Boys Basketball Team Routs Defending BL Champ Wamogo

Noreen Chung

Nonnewaug huddles up during a stoppage in action at a game earlier this season.

Amanda Taddeo, Sports Reporter
March 10, 2021

WOODBURY — The Nonnewaug boys basketball team beat Wamogo, 69-40, on Nonnewaug’s home turf March 1.

Being that the Warriors won the Berkshire League title two years in a row, this win was a big triumph for the Chiefs even though Wamogo lost a majority of their starting seniors last season, leaving young players to fill their shoes — one senior, eight juniors, and the rest underclassmen. 

“It was the first time we have beat Wamogo since I have been coaching at Nonnewaug,” said head coach Devonne Parker.

The Chiefs began their breakaway after ending the third quarter with a 18-6 run. They were up 16 points at the end of the third. 

Nonnewaug senior Jon Khazzaka was one of the main figures to this turn of events in the game.

“I was locked in and I felt like I could make anything I shot,” said Khazzaka.

Khazzaka scored 35 of Nonnewaug’s 69 points, being the lead scorer in the game. Following him was Ben Conti with 16 points.

During the second half the Chiefs, began rotating the ball more and playing as a team.

“We began to make more shots and play better defense, which led us to go on a very good run,” said Khazzaka.

The first half of the matchup ended with a 22-17 Chiefs lead. The Chiefs were hesitant on sharing the ball, which resulted in the low-scoring game.

Parker agreed: “I noticed that we were not sharing the ball in the first half,” he said, but overall he was “happy with the outcome of the game, especially defensively. I think we rotated well and got to our spots that we have been working on in practice.”

Overall, the Chiefs were happy with the result of the game. Beating the reigning BL champions this year was a big accomplishment for them. 

“Being that we performed well throughout this game, we will continue to focus on rebounding and getting on to the shooters, and stop letting players go into the paint,” said Parker.

The Chiefs improved to 7-3 after a 69-34 win over Housatonic on March 9. Nonnewaug will host Gilbert on March 10 and will end the regular season with a rematch against Wamogo on March 12 in Litchfield.