Woodland boys show heart, light schedule for Naugatuck to start year

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BEACON FALLS — Although wins didn’t come Woodland’s way before Christmas, first-year coach John Mariano found positive signs during the start to the boys basketball season.

The Hawks traditionally start the season with a tough game against a city opponent — this year’s honors went to Crosby, which posted a 93-67 win in the Woods on Dec. 19. But Mariano liked his team’s effort during his head coaching debut.

“The score was not indicative of how we played,” Mariano said. “We showed a lot of heart. We actually played well. Crosby just played as good as they could play — they’re really good players who made contested shots. We came back numerous times to cut (the deficit) to 10 or 12. We shot 43% from 3 and a number of guys played well.”

In Woodland’s next outing Dec. 23, the club wasn’t as offensively sharp in a 63-45 loss at Watertown, but the Hawks’ defense improved. Jason Palmieri led Woodland with 15 points.

“Although I thought we did a lot of solid things on defense, we struggled a bit offensively to make shots,” Mariano noted. “As we grow as a team, especially with a younger nucleus, we have to figure out ways to be sharp on the road.”

The coach has also used early-season film sessions to illustrate the improvement he’s seen, especially as the coaching staff installs a new motion offense and a predominantly man-to-man defense.

“With the motion, it takes kids time to learn,” Mariano said. “I’ve seen signs of kids starting to learn. I’ve shown them clips of film where they’re setting screens, creating shots for other guys. We just have to get more consistent. The thing with motion is that because it’s freelance and it has to do with timing and chemistry, it takes time to get used to playing with each other.”

The choppy holiday schedule is set to continue for Woodland with a two-game set at the Cowboy Classic in Litchfield this weekend, including the Hawks’ Naugatuck Valley League Copper Division opener against Oxford. That mini-tournament will be followed by home games against Holy Cross on Monday and St. Paul on Jan. 3.

“The holiday season is weird — you’re out of school, you’ve got days off,” Mariano said. “It’s tough on your mental focus. This is about us and being sharp in our foundations offensively and defensively. You need a combination of mental and physical toughness at this time of year.”

Light start for Naugy: In an uncommon scheduling quirk, the Naugatuck boys basketball team played only once before Christmas.

The Greyhounds kicked off the season Dec. 19 with a 74-45 rout of Oxford, a game in which three Naugy players — Avery Hinnant (18), Keywan Edwards-Garris (15) and Robert Sanders (15) — all finished in double figures. Naugatuck also drilled 12 3-pointers in the contest, which saw the ‘Hounds overcome a five-point first-quarter deficit.

Naugatuck is set to face stiff competition this weekend at the New Britain Holiday Tournament, which also includes Weaver, Hartford Public and New Britain. The ‘Hounds are scheduled to return to NVL play Monday to host Derby before taking another week off, returning Jan. 6 at Wilby.