The Wreckers take the court on Friday night in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference Tournament Final on Friday night in Wilton.

Photos And Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com  Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

Although things were looking up in the first quarter at Wilton’s Zeoli field house, which was standing room only Friday night when the Staples Wreckers faced the Hatters of Danbury High. The game began with three-pointers by Staples senior captain Cody Sale, number 4 and captain Gavin Rothenberg, number 20, also a senior helping the Wreckers gain an 18-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter, things went downhill from there. The Danbury defense came alive in the second period stopping the Wreckers offense in their tracks. Staples defense helped keep it close, holding the Hatters to only 7 points in the quarter keeping the Wreckers close going into the locker room down by only 3.

Staples regrouped at the break with the offense getting back to form however the aggressive Danbury defense kept Staples in check and several of the Wreckers 18 third quarter points came from the free throw line. The Hatters again outscored Staples give them a 41-36 lead at the end of the third.

Staples regrouped at the break with the offense getting back to form however the aggressive Danbury defense kept Staples in check and several of the Wreckers 18 third quarter points came from the free throw line. The Hatters again outscored Staples give them a 41-36 lead at the end of the third.

The Hatters poured it on offensively in the fourth, hitting a 3 pointer and outrunning the Wreckers which provided the opportunity for a crowd-quieting slam dunk by Danbury’s Christian Jeffers who dominated on offense leading all scorers with 25 points. Danbury’s tenacious defense continued to limit Staples scoring and the Hatters outscored the Wreckers 28-17 in the fourth and took the championship with a 69-53 victory.

Photos And Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com  Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

Bright spots for Staple were once again senior captain Chris Zajac who played almost the entire game at full throttle and who dominated rebounding on both ends of the court with 16 leading Staples scoring with 14 points.  Cody Sale again added offensive punch with 13 points and Rothenberg chipped in another 8.

Said first year coach David Goldshore who lead his team to the FCIAC finals, his “kids had a great run, just came up a little short to a tough Danbury team. On to States!”

The Wreckers head back to their home court on Tuesday March 7 in their opening game of the CIAC State tourney, seeded 7th with a record of 15-5 facing Manchester, seeded 26 at 11-9. Tip-off is at 6:00 PM.