Huntington Herald

Gaels defeat Westies in season finale, qualify for playoffs

Written by Mike Suppe, Assistant Sports Editor
Wednesday, 22 February 2012 14:22

Christian Pierre scored 22 points to lead the Shelton High boys basketball team to a 44-41 victory over West Haven High on Monday night in both teams’ regular-season finale.

With the victory, the Gaels improved to 8-12 and qualified for the SCC playoffs and Class LL state tournament for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

“I knew we would all be in tears if we lost and jubilation if we won,” Shelton coach Brian Gardiner said. “It’s just a great feeling. We haven’t been in there in a long time.... These guys deserve it. They played so hard.

“The last three weeks they finally figured out how to be a varsity basketball team.”

Kyle Packnick added eight points and Stefon Coram and David Moreland seven apiece, as Shelton held off the Westies despite missing five-of-seven foul shots over the final 1:04.

The Blue Devils had a chance to tie it in the closing seconds, but they failed to get a shot off and turned the ball over.

Kadialy Toure led West Haven (6-14) with 13 points.

Shelton limited Blue Devils’ leading scorer Tieron Jackson to 12 points, half of his season average. Packnick, at 6-3, used his height to hassle the explosive Jackson on the defensive end.

“They have one of the best players in the state and Kyle Packnick did a great job,” Gardiner said. “He averages twenty-four points per game... Kyle got it done on the defensive end.”

The Gaels earned the No. 14 seed in the SCC tournament and will travel to New Haven to face third-seeded Career Magnet (18-2) tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.

The Class LL pairings will be released on Feb. 29 at noon.

“Let’s not just show up, let’s stick around for a while.” Gardiner said.

Shelton led by 10 points following a brace of free throws by Pierre with 4:23 left in the third quarter, but the Westies, already eliminated from postseason contention, battled back.

Jovon Lomena and Toure drained back-to-back 3-pointers, before Packnick responded with a three from the right corner off of an assist from Coram.

A driving basket by Pierre closed out the quarter with Shelton clinging to a 36-29 advantage.

Lomena kicked off the final frame with a 3-pointer from the left corner, narrowing the Blue Devil gap to 36-32.

After Pierre sank a jumper from the top of the key, Jackson converted an old-fashioned three-point play to keep West Haven within striking distance at 38-35.

The Gaels then looked to take chunks of time off the clock with each possession, as Pierre tossed in a layup and Coram hit both ends of a one-and-one. Toure countered with a jumper with 2:14 left to play, and West Haven was within five points at 42-37.

Shelton’s free-throw shooting woes began at the 1:26 mark, as Coram missed the front end of a one-and-one.

“We had to make our foul shots,” Gardiner said. “We didn’t make our foul shots.”

Toure connected on a two-shot foul on the other end, as the Westies whittled the deficit down to a possession at 42-39. At the 1:04 mark, Moreland misfired on a one-and-one and Jackson’s driving basket cut the gap to 42-41.

Packnick then missed a pair of free throws with 48 seconds left, but Jackson was whistled for a double-dribble with 26.6 seconds left.

Again West Haven fouled Packnick, and this time he hit both free throws.

That made it 44-41, and following a timeout by West Haven, Jackson misfired on a 3-point attempt with 8.5 seconds left.

Ryan Testani was fouled and missed both free throws, allowing the Westies one final chance to tie it. The Gaels tightened up their defense and got the defensive stop they needed to punch their tickets to the postseason.

“They had moments of greatness, then when we got up double digits, you could tell they were a little nervous,” Gardiner said of his squad. “It was one of those games. We knew what was on the line.”

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