Hawks end season on high note

0
91
Woodland’s Rich Rousseau (32) was one of eight seniors on the roster this season for the Hawks, who finished the year with two straight wins. –FILE PHOTO

BEACON FALLS — With only two returning players with considerable varsity minutes under their belts, it took a while for the Woodland boys basketball team to get the pieces to fit into place.

Those pieces fit just right over the final week of the regular season, as the Hawks closed out a rebuilding year with a modest two-game winning streak.

Woodland capped the season with a 68-54 win over Kaynor Tech on Feb. 22.

Zack Bedryczuk fired in 29 points on the strength of five 3-pointers. Dylan Sender finished with 19 points and Rich Rousseau added eight points for the Hawks (3-17).

“It’s definitely something to build on,” said Woodland head coach Tom Hunt of the two-game winning streak to end the season. “The experience the younger guys got this year is going to make us stronger next season, and we are going to be OK.”

The Hawks came into the season with a heart full of desire, eight seniors looking to go out in glory and a young stable of players wanting to step into a varsity role.

Rousseau, a post player, and Bedryczuk, a shooting guard who led the team in scoring last year as a freshman, were the only players back for Woodland with significant varsity playing time.

“We had our work cut out for us that’s for sure,” Hunt said. “But the guys came to practice every day wanting to work hard and get better, and they did. It took some time and there were some growing pains, but when we started to get competitive that’s when it became fun for the kids.”

Seniors Alex Rindos, Sender, Adem Rifati and Brendan Rowley became regulars in the scoring column. Fellow seniors Josh DePalma, Zach Marquis and Joe Witkowski provided valuable minutes off the bench.

Juniors Kyle Macek and John Frasco lent some upperclassman experience along with Brandon Filippone and Leonardo Vargas.

But, for the most part, the team was building its foundation on a bunch of young players who will take up the torch next season.

Early on Woodland struggled to find its identity, getting beat by 15 or 20 points. It wasn’t until the tenth game of the season that the Hawks actually held a lead at the half, but the game ended in a loss.

There were signs of growth, and on Feb. 1 the Hawks racked up their first win against Watertown. From that point on Woodland was a different team and a tough out for opponents.

Sophomore point guard Justin Marks was starting to become effective in running the offense, and sophomore transfer Mickey Meier became another option in the scoring column.

Bedryczuk was the leading scorer on most nights, but having sophomore Ryan Swanson setting the picks and playing solid defense allowed Hunt to add another piece to the puzzle with freshman Mike Szturma.

Suddenly Woodland was playing competitive basketball in single-digit losses to Torrington, Wolcott and Derby.

What was missing was the next stepping stone to build on, which came during the final week of the season.

The Hawks secured their second win of the year defeating Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy, 46-42, in dramatic fashion on Feb. 21.

Sender led the way with 21 points on five 3-pointers and scored 14 of the Hawks’ 16 fourth-quarter points to preserve the victory. Bedryczuk and Meier added 10 points each. DePalma (3 points) and Rindos (2 points) completed the scoring.

That effort carried over into the regular-season finale against Kaynor Tech. Hunt is looking for it to carry over to next year.

“We are going to lose our biggest asset in Rousseau, who was our guy under the boards,” Hunt said. “Someone is going to have to step up and fill that role next year. We also will lose a very productive scorer in Dylan (Sender). But I’m confident that the experience these younger guys got will carry over into next season.”