said.

With two minutes left, Hinnant put the exclamation point on the game. The freshman tore down a rebound and took it the length of the floor for a two-handed dunk to open up a ten-point advantage at 56-46.

“We played great,” Hinnant told the Republican-American. “After we came out in the third quarter, we stepped our game up and we started to focus.”

The Eagles’ last chance was to put Naugy at the line and hope the cold foul shooting continued. It did not as the ‘Hounds made nine of their last 10 free throws the seal the game.

“That’s how you win ball games,” Wilson said. “We went through a tough stretch but with the game on the line we showed up.”

The win followed a 63-43 victory over Woodland on Feb. 1. Robertson led Naugatuck with 13 points in the game.

After St. Paul, the Greyhounds will face Kennedy on Tuesday. Naugatuck will finish the regular season Feb. 19 at Crosby before the NVL tournament starts up on Feb. 23.