MONROE, CT — It was a strong overall season for Masuk High’s boys basketball team, one in which the Panthers racked up a baker’s dozen regular-season wins and earned a first-round Division III State Tournament game as the No. 8 seed.
Masuk held a halftime lead over No. 25 Amity of Woodbridge in the playoff opener Saturday night. All of that made the season-ending outcome — a 70-54 loss to the Spartans (who went 9-11 before upsetting the 13-7 Panthers) — that much tougher to swallow.
“Obviously, that’s not the way we wanted it to end,” Masuk Coach Pete Szklarz said.
Things looked pretty good early with the Panthers taking a 27-22 lead into halftime. The counterparts traded 3-pointers early in the third with Alex Simoulidis opening the second-half scoring with a shot from beyond the arc for a 30-22 advantage. Amity answered with a quick 3 and got to within two points on a 3-point play the old fashioned way.
Mitch DeBernardo nailed a 3-pointer of his own for a 33-28 Masuk lead.
And then the face of the game changed completely. Amity followed a two-point field goal with back-to-back 3-pointers to seize the lead, sparking a 17-0 Spartan run. The visiting team’s advantage grew as the Panthers cooled both from long range and in close.
“We missed shots we typically don’t miss,” Szklarz noted.
Amity stayed hot on offense and led 47-34 going to the fourth. Masuk matched Amity’s offensive effort in the final quarter but that third period turnaround proved to be the difference in the game.
Simoulidis scored 18 points, Oliver Irving had 11 and DeBernardo 10. The Spartans made all five of their 3-pointers in the second half to pull away.
This marks the end of nice careers for Simoulidis, Irving, Stephen Sentementes, Jayden Cassese and Chris Welch.
“It was an amazing group,” Szklarz said. “The seniors were a fantastic group of kids — great group of leaders.”
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