The 16th-ranked Staples boys basketball team lost to top-seeded New Britain 63-42 tonight at New Britain in a second round game of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) state tournament.
New Britains Willie Wooten kept a tight defense on Staples all-time leading scorer John Baumann throughout the game.
Baumann surfaced as the only consistent offensive threat for Staples (16-7) with 12 points in the first half. When the Columbia-bound forward delivered a three-pointer at the start of second half, Wooten got the call.
After Baumanns three-pointer cut the New Britain lead to 30-25, Staples, with its star under WootenҒs scrutiny, went 7:45 without another field goal.
A layup by Charlie Stoebe with 11 seconds left ended a 13-2 third-quarter run that essentially put the game on ice for New Britain.
“They really stepped up their defensive intensity,” Staples coach Jason Kirck said.
“They tried to double- and triple-team (Baumann) and it made it difficult for us to swing the ball. They used good ball pressure and good denial. We couldnt enter it against two guys.”
Baumann ended up with 21 points, leading all scorers. But Staples received just 21 from the rest of its team, with 13 of those by Joe Forbes.
New Britain shot 48 percent from the field (27-for-56) while Staples made just 15 hoops in 44 tries (34 percent). Staples was held to its lowest offensive output of the season.
