Masuk Free Press

Masuk Varsity Basketball took their second loss of the season against New Fairfield this Friday 68-58. The loss is a heartbreaking one for Masuk as their four game win streak was broken by the 5-2 New Fairfield Rebels. 

Coming into the game, Masuk had some objectives in mind. 

“Our goal in this game is to win. Winning this game would increase our chances tremendously of making states and making the playoffs,” said captain Alex Simoulidis before the game. “All we need is one more win and do well in the rest of the games we have and we can qualify for states.” 

The Panthers have been gunning for an appearance amongst the big dogs of the SWC since they started the season with multiple wins against Trumbull, Bunnell, and Greenwich High School, winning the annual holiday tournament in December.

“Our team this year is very well constructed. Our team chemistry is at an all time high, we knew that going into the year though,” Simoulidis said. “We got a good group of kids that all click and it comes together on the court. Going into this game, we have nothing but confidence that we can pull through and get the win.” 

Another captain, Stephen Sentementes, had goals in mind as well pregame: “I’ve got to play better defense. Play harder, I haven’t got as many steals as I’d like, though.” 

The matchup  started with a three point shootout between Masuk and New Fairfield. Oliver Irving and Alex Simoulidis both scored well with the three ball in the first quarter, with Alex scoring two three pointers. Masuk also got the looks they wanted down low; Saijon Gavin and Irving both worked down low to score Masuk some layups in the opening minutes.

New Fairfield, however, kept Masuk on their feet. Number #21 on New Fairfield exploited gaps in the defense and threw down a dunk right in the paint to score, and the guards of the Rebels answered with their own shots. 

The first quarter ended with Masuk trailing by three points 20-17, and the second quarter was more of the same story. Masuk desperately tried to keep up with New Fairfield’s offense, however they were unable to beat the quick attacks to the rim and shots that were sinking for the opposing team. By halftime, the lead had increased to 34 – 26 for the Rebels, and Masuk began to feel the pressure.

It should be noted that this was not the team’s first time feeling this sort of pressure – in the game against Immaculate on the 7th, Masuk was also in a similar situation, trailing behind, but pulling through in a massive team rally in the fourth quarter to take the victory. The question now was if Masuk could manage to pull off the same trick twice. 

As the halftime buzzer sounded, Masuk’s mistakes began to stack up. Fouls began to tally up for New Fairfield as whistle after whistle was blown, and the same three pointers that had fallen for Simoulidis and Irving in the first quarter were now hitting the rim and being rebounded by New Fairfield. The Rebel offense specifically benefited from the fouls, though there were multiple times where New Fairfield’s players created three-point plays from fouls, and it didn’t help that anytime Masuk received a foul call of their own, the shots did not fall. 

Then again, all hope was not lost. With three minutes left in the fourth quarter, and Masuk trailing by double digit points, the team rallied like they had before to cut the lead down to only 10 points. Unlike the previous comeback at Immaculate, though, one crucial factor came into play that was previously killing Masuk: the three point ball. No shots from the line fell for anyone on the team, meaning that Masuk missed out on crucial points that could have turned around the game. However, they did manage to get some looks down low that helped keep them at least in reaching the distance of a victory. 

That would be where this story ended had it not been for Mitch DeBernardo, a CHSCA Player of the Week winner. DeBernardo hit a crucial three ball to cut down the lead to only six points with 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but a mistake on the defensive end led to a layup for New Fairfield, bringing their lead to eight. Desperation gripped the Panthers as both DeBernardo and Sentementes shot three pointers that did not fall in an attempt to keep Masuk in the game, and the final buzzer sounded with a final score of 68-58. 

While Masuk may not have won, the season is still far from done, and the Panthers will definitely try to get back on their feet and fight once again for a place amongst the best in their division and the state as a whole.