No. 5 Hamden stuns No. 1 SHA in OT

WEST HAVEN — It had the feel of a playoff game from the start. In the end, it lived up to the hype.

In a battle of top five teams and cross-town rivals, every second was needed between GameTimeCT’s top-ranked Sacred Heart Academy and fifth-ranked Hamden.

Gianna Robert’s basket with one second left in overtime propelled the Green Dragons to a 64-62 victory over the Sharks in a Southern Connecticut Conference interdivisional contest at the University of New Haven — Charger Gymnasium Thursday evening.

“We knew it was going to be a battle coming in, so it was always the talk of don’t quit, don’t quit,” Hamden coach Amanda Forcucci said after her team improved to 4-0. “We needed to survive the runs and not quit. If it was tied or we were down two, it was something we prepared mentally for.”

The contest was a joint effort with Notre Dame-West Haven in raising money for the Yale New Haven Hospital Toy Closet. The Green Knights played Xavier in the nightcap.

Robert’s winning basket came after the Sharks missed on a pair of free throws with a chance to take the lead in the final 30 seconds. Hamden took its time and finally swung a pass underneath to Robert who calmly drained the winner.

“We were faced on offense to hold the ball and get the last shot,” Robert said. “If not, we were going to double overtime, but we executed very well and we were able to find a gap and finish out the game.”

The early-season contest between the two rivals was one of runs, and a 7-0 run by the Green Dragons, including a 3-pointer by Kamora Moore (15 points), to open the third quarter had Hamden on top 48-41. Sacred Heart responded with nine straight and took a 50-48 lead on a basket by Emma Kirck early in the fourth quarter.

The Sharks looked to take advantage as both Leah Philpotts and Alana Philpotts were in foul trouble with Alana picking up her fourth with 5:23 to go in the fourth quarter.

Even at 55, the Sharks took a 58-55 lead on a 3-pointer by Meghan Kirck with 2:04 to go in the fourth, before Leah Philpotts (18 points) got the Green Dragons within one.

Sacred Heart increased the lead to 59-57 when Emma Kirck hit one of two free throws with 45 seconds remaining, but Moore’s bucket with 22 seconds left in

regulation forced overtime.

“We were patient for the most part,” Forcucci said. “We were able to get good looks rather than try to rush some things. Hand it to them. They took some charges on us too. We probably could have done better.”

The extra session saw a total of eight points. Hamden

took a quick lead on a 3-pointer by Gianna Donnarummo, before Jocelyn Kingsley evened the game at 62 for the Sharks with 2:45 remaining.

With the game even at

64, the Sharks were in great position when Kingsley’s steal set up the Sharks to take the lead. Sacred Heart missed a pair of free throws, setting up the heroics by Robert shortly after.

“Hamden is a really good team,” Sacred Heart coach

Jason Kirck said after his team fell to 2-1. “I think we are a really good team. It is going to happen all year in the SCC because there are a lot of good teams. This is going to be a night in and night out thing for us to come and play against really good teams. We are learning and we are going to get better.”

The Green Dragons opened the contest in impressive fashion, taking a 19-7 lead after one quarter. Hamden had runs of 6-0 and 5-0 to separate from the Sharks, with Donnarummo coming up big with a pair of 3-pointers.

Trailing by 12, Sacred Heart opened the second quarter on a 15-0 run to take a 22-19 lead, with Meghan Kirck and Emily Mennillo each hitting 3pointers.

Hamden answered with its own 8-0 run on a pair of 3-pointers by Donnarummo for a 27-22 advantage. Donnarummo finished with a game-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers.

“Hamden is really good,” Jason Kirck said. “The (Philpotts) twins are really good. (Gianna) Donnarummo made a bunch of 3’s. We have some work to do.”

As would be the case the rest of the way, the Sharks responded and used a 3pointer by Lauren Thompson at the buzzer to take a 30-29 lead at the half.

Sacred Heart had eight players in the scoring column and was led by Thompson with 16 points. Meghan Kirck finished with 15 and Lyla D’Errico had nine.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Gianna Robert — Hamden senior had just four points in the game, but the two most important came with one second remaining in overtime for the win.

QUOTABLE

“We really scouted and watched film. We knew what they were going to do, when they were going to do it, and how they were going to do it. We stayed disciplined and focused on our keep points; end line to end line, be patient on offense, and boxing out.”

— Hamden’s Gianna Robert