Lewis Mills ends rivalry with Litchfield with a decisive victory

Senior guard Eli Pelletier had a game-high 23 points on Saturday night as Lewis Mills beat Litchfield in Burlington.

Eli Pelletier had a game-high 23 points and Connor Evens added 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as the Lewis Mills boys basketball team won their sixth straight game with a 66-34 win over Litchfield on Saturday night in Burlington.

It was the final meeting between the two schools in basketball with Litchfield closing in June. Litchfield is joining the newly-formed Region 20 and will be part of a regional school district with Warren, Morris and Goshen. The new district’s high school will be Lakeville High on the campus of the current Wamogo High in Litchfield.

The two schools were long-time competitors in the Berkshire League from 1984 through 2019 before Mills joined the Central Connecticut Conference.

Freshman Tommy Dinunzio had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Mills (11-3) with co-captain Charlie Joiner scoring four points and dishing out three assists in his first game of the season. Joiner had been recovering from a knee injury.

Mills, which has won 11 of their last 12 games, returns to action on Monday night when they travel to play Maloney in Meriden beginning at 6:45 p.m.

Lewis Mills currently leads the CCC South with a 4-0 record with Bristol Eastern (10-3, 3-1 CCC South) and Middletown (8-6, 3-1) one game behind. The Spartans already own victories over both of those squads.

After Maloney, Mills has CCC South games remaining with Bristol Central (Feb. 8, home), Newington (Feb. 13, home) and Plainville (Feb. 19, away).

Lewis Mills 66, Litchfield 34
At Burlington
Litchfield (34) AJ Quesnel 1-0-2, Max Guma 0-0-0, Jack Gollow 2-0-4, Cole Karpicki 6-0-15, Travis Lipinsky 1-2-5, Ulysses Do Carmo 1-0-2, John Hotchkiss 3-0-6, Totals 14-2-34
Lewis Mills (66) Charlie Joiner 2-0-4, Tristan Mooney 3-1-7, Eli Pelletier 7-6-23, Tommy Dinunzio 5-0-10, Chad Edmond 1-0-3, Jack Nestor 3-0-6, Gage Kosak 0-0-0, Connor Evans 5-2-13, Max Dinunzio 0-0-0, Gavin Grustus 1-0-2, Totals 27-9-66
Litchfield (8-9)               7  17    8    2 — 34
Lewis Mills (11-3)          13  16  21  16 –66
Three-point goals: Karpicki (LHS) 3, Lipinsky (LHS); Pelletier (LM) 3, Edmond (LM), Evans (LM)