Academics crush Dragons

Middletown falls to 1-2

NEW HAVEN — Thus far this season, it seems like it takes Hillhouse a little while to get going.

That was the case again Friday night as the Academics started slowly, but once they got going, No. 4 Hillhouse controlled things, taking a 71-37 non-league victory over Middletown at the Floyd Little Athletic Center. The Academics are 3-0.

“We’re young with one returning starter and a bunch of 10th graders,” Hillhouse coach Renard Sutton said. “The kids are going slow and the first five games are tough. We’re taking it game by game. After the Career game, we’ll sit down, reevaluate and see where we are.”

Middletown, which was hit hard by graduation as well, fell to 1-2 with the loss.

“They lost players like we did, but they seem to reload,” Middletown coach Rick Privott said. “They’re a good team every year.”

Davon Warner did a lot of the damage for Hillhouse as he had 18 points, 15 of them coming in the first half when the Academics went out to a 34-24 halftime lead.

“I came here about half hour early and took some shots,” Warner said. “It felt good today.”

Hillhouse raced out to an 11-2 lead after starting slowly, but then the Blue Dragons used some 3-point shooting from Brennan Mayfield (12 points) to cut the gap to 15-12 with 1:43 to play in the first quarter.

The Academics slowly pushed the lead to double figures when Warner canned a layup and a trey midway through the period

Dave Phillips / For Hearst Connecticut Media Hillhouse's Mekhi Warren, right, is defended by Middletown’s Kalil Thomas (33) on Friday in New Haven. Hillhouse won 71-37.