West Hartford’s Hall High School boys basketball defeated Farmington 80-57 on Thursday, Dec. 18, accompanied by a successful fundraiser for Relay for Life.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Maddie Geraghty

The first home game of the season for Hall High School started off strong – and with ugly sweaters in the stands and sea of Santa hats Hall was ringing in the boys basketball season with cheer. 

In the first quarter Hall came out strong. They maintained a small lead throughout, using their strong defensive that’s heavily aided by the hustle of No. 5, Aiden Delaney. Farmington had good shooters and crawled their way to erase Hall’s lead with a 20-20 tie.

Hall and Farmington brought their grit – Isaiah Gaston (24) as well as Delaney who showed up strong for Hall – leaving all their energy on the court to get up and back when they locked down Farmington’s shooters. A 3-pointer at the last second gave Hall the edge to end quarter one. 

All of period two could be described as a battle. Both teams came out with equal energy, fighting back and forth for the lead. Farmington had great shooters like Ahmad Spence (21), but Hall denied a lot of their shots and got back on offense. With consistent shots and effective plays, they brought the score to 31-26 and won the lead to end another quarter.

To start out the third the loud Farmington crowd kept them motivated even though they were down. In this quarter Delaney drove through the Farmington offense for powerful layups. Hall had consistent complex plays and Tim O’Brien (15) rallied the crowd with a clean three-point shot. Delaney was a leading shooter throughout this whole match but really showcased his ability in this quarter. Hall led 51-41, 10 points up. A rebound from Gaston finished period three strong – Hall with the lead again, 59-45. 

The fourth quarter started off with a few fouls from Farmington, furthering Hall’s lead to 65-45. Both teams traded 3-pointers back and forth, racking up points side-by-side. More fouls from Farmington helped increase Hall’s lead 75-51. While it seemed like Farmington was beginning to play scrappy. Hall pushed through the last minutes of the game with clear communication and strategic plays. 

Farmington didn’t keep up and lost some energy, giving up the 80-57 win to Hall.

While Farmington put up a good effort and good momentum, Hall’s defense and hustle really kept them ahead throughout the game. Next up for the Titans are several away games – on Monday, Dec. 22 at Maloney and on Monday, Dec.29 at a tournament in Springfield vs. Windsor – before returning home on Dec. 30 to host WCA.

Thursday’s game was not just a regular home game; it featured a bake sale alongside the concession booth. The proceeds of this bake sale all went to Relay for Life, American Cancer Society. Relay for Life is a club at Hall High School that does fundraising and awareness activities for the American Cancer Society, and participates in the annual relay. The goal is to raise as much money as possible to help cancer research and patient support.

This bake sale raised over $200 to help the fight against cancer. Anyone interested in learning more or donating to this cause can check out American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life website.

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