The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Rice, Hornets sting Storm
HAMDEN — Having already beaten St. Luke’s twice during the regular season, the Hamden Hall boys basketball team knew it was going to be a challenge to make the third time the charm. The steadying influence of senior Andrew Rice made sure the Hornets accomplished the fete.
Behind 22 points from Rice and a tenacious defense down the stretch, the Hornets captured the Fairchester Athletic Association title with a 68-62 decision over St. Luke’s Saturday afternoon at the Beckerman Athletic Center in Hamden. Hamden Hall now advances to play in the NEPSAC tournament,
“We had not beaten them since my sophomore year,” Rice said. “We were fortunate enough to beat them three times this year. It is an indescribable feeling. We played with energy. We were aggressive. We played good defense, and defense wins games.”
Leading by 13 points, Hamden Hall watched as St. Luke’s fought back to cut the deficit to one in the second half. Rice was the difference on the offensive side as he put his team up five points with a basket and free throw, and increased the advantage to seven with a dunk with 7 minutes, 37 seconds to go.
“Andrew (Rice) has been a warrior the entire season,” Hamden Hall coach Sean Doherty said. “He’s a senior, and he has been a main guy on defense. Today, he carried us on the offensive end. He came up huge the entire game.”
St. Luke’s, behind 17 points from Jonas Harper, would not go away. Harper nailed a 3-pointer with 4:30 left to get his team within 59-57, then drained a pair of free throws with under three minutes left to bring St. Luke’s within 63-59.
A 3-pointer by Andrew Varoli with 1:24 to go had St. Luke’s within 65-62, but the Hamden Hall defense took over. Byron Breland and Luke Schoonmaker, who is on his way to Michigan to play football, made two big defensive stands, and Breland and Timothy Dawson nailed three free throws in the final 35 seconds to seal the championship for Hamden Hall.
“We had to pull together,” Schoonmaker said. “It is the championship game and we prepared all season for this. The guys gave a great effort. We worked on the little things. We were able to get it done.”
The game had a hightempo from the start as the two teams exchanged leads until the Hornets took the lead for good when Breland’s bucket gave Hamden Hall a 16-14 lead. Christian Adams gave the Hornets their biggest lead of the opening half at 38-27 with 17 seconds to go, but twotime defending FAA champion St. Luke’s came out firing in the second half.
Varoli opened the second half with a 3-pointer, before a 7-0 run capped with a basket by Harper had St. Luke’s within 43-39 with 12 minutes to go. St.Luke’s went on its second 7-0 run of the half to get within 47-46 on a basket and free throw by eighth-grader Jah’khi Washington, but Hamden Hall never allowed St.Luke’s to take the lead.
“I thought it was a game of guys making plays by both teams,” St. Luke’s coach Tony Newsom said. “They made plays and we made plays, but they just made a few more. They are a good team. They play hard. They are wellcoached. We got to within one and I thought we had the looks, but we couldn’t get them to fall.”
Washington finished with 10 points, while Varoli and Jackson Selvala each finished with nine in the loss for St. Luke’s.
“This has been a special group of seniors,” Newsom said of his team which had won the last two Fairchester titles. “They have led this program and have conducted themselves in a fine manner.”
Adams finished with 14 points for Hamden Hall, while Dawson and Breland each added 10.