Lewis Mills erases late deficit to beat Fairfield Ludlowe and advance to final

The Lewis Mills basketball team is going to the state championship for the third time in school history and first time since 1996 after Wednesday night’s Div. III semifinal win over Fairfield Ludlowe in Naugatuck. More photos

NAUGATUCK, March 13, 2024 – Nothing was easy for No. 2 Lewis Mills in Wednesday night’s CIAC Division III semifinal basketball game against No. 14 Fairfield Ludlowe.

The Falcons erased an eight-point deficit in the third quarter to build a lead as large as five with 6:59 left in the fourth quarter.

But Lewis Mills didn’t panic. They fell back on their defense. The Spartans gave up just six points in the final 6:59 of the contest and Connor Evans hit two free throws with 54 seconds left to help Mills beat Fairfield Ludlowe, 37-36 and advance to a state championship game for the first time since 1996.

Mills (19-5) will face No. 5 Bunnell-Stratford on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena, looking to win the second boys basketball championship in school history.

“It was a next point wins mentality on every possession,” Lewis Mills’ fifth-year head coach Ryan Raponey said. “If you miss a shot, you’ll be upset and you will feel that. But you have to move on and do your job on D. You have to dig in. You have to make sure you’re bumping the cutter, hedging screens and getting rebounds.”

Lewis Mills scored a season-low 37 points in the game. Their previous low was 44 in a January win over Simsbury.

“We just had to stay mentally stable,” Evans said. “Every play didn’t have to be a huge play, just keeping chipping at it (the lead), chipping at it until we had an opportunity to overcome them.”

Trailing by four, Mills cut the Falcon lead to one, 32-31, on a three-pointer in the corner from Tristan Mooney with 3:27 remaining that energized the Spartans and their fans, who had a deafening roar of approval.

“He’s an energy player,” Evans said. “Once he sees one go in, you know he is making the next couple and it will be a long night (for the opposition).”

Mooney had 11 points, including four shots from three-point range.

Connor Evans tries to get to the basket during Wednesday night’s Div. 3 semifinal against Fairfield Ludlowe. More photos

Ludlowe still had a three-point lead, 36-33, with 2:36 remaining when Porter Dans-Whatley hit a pair of free throws. Mills cut the lead to one when freshman Tommy Dinunzio scored with a basket off glass with 1:30 remaining.

At the other end of the floor, a Ludlowe possession ended with a foul for going over the back of a Mills player. Evans hit two free throws to put Mills ahead by one, 37-36 with 54.7 seconds remaining.

Tight defense from Eli Pelletier forced a Ludlowe turnover under their own basket with 53 seconds left. The Falcons eventually forced a Mills turnover with 24.7 seconds remaining and Ludlowe called a timeout with 12.7 seconds to set up a potentially game-winning play.

But a deep shot from Ludlowe’s leading scorer Charlie Mahoney (13 points) was short at the buzzer as Mills survived.

“Give credit to Lewis Mills, they did a good job defending,” Ludlowe coach John Dailey said. “They just made a couple more plays down the stretch than we did.”

Mahoney was the only Ludlowe player in double figures. Tate Mahoney scored six. For Mills, Mooney and Evans each had 11 points with Dinunizio scoring six and Charlie Joiner adding five points.

Mills led 19-15 at halftime. Evans sank a foul shot and Mooney hit a three-point shot to give Mills their largest lead of the game (eight points), 23-15, early in the third quarter.

But Fairfield Ludlowe didn’t quit. They made life difficult for Mills shooters and ballhandlers. The Spartans scored just two points in the final 6:50 of the third quarter.

Mahoney had two baskets and Charlie Jones had three points in an 11-2 run that gave Ludlowe the lead, 26-25 after three quarters. Baskets from Mahoney and Arlo Sollinger after their teammates pulled down offensive rebounds gave Ludlowe a 30-25 lead with 6:59 left in the game.

“We knew we had to stay in the game, trust the coaching staff and trust each other,” Mooney said. “Stay with each other in the moment.”

When asked how he felt about getting to the state finals, Evans smiled. “Absolutely amazing,” he said.

That’s a few more practices he was told.

“That’s the best thing,” he said. “More time with my boys.”

Mills last appearance in the championship game came in 1996 when the Spartans won the Class S championship over Portland 52-49. Their only other finals appearance came in 1969 with a loss to Cromwell in the Class S title game. The most recent semifinal appearance for Mills was in 2014.

More game photos

Lewis Mills celebrates with their fans after securing a spot in the Div 3 title game with a 37-36 win over Fairfield Ludlowe. More pics and details later #ctbb ⁦@MillsBoysHoop⁩ pic.twitter.com/pe96ccu56K

— Collinsville Press (@CollinsvillePrs) March 14, 2024

Lewis Mills 37, Fairfield Ludlowe 36
At Naugatuck
Fairfield Ludlowe (36) Charlie Mahoney 6-1-13, Charlie Jones 1-3-5, Juan Stcherbina 0-1-1, Tate Mahoney 3-0-6, Porter Dans-Whatley 1-2-4, Timmy O’Neill 1-1-3, Gavin Mertz 0-1-1, Arlo Sollinger 1-1-3, Jack Medor 0-0-0. Totals 13-10
Lewis Mills (37) Gavin Daly 0-0-0, Charlie Joiner 1-3-5, Tristan Mooney 4-0-11, Eli Pelletier 1-0-2, Tommy Dinunzio 2-2-6, Jack Nestor 1-0-2, Connor Evans 3-5-11. Totals 11-10
Fairfield Ludlowe (15-10)           9  6  11  10  — 36
Lewis Mills (19-5)                        11  8    6  12  — 37
Three-point goals: Mooney (LM) 3