BY MICHAEL GRIFFIN
The last of four city high school gymnasiums built over a 14-year period that helped advance Waterbury’s hoop scene into the modern era, Wilby High’s home court was part of an expansive complex housing the high school and North End Middle School that opened its doors to students for the 1978-79 school year.
In similar fashion to Crosby’s move four years earlier from a older downtown location to a site on the outskirts of town, Wilby nearly matched Crosby’s title-wining success in its first season in a brand-spanking new gymnasium.
“The student body was really excited about being the first group at the new Wilby High School complex,” remembers Jay Seay, a senior co-captain for that year’s basketball team. “And “having our own home court was certainly a boost for the team,” which had played most of its games at Kennedy in previous seasons.
The new gymnasium was dedicated on Dec. 16, 1978 prior to the Wildcats’ home opener, a 79-48 win over Ansonia. Steve Sawyer was top scorer, with 20 points, and Jay Seay and Archie Williams also reached double figures for the Wildcats.
Waterbury schools, tosses up the ceremonial opening tip
for the first game at the new Wilby gym
on Dec. 16, 1978. (Republican-American photo)
Seay’s 23 points paced Coach Bob Freeman’s ’Cats to a 79-73 win over defending NVL champion Crosby, as Wilby served notice that it was a contender for the league title with a string of early wins.
But the streak came to an end against Holy Cross in a mid-season battle that paired two teams sporting 7-0 league records. The Crusaders scored 16 of the game’s final 21 points to rally for a 68-63 road win and secure first place in the NVL standings.
Aiming to keep pace with Holy Cross in that initial season, Wilby topped a number of city and league foes in its new gym. “One of the most memorable games was at the new Wilby came against Sacred Heart. It was a jam-packed gymnasium with an over flow crowd, and additional bleachers pulled out and placed under the baskets,” recalls Seay. “The game went in to overtime with the Wildcats earning a tough victory.”
The Crusaders maintained their lead at the top of the league and held off Wilby, 66-64, in the final week of the season to finish atop the NVL standings.
Wilby qualified for the CIAC Class M tournament with a 15-6 record and defeated city rival Sacred Heart in the opening round before falling to the top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas of New Britain, which featured the state’s top player in guard Rod Foster.
While Seay, Williams and their senior classmates would depart as the first Wilby class to graduate in the new building, Wilby hoopsters would continue to see success on their new home court in the 1980s.
Marty Hayre led the Wildcats to a 19-6 record and an appearance in the 1983 CIAC Class L final, where they lost to an undefeated Warren Harding team that featured 6-9 All-American Charles Smith.
Two of the biggest names in the program’s history would first make their mark during the 1984-85 school year. But that basketball season was marked by tragedy during the preseason, when Wilby player Robert Donaldson drowned in the school’s pool after a Saturday practice in early December.
Devastated by the loss of a teammate, the Wildcats team also learned soon after that the basketball program would be suspended for a period by city schools superintendent Paul Duffy. Coach Freeman was relieved of his duties for failing to supervise players the day of the drowning, and Wilby was not allowed to practice or play until mid-January — forfeiting half of its games scheduled for the season.
Reggie O’Brien, a teacher at Wilby who was also coach at Post College in Waterbury, was selected from among a number of applicants to take over as the school’s head coach. The young Wildcats were finally able to open their season in late January after just six practice sessions with their new coach.
Wilby was defeated in that initial contest – a road game at Torrington – but rebounded five days later to hold off Sacred Heart, 86-84, at home to claim an emotional victory. Freshman Phil Lott scored 30 points in the win, one of three in the Wildcats’ shortened season.
O’Brien guided the Wildcats to the NVL title the following season, the school’s first league crown in 14 seasons. The 6-5 Lott and Kevin Eason then returned to lead a deep and athletic team that nearly repeated in 1986-87, only to fall in overtime to city rival Crosby in the final league contest that determined the NVL champion. The Wildcats advanced all the way to the Class M semifinals that season, defeated by eventual state champion St. Joseph of Trumbull.
Lott would finish his scholastic career as the city’s and NVL’s all-time leading scorer with 2,230 (a total since surpassed by Crosby’s Tyshon Rogers). While Lott was starring at the University of Hawaii, the likes of Manny Wright and Marcus Robinson would ensure that O’Brien’s fast-paced style was effective into the next decade, as Wilby claimed consecutive NVL championships in 1992 and 1993.
Ryan Gomes would be the sixth Wilby player to receive the Billy Finn Award as the city’s top senior (in 2000) under Coach O’Brien, who went on to win 275 games over 14 seasons before he died of a heart attack a month before the start of the 2002-03 season.
The beloved teacher and coach was honored later that season, when the Wilby gymnasium was dedicated in his name 25 years after it first opened for play. Phil Lott was among the former players and fellows coaches who attended the ceremony to comment on O’Brien’s impact on his player’s lives, his generous spirit and his colorful character.
The sentiments would be echoed a couple years later, on the night of the 2005 NBA draft, when Wilby grad Gomes was expecting to be a first-round pick after an impressive career at Providence College.
Gomes recalled growing a bit uneasy when he continued to get passed over, once the second round began. But when his name was finally announced, he felt reassured that it was the Boston Celtics – Reggie O’Brien’s favorite team – that selected the 6-8 forward with the 50th pick of the night.
“I just smiled and figured everything was fine. It had to be destiny because Coach’s favorite team was the Celtics, and when I was a freshman at Wilby, my first uniform was number 50,” remembered Gomes on that memorable night.
“Even though Coach wasn’t there the night of the draft; he was there,” continued Gomes. “Coach taught me well. He always said, ‘Work hard because your opportunity will come. And when it does, seize it and don’t let it go.’”