Hamden stages epic rally, advances to semifinals

BRANFORD — Justice Washington scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half as No. 5 seed Hamden came from 20 points down to defeat No. 4 Law 65-59 in overtime Saturday afternoon in the SCC tournament quarterfinals at Branford High.

Law (16-5) dictated much of the action over the first three quarters and led 34-14 with less than a minute gone by in the third quarter. The Lawmen still led the Green Dragons (15-7) by 15 (40-25) through three quarters.

“I think we were trying to ease into the game, but in a tournament atmosphere, you can’t ease into a game. You have to come out swinging,” Hamden coach Jarrad Beck said “They were hitting their shots and Diontae (Eady from Law) was controlling tempo for the most part and we were just a little disjointed.”

Said Law coach Jamie Anderson: I don’t think they were ready for how poised we were . ... But we played nearly flawlessly in the first half.”

Then Hamden hit Law with a 18-2 run to start the fourth quarter and took a 43-42 lead. The lead changed hands six times over the final 2 minutes, 11 seconds of regulation.

“Once shots fall, it helps set up the defense,” Beck said. “Fortunately for us, we were able to pull it out at the end.”

Hamden’s Jermaine Dennis made one of two free throws with 2 seconds left to tie the game at 49. Law missed a desperation heave to send the game to overtime.

“They ratcheted it up a little bit and kicked it into (gear),” Anderson said. “Their pressure was fantastic. They are athletic and long. When you can trap with a 6-(foot)-6 and a 6-7 guy against a 5-9 guy, if we don’t get it out of our hands quickly, that’s where it becomes an issue.”

Hamden scored the first seven points of overtime, five by Washington, then held off a late comeback by Law to advance to Monday’s semifinal against top seed Notre Dame-West Haven at 7:45 p.m. at the Floyd Little Athletic Center.

“This is what the tournament is about, to try and see what you have against the best at the best time of the year,” Beck said.

Corey Walters and Ali Aklin each added 10 points for Hamden. Eady led Law with 17 points and Jon Vitale added 11.

“This is the biggest and strongest team we have played all season and we go to overtime with them,” Anderson said. Going into (the) Division IV (state tournament), I am very confident.”

NO. 1 ND-WH56, NO. 9 HILLHOUSE 44

Connor Raines scored nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter for top-seeded Notre Dame-West Haven, which used a fine defensive effort to eliminate No. 9 Hillhouse 56-44 in the SCC quarterfinals at Branford High.

The Green Knights (20-1) held the Academics (12-10) to just four points in the third quarter and outscored Hillhouse 15-4 in the period to take a 37-30 lead.

“(Cincere Lash) was hurting us in the first half. We switched Connor onto him and thought that was the difference,” Notre Dame coach Jason Shea said. “Once we put Raines onto him in the second half, we neutralized him and their offense stalled out a little bit.”

Lash scored just four of his 16 points in the second half.

Tim Setzer-Smith and Zach Laput added 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Green Knights.

Tazhon Daniels scored 17 points lead the Academics, who will play at Wilbur Cross in the opening round of the Division I state tournament on March 4.

NO. 2 AMITY 45,

NO. 7 FAIRFIELD PREP 42

Joe Benedetti finished with 12 points and had a key blocked shot in the game’s final seconds to help Amity advance to its first SCC semifinal since 2008.

“It’s hard to get to the semis. We are happy to be there,” Amity coach Jeff Nielsen said. “This is a brand-new experience for this team. We can’t wait to go play in the semifinals.”

With Amity leading 44-42, Benedetti blocked Mason Reale on his drive to the basket. The ball hit off Reale out of bounds.

“We ran a play that we run normally and try to get to the rum and if they collapse, kick it out,” Fairfield Prep coach Mike Papale said. “He got the shot blocked. If we had an open three, we would have taken it, but we were trying to get to the rim and score.”

Said Nielsen: “A couple big blocked shots, a couple of tips or steals, whatever it was, we did a good job at the end. Sometimes he (Benedetti) is too active on defense and puts us in foul trouble, but that was actually really good defense on all three plays, the block on the fast break, the tip on the three (point shot) and (Reale) driving down the lane, he got the block from behind.

Benedetti was fouled with 1.3 seconds left. He made the first free throw, then intentionally missed the second. Amity was called for a violation, giving Prep one final chance.

But Prep couldn’t get a shot off. “If you are up three, and you got the next foul shot, I want him to make the next foul shot and put us up four,” Nielsen said. “And then the game is over without a last-second heave at that point.”

Joe Digello led Amity with 13 points. Nick Rothe led Prep with 16 points.

“I tell the kids all the time, ‘I think we play harder than anybody,’” Papale said. “Tonight we didn’t shoot it as great as we are capable of, but if we make our shots, we will be tough to beat.”

NO. 3 WILBUR CROSS 68, NO. 6 CHESHIRE 57

Kyle Daniels paced Wilbur Cross with 27 points to lead the Governors into the SCC semifinals.

In the 25-year history of the league, a New Haven team has reached the semifinals every single time.

Daniels made a 3-point shot just before the first-quarter buzzer sounded to give Cross (14-7) a 16-13 lead. Daniels also made one at the start of the second quarter. Cross was never really threatened after that.

When Cheshire attempted a fourth-quarter comeback, Cross shot 15 of 16 from the free-throw line after entering the one-andone in the final quarter.

Enasj Jones, Darius Esdaile, Terrance Edwards added 13 points each for Wilbur Cross.

“Darius, Nas and Sheemo (Daniels), they limited their turnovers and did a great job hitting their free throws down the stretch,” Wilbur Cross coach Kevin Walton said. “We wanted to get the ball in our guards’ hands down the stretch.”

Aidan Godfrey finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots for the Rams (14-8) while Ian Battipaglia added 11 points.

“Godfrey is a load. We knew we’d be in for a fight tonight,” Walton said. “Teams have scouted you so you have to put in new wrinkles. That was the game plan, to make him guard from the free-throw line and let Terrance go to work.” joseph.morelli @hearstmediact.com; @nhrJoeMorelli