Hornets’ best

Hamden Hall marches to win over Hopkins

HAMDEN – If you take away five and a half minutes in the first half, Hamden Hall and Hopkins played a pretty even boys’ basketball game Monday night.

But it doesn’t work that way as the Hornets took advantage of a big run to take a 17point lead en route to a 78-53 victory at the Beckerman Athletic Center in a Fairchester Athletic Association clash between the two neighboring rivals.

“Our guys played with a ton of emotion and the press really got to (Hopkins) a bit,” Hamden Hall coach Sean Doherty said. “They started to throw the ball all over the place and our guys fed on that. When we press a lot, our guys get juiced up a bit and it turns into two or three plays, one after another.”

Things were tight for the first six minutes of the opening half before Hamden Hall took control, especially on the glass. Ahead by just a pair, 14-12, the Hornets went on a 15-3 run over five and a half minutes to take a 29-15 lead fueled by a dunk by Matteo Crisanti and a bucket in the lane by Alex Puhl that ended the spurt.

Crisanti, a 6-foot-6 junior from North Haven, was a handful for the Hilltoppers all night. Hopkins just didn’t have the size to contain him as he blocked six shots.

“We used my size to get inside and get points there,” Crisanti said. “On the defensive end, I used my length to get deflections.”

“Anytime you have a kid 6-6 or 6-7 in the lane, you think about going in the lane,” Hopkins coach Ryan Errico said. “He just found a way to alter shots.”

Hamden Hall continued to

Dave Phillips / For Hearst Connecticut Media Alex Puhl of Hamden Hall looks for an open shot while being defended by Ezra Fearon of Hopkins on Monday.