Nearly two weeks had passed since Leo Magnus last played in a New Canaan basketball game. By the end of Saturday’s contest against Darien, it seemed as though the senior co-captain had never left.
Leo Magnus scored a career-high 27 points for New Canaan. Photo Credit: Mike Wilson
The Colorado College-bound senior returned after missing two games due to Covid protocol and poured in a career-high 27 points to lead the Rams over the Blue Wave 55-51 in a nail-biter at New Canaan High School.
“It felt amazing to be back out there,” Magnus told NewCanaanite.com. “Every day I was dying to come back to practice. I love my teammates and missed it so much and when I came back to practice yesterday it just felt so good to be back with my guys. Everyone is happy for each other’s success and that just leads to great wins like this.”
“Leo played like an All-FCIAC player tonight,” New Canaan head coach Danny Melzer said. “He’s starting to figure it out and when the lightbulb turns on, you can see the results. He was awesome and is a college basketball player for a reason. It’s exciting to see him play well and hopefully that is sign of things to come.”
New Canaan’s Christian Sweeney (#12) drives against Darien’s Karson Drake (#23). Photo Credit: Mike Wilson
Senior co-captains Will Bozzella and Christian Sweeney added 12 and 9 points respectively for New Canaan, which overcame some early foul trouble and hot shooting from Darien’s Miles Drake (16 points, 4 three-pointers) to improve to 5-1. The Blue Wave, coming off a 1-19 season in 2020, dropped to 2-2.
Darien started off strong in the game’s first minutes. At the 3:42 mark sophomore Simeon Doll buried a three and was fouled. After making the ensuing free throw, the Wave had an 8-2 lead.
New Canaan responded by way of the long-range shot. Consecutive threes from Sweeney, Magnus and Bozzella gave the Rams their first lead of the game, 11-8. After Bozzella hit one of two from the charity stripe, Drake drained a three-pointer to make it 12-11 New Canaan after one.
The Rams were forced to play most of the second quarter without sophomore guard Blake Wilson and senior forward Denis Mulcahy. Both starters landed in early foul trouble and the Blue Wave took advantage. Darien started off the period on a 10-4 run, opening up a 21-16 lead with 2:51 left in the half. A three from New Canaan senior Steven Panzano and Bozzella pull-up jumper from the elbow knotted the game at 21 with 2:04 remaining in the second.
New Canaan’s Will Bozzella (#14) guarded by Darien’s Amir Preston (#2). Photo Credit: Mike Wilson
After Darien jumped back into the lead with a John Fiorita foul shot, Magnus closed out the half with a pair of baskets to send New Canaan into the intermission up 25-22.
Magnus seemed to get better as the game progressed, scoring 11 of New Canaan’s 13 points in the third, including three of his four three-pointers of the afternoon. Darien junior Karson Drake scored seven points of his own in the quarter, including a layup with :21 left to pull the Wave to 38-36 heading into the fourth.
Bozzella opened the final stanza with four points, extending the New Canaan lead to 42-36 at the 6:41 mark. Darien countered with a 13-6 run over the next four minutes and grabbed its first lead of the second half, a 49-48 edge with 2:11 remaining.
After New Canaan missed on a chance to take back the lead, Magnus forced a five-second violation on Darien’s ensuing possession. Magnus got the ball on the wing, drove into the paint, spun and banked home a shot to put New Canaan back up 50-49 with 1:16 left to play.
New Canaan’s Blake Wilson (#13) sinks a clutch foul shot. Photo Credit: Mike Wilson
From there the game came down to the charity stripe. Blake Wilson added two clutch free throws, giving New Canaan a 52-49 lead with 25 second on the clock. Miles Drake countered with a pair of foul shots to pull the Wave back to within a point. Magnus responded in the final seconds, hitting three of four free throws to ice the game.
“It was a gutty, gritty win,” Melzer said. “Darien played us tough, they were very physical. There was a little bit of rust there too because 75 percent of our guys had not played in two weeks. But they came back fired up and ready to go and I’m just proud of the fact that we won the game.”
New Canaan faces its toughest stretch of the season next week, with contests against undefeated Staples and Ridgefield followed by an excellent Wilton squad that is riding a two-game winning streak.
“We didn’t care how this one looked, we just needed the win,” Magnus said. “We have some tough games coming up and by winning today we have the momentum that will carry us forward.”
NEW CANAAN 55, TRUMBULL 36
Darien 11 11 14 15-51
New Canaan 12 13 13 17-55
D: Miles Drake 4 4-4 16, Karson Drake 6 1-3 12, John Fiorita 3 3-5 9, Brian Kisken 0 4-4 4, Amir Preston 1 0-3 3. Totals: 16 13-20 51
NC: Christian Sweeney 4 0-1 9, Leo Magnus 9 5-7 27, Denis Mulcahy 1 0-0 2, Will Bozzella 4 3-5 12, Blake Wilson 0 2-4 2, Steven Panzano 1 0-0 3. Totals: 19 10-17 55
3 pointers:
D: M. Drake 4, Preston, Doll
NC: Magnus 4, Bozzella, C. Sweeney, Panzano
Records:
Darien: 2-2
New Canaan: 5-1