The Conard boys basketball team opened the season at home in West Hartford on Thursday night with a win.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

It was raining in the Conard High School gym Thursday night. No, there are not holes in the roof, it was raining 3-point shots as the host Red Wolves and visiting Enfield combined to launch 15 shots from behind the arc in just the first half of their boys basketball game.

Enfield drilled seven of its shots, but Conard only managed a pair from behind the arc. Luckily for Conard, there are two halves in the game and after surviving the first one, senior Aidan Fox hit 18 of his 20 points over the final two quarters, and Enfield hit a cold patch in its shooting as the Red Wolves rallied for the 60-50 win.

It was the first game, and first win for Conard head coach Mark Corey who admitted to being nervous ahead of tipoff. “It was a nerve-wracking week,” said the former JV coach for the Red Wolves. “I share an office with Bryan Moretti (Hall’s head basketball coach) and Craig Archambault (Farmington’s head basketball coach). Bryan was my high school coach and I leaned on him a lot. Craig was in my wedding party this summer and is the reason I got into coaching.”

For much of the first quarter it looked like Corey’s team was channeling his nerves. They failed two get the ball past midcourt on their first two possessions as they faced a press from Enfield. Conard chipped away and when Ryan Barnum hit his 3, things were tied at 7.

Anthony Tallarita hit one of his three 3s in the quarter to give his team the lead once more. The Red Wolves had their first quarter, and first half, saved by the play of seniors Amir Hughes and Shane Morris. Morris hit a hoop and a harm with 1:26 left in the first  to tie things at 12 and Hughes put his team in front with :36 to go on his lay-in. Both seniors were strong inside and helped keep the Wolves from falling farther behind.

The quarter ended when Barnum blocked Tallarita’s attempted corner 3 as the clock ran down. “We had to adjust our defense to their 3s,” said Corey. “Our guards did a great job of that.”

Just over two minutes into the second and trailing by two, Conard took a timeout to regroup as Enfield was doing the better job on the boards. Hughes kept up the hard work, grabbing back-to-back rebounds and putting the second one in before racing to the other end to block Enfield’s next shot. Despite the work of Hughes and Morris, it was Enfield building the 31-25 lead when Tallarita hit a corner 3 with :03 to go in the half.

“We had to get used to that zone press,” Corey said.

At intermission Hughes – who came off the bench – led Conard with 10 points. “He kept us afloat in that first half,” Corey said of Hughes. “He comes into every practice like it is game day and guys like that can carry you through your ups and downs.”

It would be Morris who pulled his team back to even at 37 when he stole the ball on defense and then was there at the other end to hit for 2. Morris followed that up with one of his multiple blocks in the game.

“I love watching him (Morris),” said Corey. “He plays with incredible athleticism and his leadership has been infectious.”

Then it was Fox who started heating up on the boards, and then his free throw with 2:46 gave Conard the lead. “I knew he’d (Fox) grow into the game,” said the coach. “It starts with rebounding for him.”

Even when the shots were not falling, Fox was driving and diving with and for the ball all game long. He would hit two free throws – to give him 10 points in the quarter – late in the third to tie the game at 39 heading into the fourth.

Fox would hit a 2 and a 3 to get things going in the fourth and put Conard up by 5 just one minute into the final quarter of play. He would later team up with Hughes on a passing play. With Conard inbounding on the far side of the court, Fox was iso’d on the opposite side. He grabbed the inbound pass, and then found Hughes streaking under the basket, and hit him with a perfect pass that Hughes deposited into the basket and it was now a 7-point lead.

“Aidan is always someone who rises to the occasion,” said Corey. Fox would continue his assault on the basket with a 3 that made it an eight-point lead later in the quarter. Jack Faenza pumped in a 3 and Morris hit the lay-in and it was a 54-42 lead for the Red Wolves with 3:34 to play.

Enfield struggled to hit the 3s when they needed them late in the game, and had to quickly foul Conard on defense to force them to the line. The Wolves struggled at the charity stripe, but made enough to hold on for the 10-point win. “In the second half when they missed those shots, we were there to grab the rebounds,” Corey  said.

Game notes

• Morris finished with 14 points, Hughes had 12 and Faenza six.
• Enfield was led by Tallarita’s 16, and 12 each from Jackson Davis and Buddha Echevarria.
• On hand for the game was former Conard star Riley Fox, who is now entering is third season with the Yale Bulldogs.
• Conard next meets Farmington on Monday and Corey gets to match skills with his friend Archambault.
• After the game, Corey was congratulated by his players, but also by a large group of family and friends.

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