The Nathan Hale-Ray boys basketball team had a tough task at hand.
The Moodus-based high school played Coginchaug at home on Feb. 23.
This was a unique matchup for Hale-Ray, as they share a football team with the school.
Not only that, but this game was their senior night, where all of the graduating players were honored pre-game.
This was their final game before they began play in their conference tournament that started on Mar. 3.
The Noises used their high tempo style to jump out to a double-digit lead at the end of the first quarter, and it only grew from there. They beat Coginchaug 77-57. Loudon Chupas, a first-team all-conference selection, led the team in scoring with 41 points. This put him just seven points shy of scoring 1,000 career points.
When asked about being so close to this milestone, Chupas said, “I didn’t think [I] would ever reach it…it honestly just feels great to be the [first] person in 20 years to be up on that banner.”
He currently ranks fifth in the state of Connecticut in points per game, averaging 23.1 ppg. His teammate Talo Cicarello ranks 23rd with 16.4 ppg as a junior.
Chupas also ranks 15th in the state in rebounds, with 8.4 per game, and 17th in double doubles with six on the year.
Along with Chupas, Cicarello and Nathan Matetich were selected to all-conference teams. Cicarello got selected to the all-conference second team and Matetich to the third team.
Hale-Ray had previously earned a victory over Coginchaug, beating them 74-52 in December.
Going into the game, Corey Zdunczyk, the coach of the team, said that the key factor in the game was going to be to, “...create a lot of turnovers…If we can create turnovers that lead to easy points then it should be a good night for us.”
Chupas was the star of the team in the first quarter, as he made two three-pointers in quick succession.
The second quarter saw much of the same, although a different player shined for the team.
Matetich, also a senior, made his presence felt with his tight defense and ability to get to the foul line.
Cicarello showed some shooting range, as he scored a basket from almost half-court.
He began to heat up in the third quarter, knocking down three-pointer after three-pointer.
Chupus continued to show that he was the star of the team by knocking down shots.
Junior Drew Conroy commented on his feelings heading into the shoreline tournament. He said, “We feel good…we [have] good chemistry and are blending very well…we know that we will need to play harder and hit shots if we want to bring home the trophy.”
Coach Zdunczyk feels, “...there isn’t a shoreline team that we can not beat. We beat the #2 seed Morgan this year and played the #1 Cromwell close to the final minute. This is a wide open tournament with a lot of very close teams.”
As for their next game, Hale-Ray welcomed East Hampton to the sound pound on Saturday, Feb. 26.
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