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Boys Basketball Sinks Hamden Hall
By Joe MorelliSchools Sports Editor
NEW HAVEN — The boys’ basketball game was only a few seconds from completion Tuesday, but the Hopkins faithful couldn’t resist one last dig at their counterparts from Hamden Hall.
“Back to normal! Back to normal!”
Hopkins ended up winning 57-48 at home in a Fairchester League game. Hopkins (10-11, 5-6) had won five straight in the rivalry before losing 83-68 at Hamden Hall on Feb. 4.
“Our game plan the last time was very similar, try to control the tempo,” Hopkins coach Rocco DeMaio said. “We got caught up in their one-pass-and-shoot or no-pass-and-shoot. We shot horribly (3 of 17) in the first half from 3-point range, a lot of rushed shots.”
There exists the possibility the teams can meet again next week in the first round of the league tournament. But chances are if they do, the Hilltoppers would have the home-court advantage.
“With that on the line, I didn’t think I would have to say anything else (to motivate his players), to possibly host a playoff game, especially a rivalry game, in our gym, instead of their little gym,” DeMaio said. “The off-chance we would have to travel somewhere else would be even worse.”
In the first game between the two, Hamden Hall’s Dante Brito, Eric Warren and Kashon Brown all reached double figures. Only Brown reached that plateau on Tuesday as all three combined for 18 points.
No one scored for the Hornets (13-8, 5-6) during a six-minute stretch from the end of the first half into and the second half. It ended up being a 14-0 run for the Hilltoppers and a 27-17 lead. Hamden Hall never caught up.
“We don’t want to be in the half-court set. That’s not our strength,” Hamden Hall coach Keith Kaliszewski said. “Our strength is to play tough defense, play hard and run. The guys did not do that today. Part of that was Hopkins getting back and playing tough D. We expect that from them.”
Hopkins ended up shooting 60 percent (12 of 20) in the second half. Hamden Hall kept trying to get back into it, and had several opportunities to draw closer with the clock stopped.
Hopkins committed its seventh team foul with 8 minutes, 22 seconds left in the game. The Hornets shots 47.8 percent (11 of 23) at the free throw line from that point. They also shot only 34.7 percent (8 of 23) from the floor in the half.
“They foul a lot, which slows the game down,” Kaliszewski said. “The refs in the last game let it go a little bit more, and that worked out to our advantage. It would have worked to our advantage (Tuesday) if we made our free throws. Most of what they ran was a stall offense the entire game until there was less than 10 seconds on the shot clock pretty much for every possession.”
Lucas Hausman and Matt Luciani had 18 and 15 points, respectively, for Hopkins. Luciano had a big 3-point shot with under two minutes left to put Hopkins up by eight (49-41). Dan Chase had 15 for Hamden Hall, including 13 of 17 from the foul line.
By Joe MorelliSchools Sports Editor
NEW HAVEN — The boys’ basketball game was only a few seconds from completion Tuesday, but the Hopkins faithful couldn’t resist one last dig at their counterparts from Hamden Hall.
“Back to normal! Back to normal!”
Hopkins ended up winning 57-48 at home in a Fairchester League game. Hopkins (10-11, 5-6) had won five straight in the rivalry before losing 83-68 at Hamden Hall on Feb. 4.
“Our game plan the last time was very similar, try to control the tempo,” Hopkins coach Rocco DeMaio said. “We got caught up in their one-pass-and-shoot or no-pass-and-shoot. We shot horribly (3 of 17) in the first half from 3-point range, a lot of rushed shots.”
There exists the possibility the teams can meet again next week in the first round of the league tournament. But chances are if they do, the Hilltoppers would have the home-court advantage.
“With that on the line, I didn’t think I would have to say anything else (to motivate his players), to possibly host a playoff game, especially a rivalry game, in our gym, instead of their little gym,” DeMaio said. “The off-chance we would have to travel somewhere else would be even worse.”
In the first game between the two, Hamden Hall’s Dante Brito, Eric Warren and Kashon Brown all reached double figures. Only Brown reached that plateau on Tuesday as all three combined for 18 points.
No one scored for the Hornets (13-8, 5-6) during a six-minute stretch from the end of the first half into and the second half. It ended up being a 14-0 run for the Hilltoppers and a 27-17 lead. Hamden Hall never caught up.
“We don’t want to be in the half-court set. That’s not our strength,” Hamden Hall coach Keith Kaliszewski said. “Our strength is to play tough defense, play hard and run. The guys did not do that today. Part of that was Hopkins getting back and playing tough D. We expect that from them.”
Hopkins ended up shooting 60 percent (12 of 20) in the second half. Hamden Hall kept trying to get back into it, and had several opportunities to draw closer with the clock stopped.
Hopkins committed its seventh team foul with 8 minutes, 22 seconds left in the game. The Hornets shots 47.8 percent (11 of 23) at the free throw line from that point. They also shot only 34.7 percent (8 of 23) from the floor in the half.
“They foul a lot, which slows the game down,” Kaliszewski said. “The refs in the last game let it go a little bit more, and that worked out to our advantage. It would have worked to our advantage (Tuesday) if we made our free throws. Most of what they ran was a stall offense the entire game until there was less than 10 seconds on the shot clock pretty much for every possession.”
Lucas Hausman and Matt Luciani had 18 and 15 points, respectively, for Hopkins. Luciano had a big 3-point shot with under two minutes left to put Hopkins up by eight (49-41). Dan Chase had 15 for Hamden Hall, including 13 of 17 from the foul line.
