WETHERSFIELD - The Wethersfield Eagles boys basketball team came out of the blocks strong and never let up en route to securing a 63-48 victory over the Newington Indians in second day action of the Third Annual Holiday Classic hosted by Maloney High School Dec. 30.

       Senior captain Yianni Mantziaris and junior guard Jake Collagan led the Wethersfield charge, with each chipping in six points to stake the Eagles to an 18-9 first quarter lead. The efforts of Collagan, who scored in each quarter and finished with a game-high 19 points, and senior captain Jake Arcouette, who chipped in 11 points, were recognized with their inclusion on the All-Tournament Team. Mantziaris added 10 points for the 3-1 Eagles, who opened the season with a 74-49 win over Platt.

       â€�"Give Wethersfield the credit. They took it to us in every phase of the game,” said a subdued Newington head coach Scot Wenzel, who had called timeout four minutes into the game to exhort his team to ‘Get the rebound!’

       â€�"We had no answers for Wethersfield defensively no matter what we threw at them. They got easy shots against us whether we played zone or man. We never got into a rhythm offensively. Our shot selection was poor, we had a number of turnovers and they also out-rebounded us.”

       The Eagles, who had scored a 52-51 tournament win over the host Spartans Dec. 27, gave Wethersfield head coach Brian Fanelli plenty of reasons to smile.

       â€�"We played as a team tonight, which is what we’re trying to preach. We’re working to build a team and it’s looks like it’s okay so far.

       â€�"Jake Collagan does a lot of good things for us. While it looks like he did most of our scoring, he was also setting up his teammates. Jake’s obviously one of our more talented athletes who works very hard in the off-season. He loves this sport like no one I’ve ever seen. He’s had some growing pains the last year or so, but has been showing that he’s a really good player,” stated Fanelli, whose team went into the locker room up 35-20, and held a 49-33 advantage heading into the final eight minutes of play when Arcouette took a feed from Collagan to the hoop.

       â€�"Jake Arcouette did a lot of the little dirty things well tonight, like boxing out, getting rebounds, setting up plays and controlling the tempo of the play. He’s a very selfless player.

       â€�"I’m not sure why Newington didn’t rebound because they’re very talented off the glass,” said the fifth-year head coach. â€�"They weren’t really banging like they did against Conard.

       â€�"I thought they’d play a lot of zone against us and that [sophomore guard] Jared Simmons would be the key to their offense. He didn’t have a good night but that’s what’s going to happen when everyone’s looking at him.” Simmons accounted for 14 of the Indians’ points, including seven in the game’s final eight minutes.

       â€�"Man oh man, what a player Newington’s number 21 [Pablo Ortiz] is. Every team would love to have him. He’s a great scorer, he’s unselfish and he’s always in the right spot,” Fanelli said of the junior, who topped the Indians with 18 points, 14 of which came in the second half, and was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Simmons.

       â€�"I was disappointed in how we came out,” Wenzel said while standing outside of the NHS locker room. â€�"I was disappointed in our execution and our toughness.

       â€�"Because we didn’t execute well in any phase of the game, the only positive we can take away is if we don’t learn from this, then we’re going to be in for a very long year. This was a gut check. We’ve got to learn from it. We’ve got to be ready to move on and get back to playing Newington basketball,” Wenzel said of the 4-1 Indians, who had started the season off with wins over RHAM, Bristol Eastern, Simsbury and Conard, the latter a 71-61 tournament victory over the Chieftains Dec. 27 on the Maloney hardwood.

       Since Newington’s new-year home opener Jan. 3 was postponed because of the weather, the Indians tip off 2015 with a tribal battle against visiting Farmington on Jan. 6th and an away game at Hall on the 9th. The Indians return to action on the Richard Rogalski Gymnasium hardwood for home clashes against New Britain (Jan. 13) and Conard (Jan. 16).

       The first of five road games got 2015 started on the right foot for Wethersfield (4-1), with the Eagles’ 58-39 victory over Hall (0-5) Jan. 3 behind strong efforts from Devon Smith and Jake Collagan, who topped all scorers with 15 points each. WHS increased its 30-17 half time lead to 47-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

       Wethersfield remains on the road at Windsor (Jan. 6), South Windsor (Jan. 8), Manchester (Jan. 12) and East Hartford (Jan. 15) before the Eagles christen a newly renovated WHS Gymnasium when they host East Catholic Jan. 20.