UNCASVILLE - When you recall sports’ trilogies in the town of Uncasville, the first Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward fight at Mohegan Sun tops the list.
Those three prizefighting brawls, immortalized in “the Fighter” with Mark Wahlberg, were considered the most action-packed fights in recent boxing history. But recently, another Uncasville-related sports trilogy makes a name for itself on the list of spectacular events.
St. Bernard versus Griswold boys’ basketball has produced a trilogy, plus one, for the ages.
The two ECC Division III teams played three times last season with buzzer-beaters and overtimes determining each outcome. On Friday, with many of the key players back in action, the teams gave an encore with the Saints pulling out a 62-57 win after surviving a Wolverine game-tying three by Bryce Mileski at the regular buzzer.
“The games we’ve had are uncanny,” Griswold coach Rob Mileski said. “Unfortunately, we’ve lost three of the four, but for two teams to produce these types of finishes?”
In game one last year at Griswold, Wolverine freshman Pharoah Curtis hit a game-tying three-pointer at the regulation buzzer to send a high-scoring game into overtime. Curtis then grabbed an offensive rebound near the end of OT and passed to Max Gregory for a game-winning jumper to give Griswold an 80-79 win.
High scoring or at a snail’s pace, these games go down to the buzzer. In the next regular season game at St. Bernard last year, the Saints hit a slew of free throws to prevail in overtime. 54-41.
In the third game of the trilogy in the ECC Division II tourney quarterfinals, Griswold’s Nate Tedeschi made a three to tie the score with 16 seconds left. St. Bernard’s Hunter Baillargeon trumped that shot with a buzzer-beating trey to give the Saints a 41-38 win en route to the tourney championship.
If anyone forgot that trilogy, they were reminded Friday.
The Saints appeared ready to post a routine win Friday, jumping to a 25-12 lead after one quarter. But Griswold toughened its transition defense and hung around. Curtis hit a three to beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter. Mileski then tied the game with his 20-footer from the right side as time expired.
St. Bernard escaped any more drama, outscoring Griswold 8-2 in the extra four minutes.
“It gets crazy when we play Griswold,” St. Bernard coach Marc Jones said understatedly.
While this has developed into a fiercely competitive rivalry, both coaches express nothing but admiration and respect for one another. While many rivalries feature real or imagined distain for the combatants: i.e. Red Sox-Yankees, Steelers-Bengals, North Carolina-Duke and a few ECC matchups that will remain unmentioned, Jones and Mileski show you don’t need to hate or trash-talk your opponent to produce intense action.
“It’s a friendly, intense rivalry between two coaches who coach their pants off trying to win a game,” Mileski said.
Mileski was an assistant coach at Norwich Free Academy when Jones led the Wildcats to the 2001 Class LL state title game. Josh Adamec, Griswold assistant coach, was Jones’ backcourt mate.
“Josh and Marc are best friends,” Mileski said. “I had Marc work for me recently with a summer landscaping business I had. There are some coaches that you feel ‘ugh’ when you lose to them, but not Marc. The kids on each team get along as well.”
Gatti and Ward ended up becoming good friends, sensing how much each needed each other to cement their place in sports history. St. Bernard and Griswold show that sportsmanship need not be compromised to produce great sports theater.
Trilogy Part II, anyone?