One of the best byproducts of high school kids playing basketball at Mohegan Sun Arena often comes in warmups, where looks of hope and wonder tethered to the rhythms of a professional arena are affixed not merely to the faces of the players, but the coaches, too.

And this was where Stonington High School's entire traveling party, even if unwittingly, showed their respect for senior Dorian White. The Bears, about to play for the Eastern Connecticut Division II tournament title in early March, looked — and sounded — a bit preoccupied in the hours and minutes leading to the game, knowing that White, their leading scorer, might not play because of an ankle injury.

"Oh, we knew how important he was," Stonington coach Jay Wosencroft said. "Basically, we just told him to give us what he could."

His 13 points fell short of his season average. But the residual effect of White's toughness for playing most of the game — and that teammate Cam Hinchey barely missed a shot — made for a historical night in Brown Town. Stonington defeated eventual Division V state champion Windham in The Big Room for a conference title and now awaits the banner to hang in the Bears' Lair.

White, the face of Stonington's landmark, 19-win season, was named The Day's 2022 All-Area Boys' Basketball Player of the Year. He averaged 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game on a team that won the regular season Division III title, conference tournament title and 16 straight games at one point.

White emerged from one of the most competitive races for The Day's Player of the Year honor in recent memory. An informal poll of ECC coaches produced four different choices to win player of the year and 12 different players mentioned for the six-player All-Area team.

White was also named to the Connecticut High School Coaches' Association Division III all-state team.

"What made the year more fun," White said, "is how good our league was. Like every night you were playing somebody good."

White often saved his best for the most auspicious times. He had 27 and 25 points in two games against ECC Division I regular-season champion New London, 34 against ECC Division II regular-season champion St. Bernard and made the game-winning shot (to go with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists) in the ECC Division III regular-season title game against Griswold.

And White did so without ever calling much attention to himself.

"We don't get a lot of attention here and he takes on that persona," Wosencroft said. "He just goes to work."

The Bears entered the season as virtually nobody's pick to contend, what with their 2-10 record in the pandemic-shortened 2021 season. Many observers, though, offered two things: 1) White can play, and 2) Stonington was more competitive than 2-10 suggests.

"Coming off last season, it was definitely motivating," White said. "We knew we were good. We didn't want other teams to think they could take it easy on us."

Wosencroft: "It helped us this year. We lost three or four games last year by a few points. It was hard to come in some days. Morale was down. But we learned."

They learned plenty. Mostly to give the ball to White in times of distress.

"He was our do-everything guy," Wosencroft said. "Rebounding, ballhandling, scoring. When the ball was in his hands, good things usually happened. When he's locked in, he's a handful."

White will play next season at Mitchell College.

m.dimauro@theday.com