Unfazed Lewis Mills comes close to pulling off upset against New Fairfield

Lewis Mills forward Tommy Dinunzio (14) works for position against New Fairfield’s Jack Mariani during Saturday’s Division III state tournament game. (Photo courtesy Steve Barlow)

By STEVE BARLOW
Special to The Collinsville Press

NEW FAIRFIELD, March 7, 2026 – The Lewis Mills High School boys basketball team was unfazed by its low seeding in the CIAC Division III state tournament. The Spartans knew their trial by fire in the Central Connecticut Conference gave them a shot at pulling off a first-round upset.

And they nearly did it Saturday afternoon. But at the end of a hard-fought contest, guard Anthony Roman bounced in a foul-line jumper with 43 seconds left to put New Fairfield ahead for good in a 57-54 victory.

It was a back-and-forth battle between the No. 11-seeded Rebels (13-8) and the No. 22 Spartans (9-12) with neither team ever ahead by more than six points.

Mills tied the score for the final time at 54-54 on Tommy Dinunzio’s three-point play with 1:18 to play. Out of a timeout, New Fairfield worked the ball around until Roman finagled his way into the lane for his jumper, which smacked into the front rim, but had enough momentum to pop over the top and go in.

Spartans coach Ryan Raponey said Mills’ defense was keeping an eye on the Rebels’ outside trio of Roman (15 points), Jake Huber (13) and Lucas Miele (8).

“We wanted to make them take a tough midrange shot,” Raponey explained. “We didn’t want to give them an open three or a layup, foul and one. We contested it. He made the pull-up that bounced off the rim and fell in. That’s a good team. They got some bounces at their gym. I thought we defended it fairly well. They just knocked down the shot.”

Dinunzio, a warrior under the basket all day, got a pass in the lane for Mills, but was whistled for a travel with 20 seconds left. With eight seconds to go, Huber made one of two foul shots for the Rebels, giving Mills one last chance to tie. William Green’s 3-pointer at the buzzer glanced off the rim.

The Spartans led through one period, 17-16, thanks to Sam Carder’s two free throws after the buzzer. Huber was on fire for 10 of his 13 points in the second period as New Fairfield led, 34-30, at halftime.

Mills was able to hold Huber to one point after intermission. Trailing 42-36 in the third period, Carder drilled a 3-pointer to spark a Mills rally. The Spartans scored eight straight points to take a 44-42 lead into the final period.

Down 52-48 with two minutes left, Carder sank another big three to trigger the final Mills rally to tie the score. Dinunzio finished with a game-high 20 points.

“We played good Lewis Mills basketball. We played tough and dug in. It’s just a few bounces here or there, a few plays that didn’t go our way, but that’s basketball,” Raponey said.

Mills will graduate five seniors: Marcos Muniz, Owen Filipiak, Anthony D’Iorio, Logan Carrano and Gage Kosak.

“We met a lot of challenges this season from the beginning: some injuries early on in the year and a very difficult schedule. We stayed together and we embraced it and got ourselves here to this game,” Raponey said. “I’m proud of the effort that our guys put out there. The five seniors went through a lot the last four years to get to this point, and I appreciate them a lot.”

New Fairfield 57, Lewis Mills 54
At New Fairfield
Lewis Mills (54) Marcoz Muniz 0 0 0, Anthony D’Iorio 3 0 8, William Green 1 0 2, Logan Carrano 2 4 9, Tommy Dinunzio 7 6 20, Sam Carder 2 2 8, Gavin Grustas 2 0 5, Ian Mayes 1 0 2, Gage Kosak 0 0 0. Totals 18 12 54
New Fairfield (57) Anthony Roman 6 2 15, Lucas Miele 3 0 8, Mark Vara 0 0 0, Jake Huber 4 3 13, Julius Roman 2 2 6, Tyler Cook 6 0 12, Jack Mariani 1 0 3. Totals 22 7 57
Lewis Mills (9-12)       17  13  14  10 – 54
New Fairfield  (13-8)  16  18   8  15 – 57
Three-point goals: LM – D’Iorio 2, Carrano 1, Carder 2, Grustas 1. NF – A. Roman 1, Miele 2, Huber 2, Mariani 1.