Greenwich High School’s boys basketball team entered Friday night’s home game against Bridgeport Central aiming to snap a six-game losing streak, which included three losses by five points or less.

Indeed, the Cardinals have lost several close matchups this season in the final minute/seconds of play, but against Bridgeport Central on Friday, they left nothing to chance.

Receiving a career-high 20 points from sophomore forward Sandro Scott and a 13-point effort from senior co-captain Connor Parkes, Greenwich led throughout in its 50-39 win over Central. The victory before their big home crowd, lifted the Cardinals’ record to 3-6 overall.

“It was a must-needed win right there against a good team,” said Parkes, a point guard. “Everybody contributed today, I’m really proud of my teammates, especially Sandro, he had a really good game. It’s only up from here, so I’m really excited.”

Junior guard Guy Germain added seven points for the Cardinals, who held a 13-9 edge after the first quarter, before going into halftime ahead, 30-20. During Greenwich’s six-game losing skid, it dropped a tough 66-61 decision to Bunnell, lost at the buzzer to Brien McMahon, 61-60 and was edged by St. Joseph, 57-54.

“We definitely needed that win,” GHS coach Todd Trimmer said. “Two of our losses were on the last possession of the game – we have been in every game.”

An improved Central team was powered by senior forward Lynwood Cogdell, who scored a team-best 20 points. As he has been throughout the season for the Hilltoppers, Cogdell was a scoring threat at all areas of the court.

Senior Zach Zazula and junior Gabe Dunleavy totaled four points apiece, while junior Blake Martin added a basket for two points for Greenwich, which went into the fourth quarter with a 42-31 advantage on Bridgeport Central.

Scott scored 10 points in each half for the Cards and converted three 3-point shots for the game.

“I’ve had a rough past couple of games, but I’ve been working on my shot and trying to improve,” Scott said.

Displaying solid passing and ball movement led to some open shots for the Cardinals against Central’s defense.

“I feel like we moved the ball really well today,” Scott said. “We were working on it in practice a lot and when we’re not selfish and we run through the plays, I feel like we get easy layups. That played a big part in helping us win the game.”

Baskets from Germain and Zazula to open the third quarter gave Greenwich a 34-20 lead on Central. Later in the third quarter, Scott made a fastbreak layup after GHS broke Central’s full court press, putting the hosts on top, 42-27.

A layup at the buzzer off a steal by Cogdell brought the visitors to within 42-31 following the third quarter. Yet Greenwich maintained its double-digit lead in the final quarter, eventually opening a 47-31 advantage when Scott swished a 3-pointer from the left side.

“Sandro is the type of kid when the first one goes in he gets in the zone and that’s what he did,” Trimmer said.

Central’s man-to-man defense worked hard throughout, but Greenwich kept them moving by quickly passing the ball around the perimeter and cutting to the basket.

“We are starting to trust the process on offense,” Trimmer noted. “When we run our sets we get good looks. When we go away from that, we get selfish and we have to regroup.”

Besides aiding the squad in the scoring department, Parkes made several impressive passes, which resulted in baskets for the victors.

“I trusted my teammates, I knew that they would be collapsing on me, so I did as our coaches taught me, which is to jump stop, kick out and got good offense going with that,” Parkes said.

Said Trimmer: “Connor is our leader. I thought it was his best game of the season if we had of finished, he would have had 10 assists. He probably had seven rebounds and played good defense. He was kicking it out and finding guys. Tonight, I thought, was his best game of the season.”

Up next for Greenwich is a road game against New Canaan Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Cardinals need to put together victories, so this is a crucial stretch for them. They will also visit FCIAC foe Staples on Friday.

“New Canaan is very well coached,” Trimmer noted. “They are hungry for a win too. Tuesday night, it will be two desperate teams getting after it. It will come down to who executes and who plays defense.”

“They’re also desperate for a win, so that’s a must-win game and we’re going to go into that game fired up,” Parkes added.

“It’s going to be a big crowd, a hostile environment and I’m looking forward to it,” Scott said.