Cromwell Edges Gilbert, 48-45

The Cromwell boys basketball team withstood a furious fourth-quarter comeback and went on to defeat Gilbert March 12 at the Thomaston gym. With the victory, Cromwell advanced to the semifinals of the Class S State Tournament.

In what must be described as a fierce defensive battle, the two teams knocked heads for the first two periods, with neither team able to get their respective offenses going. When the teams headed to the locker room at halftime, the Jackets faced a 22-19 deficit following one of their lowest first-half outputs of the season. The Jackets had their share of chances in the half, but a handful of key scoring opportunities slipped from their grasp.

In the third period, the Gilbert offense continued to struggle while Cromwell did just enough to outscore the Jackets to take a 32-24 lead at the start of the fourth and final period.

The Jackets were on the ropes and the possibility of the game getting away from them was staring them in the face as the final period began. There was no doubt the Jackets needed someone to step up and give them a much-needed lift if they were to have any chance of advancing to the semifinal.

Enter junior guard Jim Bunel (son of this writer). Bunel got things started at the beginning of the fourth period by converting three free throws after he was fouled during a three-point attempt. Bunel then converted a breakaway layup following a steal on the defensive end that pulled the Jackets to within three, 32-29.

Cromwell responded and stretched the lead to seven, 38-31, but Bunel wasn’t done. He immediately drained two long three-pointers to cut the lead to 38-37, which brought the pro-Gilbert crowd of nearly 800 to the edge of its seats. Once again, however, Cromwell answered.

The Panthers’ Tyler Burkhard was quick to silence the Gilbert fans as he swished a three-pointer of his own, stretching the lead to four, 41-37. Gilbert’s Sam Serafini answered with a successful drive on the baseline to make it 41-39 before the Panthers responded with two of their own and the lead was back to four, 43-39.

With precious time ticking off the clock, Gilbert needed a big play and this time it was senior guard Jeff Albanesius who came up big for the Jackets. Albanesius, who is no stranger to making big shots, hit a three-pointer from the wing and was fouled. He calmly sank the free throw and Gilbert had finally managed to tie the score at 43 with just over two minutes left in the game.

Cromwell came down the court and took nearly a minute off the clock before missing a shot that was rebounded by the Jackets Enrique Montas. The senior guard, known affectionately as "Bark" to his teammates, weaved his way down the court and eventually took advantage of an open lane on the right side by taking it all the way to the hoop for a lay-up, giving Gilbert its first lead of the night, 45-43 with just about a minute-and-a-half left in the game.

The Jackets defense was swarming all over the court and, following a missed shot, the ball headed out of bounds, clearly off Cromwell. The referee’s whistle brought play to a halt, but instead of giving the ball to the Jackets, the referee signaled a pushing foul on the rebound, sending the Panthers’ 6-foot 8-inch Justin Martin to the line for a one-and-one. Martin converted both foul shots with 47 seconds left in the game and the score was once again tied, 45-45.

The Jackets headed down court looking for the go-ahead basket but instead turned the ball over with 32 seconds left on the clock. Cromwell got the ball up court and called timeout with 14 seconds left on the clock to set up a play.

It was clear the Panthers wanted to get the ball inside to Martin but the Jackets were able to deny that with their swarming defense. Gilbert continued to double-team the ball, hoping to run out the clock and send the game into over time, but it wasn’t to be. Cromwell managed to find Burkhard open and got him the ball just in time for a catch-and-shoot three-pointer that found the bottom of the net and that was it. Game over.

Bunel scored a game-high 17 points (11 in the fourth period) to lead the Jackets, while Dan Hicks added 11. Martin led the Panthers with 16 points, while Burkhart added 12.

The loss brought to a close an outstanding year for the Jackets. They won the Berkshire League regular season championship and finished the year with a record of 19-4. In addition, seniors Dan Hicks, Jeff Albanesius, Enrique Montas, John Palmer and Sam Serafini closed out their high-school careers with the distinction of having played on three consecutive teams that advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tournament.