Torrington holds on despite school-record 48 points from Seymour’s Perkins

TORRINGTON — Torrington broke into the win column with a 72-65 win over Seymour Tuesday afternoon, despite a Seymour school record 48 points from Wildcat junior Dion Perkins.

“(Perkins) is one of the top five players in Connecticut this year,” said Joe Carrafiello, and nobody doubted it Tuesday.

Nevertheless, with Perkins dominating the Seymour scoring, it was a five-against-one game and Torrington, playing an all-new starting lineup after last year’s run to the Class III state semifinals, got major contributions from nine players on offense and defense.

Red Raider Joe White led the charge with 20 points, including three 3-pointers against five by Perkins.

But just one other Wildcat — Matt Oczkowski — sank a shot from beyond the arc and five Red Raiders joined White, including T.J. Calabrese, whose 11 points also joined White in double figures.

Both teams came in with deceptive 0-2 records, opening the season against nightmare opponents — Seymour against Holy Cross and Sacred Heart, Torrington against Holy Cross and defending Division III state champion Farmington.

“We didn’t play like we’ve been playing (in the first two close losses),” said Coach Carrafiello. “(Perkins) normally gets more support.”

“We concentrate on getting contributions from everyone,” said Torrington coach Eric Gamari.

TORRINGTON 72, SEYMOUR 65

At Torrington High School

Seymour 18 7 17 23 — 65
Torrington 25 15 13 19 — 72

Seymour (65): Dion Perkins 17-9-48; Kyle Harmeling 2-0-4; D.J. Miller 0-1-1; Matt Oczkowski 1-0-3; Dhruv Kapadia 1-1-3; Kevin Harmeling 2-0-4; Joe Orlando 1-0-2; Totals: 24-11-65.

Torrington (72): Nick Balducci 3-0-8; Justin Mattiello 1-4-7; Ivan Aybar 3-2-8; Joe White 8-1-20; T.J. Calabrese 4-2-11; Matt Rylander 1-0-3; Mohamed Traore 6-0-12; Jacob Groebl 1-0-2; Totals: 27-10-72.

3-point goals: S — Perkins 5; Oczkowski. T — Balducci 2; Mattiello; White 3; Calabrese; Rylander.

Records: Seymour 0-3; Torrington 1-2.