The Hall High School boys basketball team hosted a home game in West Hartford in the first round of the Division II State Tournament on Monday, losing to Greenwich High School.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer. Photos by Paul Palmer and Craig Rosenberg

The hole they dug themselves in the first half was just a little too deep for the Hall Titans boys basketball team to recover from in the second half, as the No. 16 seed fell to Greenwich 67-58 in the first round of the Division State Tournament.

“We defensively had some lapses and they got some easy looks,” said head coach Brian Moretti.

Things started off well for the Titans, especially Eli Kramer who led Hall to a quick 5-0 lead, and when he hit a 3 it was 8-2 Hall. Unfortunately, that was all the scoring Hall would get in the first quarter as Greenwich started to find its shooting touch and outscored the home team 10-0 from that point on in the first.

On the first possession of the second quarter Hall had a steal and what looked like an easy lay-in but missed the shot. The Cardinals slowly built a four-point lead, only Anthony McKeown managed to get lost by Greenwich and was the beneficiary of a long pass for the lay-in. Something woke up Sandro Scott as the junior suddenly got hot, starting with a put-back and a foul that made it 19-15.

Hall was dealt a blow on the boards when Ashton Garcia was called for his third personal foul early in the second and spent much of the rest of the game on the bench. Greenwich and Scott then began to simply outrace Hall on the court with the junior grabbing a defensive rebound and going coast-to-coast for the two points. The Cardinals built a 10-point lead at 25-15, but after a pair of Hall free throws, the Titans showed they still had some spirit left.

Down 11, Colby Hurlock stole the ball and scored then raced to the other end of the court to block the shot along the baseline. Just to put a cherry on top, he managed to knock the ball off the Greenwich player’s leg, giving Hall possession.

Greenwich then scored the final five points of the second using rebounding power to limit Hall’s second chances, and give themselves extra opportunities, and creating a steal in the defensive zone. When the horn sounded at the half, the Cardinals had a 35-20 lead.

“At one point in the second it was 15-15, then they went on a run,” said Moretti. The No. 17 visitors kept up the pressure right out of the locker room scoring the first four points before Hurlock drained a 3. Aiden Delaney hit back-to-back baskets to help lift Hall, but he was answered by Blake Martin who ran off 5 straight for Greenwich. Delaney hit a 3 and teammate Calvin Cianflone followed with his own but Hall could only make it a 12-point game heading into the fourth quarter.

With their season, and for the seniors their high school careers, on the line, Moretti’s club fought back with everything they had. The question was could they overcome the deficit they faced?

DaVonta Gaston hit an early 3, then McKeown had a 3-point play around a Greenwich basket. The effort for Hall was paying off when they had trimmed the deficit to just eight points with  5:30 to go. It would become a six-point game, but with the teams continuing to trade baskets, the Titans were going to run out of time.

With two minutes to go the Cardinal lead was still six points and a minute later McKeown fouled out of the game as Hall was forced to foul to save time on the clock. Greenwich as a whole, in particular Scott and Matt Maloney, were solid from the line and Hall’s season would end with a disappointing 67-58 loss.

“Number 3 for them (Maloney) was really good and we had no answers for him.” Moretti said. Maloney would finish as the game’s leading scorer with 27 points. “He just got to his spot whenever he wanted.”

It was a bittersweet ending for Moretti and his players, but the coach chose to look at the positives from the 14-win season. “We got a CCC Tournament win, and we got to host a state’s game. That is a big deal,” he said. He added that he was proud of the personal growth he saw from his players this season and their efforts all year. “I’ll miss my seniors. They made practice good. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have it tonight.”

Kramer was Hall’s leading scorer with 10 points, followed by McKeown with nine.

Game notes

Hall will have to replace the six seniors who finished their Titans career:

• DaVonta Gaston
• Zach Anderson
• Anthony McKeown
• Ashton Garcia
• Calvin Cianflone
• Colby Hurlock

Two seasons ago it was Greenwich ending Hall’s 13-win season in the State Tournament playoffs, 67-58.

The 14 wins this season is the most by a Hall boys team since the 2006-07 team won 16 games (According to MaxPreps).

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