KEVIN D. ROBERTS/Register Citizen

On Saturday, the Thomaston boys basketball team and Thomaston High School hosted its third Thomaston Jamboree. Nonnewaug, Woodland of the Naugatuck Valley League and Bullard Haven Tech of Bridgeport and the Constitution State Conference joined the Golden Bears in Thomaston.

In the first quarter, Thomaston rallied for a 22-21 win over Bullard Havens. The teams needed a two-minute overtime to decide the matchup. A free throw from Thomaston senior Ryan Hurlbert was the difference.

The Golden Bears played hard in each of their two quarters under first-year head coach Gary Franklin. While Gilbert, Northwestern, Nonnewaug and possibly Housatonic are considered to be the league favorites, Thomaston will be better than its 8-12 record from last year.

There were four quarters in the jamboree, each 15 minutes long. In the second quarter, Nonnewaug held off Woodland 21-17. The Chiefs led all the way, but still had to battle to hold off the Hawks.

The third quarter matched up Woodland and Bullard Havens. Each side played plenty of players, but the Hawks got the better of the Tigers, winning 31-19.

The fourth quarter matched up Thomaston and Nonnewaug, the winners of the first two quarters. The Chiefs raced out to a 10-0 lead behind juniors Dylan Martland and Ben Timme.

The Bears went on a 12-2 spurt to tie the game. The run started on senior Chad Pierce's 3-pointer. After an offensive rebound and basket by sophomore Alex Gagne, Pierce hit another 3 to make the score 12-8.

A quick move and basket by Gagne cut the deficit to 12-10.

Thomaston missed a chance to tie, but stole the ball from Nonnewaug. Hurlbert got the ball inside and hit a hook to tie the game at 12.

Senior John Kelley traded baskets with the Chiefs. First, Kelley gave the Bears a 14-12 lead. After a Timme 3, Kelley struck again to put Thomaston up 16-15.

Timme, however, answered with another 3-pointer and Nonnewaug took over from there. The Chiefs led by as much as 11 and ended up closing out the quarter with a 30-25 win.

Nonnewaug may have lost Cody St. John and Collin Schneider to graduation, but BL coaches expect them to be among the top three again this year.

Don't be surprised if Thomaston causes problems for its fellow BL teams this season as well.

- Kevin D. Roberts