Rocky Hill’s Cinderella Season Ends at Mohegan

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Ryan Robinson looks on during Rocky Hill's state championship game at Mohegan Sun 

The story of the 2017-2018 boys basketball team at Rocky Hill reads like a Hollywood script.

A small town team experiences the trials and tribulations of an up and down regular season only to form a stronger bond before the tournament starts, allowing them to make an improbable championship run.

It sounds make believe--- but it really happened.

Head coach Josh Dinerman and his Terriers wrote their own script and even though it didn’t have a fairytale ending, it’s a tale that the coaches and players will one day tell their grandchildren.

“We have a team that just came together and said 'we’re going to do this, we’re going to Mohegan’,” the proud coach said after advancing to the title game.

Opening Act: The Struggle

The regular season had some peaks, including a three game winning streak in mid-January, but the valleys were very low. The final month saw the Terriers lose seven of their final eight games, including a six-game losing skid. The regular season ended with a listless 59-40 loss to Newington, which Dinerman called “the low point of the year.”

Despite the struggles and not qualifying for the CCC tourney, the team earned a spot in the Division IV tournament as the #26 seed.

Act Two: The Grind

In hindsight the late-season woes and missing the conference tourney may have been a blessing in disguise.

“We had two weeks of practice, which is enormous. Even when we start the season, because of scrimmages, we don’t get two weeks of practice. Now when you have everything installed you get two weeks and can make minor tweaks. You can take that time and break down parts of the game and put it all together. Day after day we just kept improving and I turned to the coaches and said ‘they get it’. It just clicked,” recalled Dinerman, “You could just tell that they were dying to get out there after like 10 days of practice. They just wanted to go play.”

Act Three: The Resurgence

The two weeks of regrouping started a run that would captivate the local community.

“We knew we could be set up for a nice run, but you’ve got to win the first one and put good practices together,” stated Dinerman.

First they traveled to Plainfield in the opening round and knocked off a 15-win Plainfield team, 62-50. The opening round road win restored the team’s belief.

“It wasn’t the season that we wanted but we knew that we had to fight. We had to keep working and we never gave up. Once we got the first victory in the tournament we knew what to do,” senior Ryan Robinson said of the team’s mental and physical turnaround.

In the second round the Terriers knocked off 14-win Amistad, 64-53, in New Haven. Seniors Will White and Andrew DiMatteo each scored 16 points in the victory.

Next was a thrilling 70-67 overtime quarterfinals victory over a 19-win, 2-seed St. Bernard in Montville. The Terriers trailed by 13 points heading into the fourth quarter but rallied to force overtime and outlast the Saints in their own building. DiMatteo and fellow senior Jordan DelMastro each scored 15 in the quarterfinals victory.  

Act Four: The Climax

The come-from-behind victory sent the streaking Terriers to the semifinals where they faced a 20-win Wilcox Tech team at Wilby High School for a spot in the Division IV finals. 

“On the bus ride to every state game so far I’m thinking ‘ok this could be our last game so just leave it all out there’,’” Robinson said of his mindset before the semifinal bout.

Robinson and his team left everything they had on the floor and it was clear from start to finish that the Terriers’ train could not be derailed.

Rocky Hill scored the game’s first nine points and led 17-4 after the first quarter. The lead ballooned to many as 20 points in the first half, en route to a 66-51 victory last Wednesday night.

“Coming into this game we had won three straight and we were feeling confident. It’s just a hunger, it’s a mindset,” added Robinson, who scored a team-high 16 points in the semifinal victory, “It's do-or-die. You have to give it your all and I’m playing like it's my last game ever.”

Despite the lopsided score the resiliency of the team shined once again when Wilcox Tech went on a 7-point run in the third quarter, which narrowed the Terriers lead to eight.

“We’re 100% battle tested. They went on a run and our kids are running off the court during the timeout clapping because they know we’re going to respond,” said Dinerman, “They have that mentality like nothing can stop us right now and they’re just clicking. I just love how much heart they have and how much pride they have. The chemistry is just awesome.”

Following the time out, DelMastro halted the opponents run by canning a three-pointer after receiving a perfect pass from White.
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DelMastro’s three ended any doubt and cemented a spot in the championship game.

The team that easily eliminated Wilcox Tech in the semifinals hardly resembled the team that was struggling to find an identity in the season-finale against Newington.

“We’re different. Against Newington we had already gotten into states and we thought we were so good, but you can’t play that way,” recalled Robinson, “In the tournament we knew it was one and done, so we just came out and kept fighting. We’ve played all these different types of games, so we’re used to it. Coach gets us prepared and the main thing that he wants us to do is not take any plays off all game and that’s what we’re doing.”

“I tell my guys that my job is to not get outworked and to be more prepared than the other coach every single game and I tell them that’s what I’m going to do for them. The guys have just laid their hearts out there and it’s been complete focus,” added Dinerman, “We’ve been prepping so hard on the reports and the game plans and these guys have been going out and implementing it. It’s been spectacular.”

The Final Act: Bitter Sweet End

By the time Rocky Hill reached the Mohegan Sun Arena for their championships tilt they had logged over 211 total miles on the bus in five tournament road trips.

All of those miles and the depth of Kolbe Cathedral took its toll as the Terriers fell to the Bridgeport-based Cougars, 55-40, on Sunday night.

Rocky Hill went toe-to-toe with the eventual state champions for the first three quarters, but got outscored 20-10 over the final eight minutes.

DelMastro finished with a team-high 17 points, 13 coming in the second half, and DiMatteo added 11 in defeat.

It wasn’t a storybook ending, but the local Road Dawgs went on one heck of a ride.

“It was our senior leadership. This senior class has been through a lot. Making it through this program for four year is very challenging. It’s a grind and it takes constant effort,” Dinerman said of his eight departing seniors.

“We started 8-12 and then put together four road wins over four teams seeded in the top ten to get to Mohegan. That’s a tremendous refocus and to make a run like this is special.”

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