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M
Sports / High School Sports
Bennett Playing In First State Tournament
Game For Vinal Tech After Injuries
By WESLEY CROWELL
MARCH 6, 2016, 4:42 PM
IDDLETOWN — Vinal Tech senior Juwan Bennett has waited a long time to show what he can
do.
The state's second-leading scorer is averaging a double-double with 24.5 points and 10.6 rebounds a
game, according to maxpreps.com. The leading scorer, Fitch's Eddie Volkerts, averages 25.3 points.
This is Bennett's first season playing varsity basketball after missing the past two seasons with a
fractured kneecap and a broken tibia.
"It was a tough process, it was really hard," Bennett said of his rehab. "There were nights when I was in a
lot of pain, but I just had to keep battling."
Bennett will play in his first state tournament game against No. 8 Bassick-Bridgeport in the opening
round of the Class L playoffs on Monday. Bennett said he was not sure what his basketball future had in
store for him after his second injury last season.
"I've seen him come back from horrific injuries," Vinal coach Gary Martineau said. "I've never seen an
injury like the one he had last year. He plays with reckless abandonment. He's showing everybody that
you can do anything if you set your mind to it."
The 2014-15 season was Martineau's first season with Vinal Tech, but it didn't take long for him to realize
Bennett's potential. Martineau said that the first time he saw Bennett, putting so much effort into getting
healthy again, that he knew Bennett was going to be special.
"I was telling people he was going to average 20 points a game," Martineau said.
Bennett has missed one game this season. He has scored 30 or more four times and has been held to less
than 20 points just twice. Bennett's season high came vs. Grasso Tech on Jan. 19; he scored 39 points
along with eight rebounds and two assists.
These numbers have caught the attention of Vinal Tech's opponents.
"We've faced a lot of trick defenses during the year," Martineau said. "We faced a lot of box-and-ones and

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what happens is Juwan became more unselfish."
Vinal runs a continuous motion offense in which everyone is a threat after catching the ball. Bennett
simply finds a way to put the ball in the basket.
Bennett's future is uncertain. He said he is not sure if he will attend college or go the prep school route.
His success on the court this season has given him more options considering last season he wasn't sure if
he would ever play the game again.
In Martineau's second season, Vinal Tech is 10-10, a one-game improvement from his 9-11 first season.
Bennett and Vinal have received help from junior point guard Denzell Woolard, the team's second
leading scorer (14.3 points), who averages 6.8 assists.
Vinal, seeded 25th, will be the underdog on Monday and needs more than just Bennett.
"He's going to do his part," Woolard said. "But we're all going to play as a team and play our hardest. Try
to get the win as a team, not just rely on one person."
Bennett figures anything can happen.
"We're just taking it as everyone doubting us," Bennett said. "So we're going to use that to try and get the
win, and have a big upset in the playoffs."
Copyright © 2016, Hartford Courant
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