ANSONIA — The Ansonia Tigers delivered a strong, emotional response Friday night, cruising to a 71–30 non-conference varsity boys basketball win over the visiting Calvary Christian Spartans.
Assistant coach Derrick Barga again guided the Tigers in place of head coach Josh Moore, who was tending to family medical matters.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Coach Josh Moore’s son,” Barga said. “The guys were really happy to get that win tonight for Joe, and we have them in our thoughts and prayers.”
Calvary Christian opened with a quick 5–0 lead, but Ansonia settled in and surged ahead 7–5 midway through the first quarter before closing the period on a 10–2 run for a 17–7 advantage. Graham Coppess fueled the early momentum with 12 first-quarter points, including a three-pointer, while Jacob MacNutt added five points with a trey.
The Tigers blew the game open in the second quarter, pouring in 22 points while holding the Spartans to eight to take a commanding 39–15 halftime lead. Six Tigers scored in the period, led by Jacob Schmitmeyer with six points. Coppess added five more, including his second triple, while Carson Tobe scored four. Connor Riffle drained a three, and Karsen Weiss and Ben Barnt each chipped in two.
Back-to-back Tobe free throws pushed the margin to 56–21 with 4:01 left in the third quarter, triggering a running clock. Ansonia outscored Calvary Christian 21–6 in the frame to take a 60–21 lead into the fourth. Coppess caught fire again with 10 third-quarter points, knocking down his third and fourth three-pointers of the night. Tobe followed with seven points, going a perfect 5-for-5 at the foul line, and Schmitmeyer added four.
“The credit goes to our guys and their strength and resilience,” Barga said. “We’ve taken some lumps, took one last night, and to come back tonight and do that shows their belief in each other and what we’re trying to build. We’ve been struggling to score, so seeing the ball go through the net really boosts our spirits.”
With the outcome decided, Ansonia went to its bench for the entire fourth quarter. Freshman Sam Evers scored six points, sophomore Treyton Spence knocked down a three, and freshman Brady Wright added a basket as the Tigers closed out the game with an 11–9 fourth quarter.
“We’ve been on the other end of that,” Barga noted. “The JV guys stepped up and deserve that playing time. It’s nice for the varsity guys to sit there and cheer on their teammates.”
Coppess led all scorers with a game-high 29 points, including four 3-pointers, while 10 Tigers found the scoring column in a complete team performance.
BOX SCORE:
ANSONIA 71, CALVARY CHRISTIAN 30
ANSONIA – G. Coppess 29, C. Tobe 11, J. Schmitmeyer 10, S. Evers 6, J. MacNutt 5, T. Spence 3, C. Riffle 3, K. Weiss 2, B. Barnt 2, B. Wright 2 – TOTALS 22 6-9 7 71
CALVARY CHRISTIAN – B. Dunson 9, C. Buchenroth 8, E. Schmidt 8, N.Dillion 5 – TOTALS 10 7-10 1 30
3-POINTERS
Ansonia 7 (G. Coppess 4, T. Spence 1, C. Riffle 1, J. MacNutt 10
Calvary Christian 1 (B. Dunson)
SCORE by QUARTERS
17-22-21-11 71 Ansonia
07-08-06-09 30 Calvary Christian
