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GREENWICH, Conn. The Greenwich High boys basketball team executed its game plan to a T against Trinity Catholic the seventh-ranked team in the state on Tuesday evening. For a short time, it wasn't enough, as the Crusaders Kevin Leumene tied the game at 41-41.
Greenwich's Greg Donlic raced down the court, but his layup slid off the rim to a waiting Trinity player, who called a timeout. But with 3.6 seconds remaining, Alex McMurray snatched away the inbounds pass and rolled in the game-winning layup as time expired to give Greenwich a 43-41 upset victory.
Steal the ball, get the points, win the game thats all I was thinking, McMurray said. I got lucky. We really wanted this game, and our whole team played its heart out.
The game went exactly as the Cardinals hoped against the high-powered offense of Trinity Catholic, which includes 6-foot-8 power forward Jason Boswell and 7-foot-1 center Paschal Chukwu. Donlic had the unenviable task of often going up against both but did a fantastic job frustrating both. Boswell did not score a basket in the fourth, and Chukwu was blanked for the entire second half. Greenwich held Trinity to just 14 points in the final two quarters.
Greenwichs 6-foot-10 center Sem Kroon went down hard midway through the third after he had just started to catch fire. He left the building on crutches after the game with his ankle heavily taped.
That meant walk-on junior Will Armero had to guard the towering Chukwu. The first-year varsity basketball player not only got the job done but also scored a crucial late layup. Alejandro Rodriquez also buried a three-pointer with 3:20 to play to give the Cardinals the lead and the momentum they needed for the rest of the game.
I couldnt havent have dreamt this any better last night, Greenwich head coach Bill Brehm said. We knew we had to pull down the defensive rebounds, we had to hold them to under 50 points and we had to limit turnovers. We executed that for most of the game.
Greenwich (5-1) hosts Wilton on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game.
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