The Flying Geese earned a split for the week. After winning a closely contested, 55-53, game over United on Tuesday, Wethersfield took one on the chin at Woodhull on Friday, losing to Ridgewood 66-34.
Wethersfield 55, United 52
The LTC matchup between Wethersfield and Monmouth (United) could best be described as a game of two halves.
The Geese would lay claim to the first half (35-18) and United the second (34-20) but, ultimately, the only score that counts is the final score, which was 55-52 in Wethersfield’s favor.
Wethersfield had a good start, going ahead 15-7 in the first quarter. They had an even better second quarter, outscoring the Red Storm 20-11 to take a big 35-18 halftime lead.
Wethersfield senior Landon Sauer scored 10 in each of the two quarters for first half tally of 20 points. Fellow senior Collin Hornback made two 3-pointers for six points and junior Zeb Rashid added five in the half.
The Red Storm charged back in the second quarter, outscoring the Geese 22-8 to move within three points at 43-40 with eight minutes left in the game.
Sergeant made a couple threes en route to scoring eight third-quarter points in the United rally.
The two teams played to a fourth quarter draw of 12-all, giving Wethersfield the 55-52 conference road win.
The Geese made good on 8 of 14 free throws down the stretch to stave off the United comeback. Leffler scored eight points in the fourth quarter for the Red Storm.
Sauer scored seven in the second half and Dillon Horrie added five for Wethersfield.
When the dust settled, Sauer had racked up 27 points and Hornback followed with nine in the win.
With the win Wethersfield moves to 11-14 and 5-3 in LTC play, while United falls to 14-12 and 1-5 in the conference.
Ridgewood 66, Wethersfield 34
The Ridgewood Spartans shot out to a 20-4 first-quarter lead Friday night against the Geese and cruised to a 66-34 LTC win in Woodhull.
Wethersfield (11-15, 5-4) came around in the second quarter, outscoring Ridgewood 17-13 to move within 33-21 at the half, but that’s as close as the Geese would get.
The Spartans (12-17, 4-5) rebounded with a 33-13 second half effort and led 47-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
Garrett Vincent led the Spartans’ balanced scoring attack with 14 points, Ray Sandberg had 11 and Ashton Staley contributed 10 on the night.
LTC Race
With each team having just two or three gamåçes left on the docket, Mercer County is lone undefeated team in the LTC race at 9-0 and 23-6 overall.
Three teams are 7-1 (prior to Friday’s slate of games). They are Princeville (23-4, 7-1), Annawan (22-5, 7-1) and Stark County (17-10, 7-1). Rounding out the top 6 are Abingdon-Avon (15-13, 5-3) and Wethersfield (11-15, 5-4).
