Hall hosted crosstown West Hartford rival Conard on Thursday night in a competitive and intense boys basketball game.

By Paul Palmer

“This is our town!!”

That was the chant filling the Hall gym Thursday night as the Titans closed out crosstown rival Conard 66-62 in a thrilling rivalry game.

Hall was led by Anthony McKeown who scored 21 points, played tenacious defense, and chased the ball all night. Sophomore teammate Eli Kramer poured in 18 – most from 3-point range. “Give credit to Hall,” said Conard head coach Jared Leghorn. “They are a good team that hit a ton of shots and made us pay for giving them open 3s.”

“We have good leadership and expectations are high,” said Hall head coach Bryan Moretti, whose team is now 7-3 on the season.

Hall held an early lead, but the Red Wolves Riley Fox drained a 3 as part of his game-high 32-point effort, to make it 9-7 with just under four minutes to play. Conard ran out to an 18-12 lead on Max Tartaglia’s lay in with just over a minute remaining.

Trailing by 4 as the second quarter began, Hall opened with Chase Hanawalt and Colin McGann baskets to even things up. The two sides were going basket-for-basket in a tightly officiated game that saw a lot of whistles.

With 3:14 to go, the Fox brothers combined on a pretty 3-pointer when Riley drove the lane, drawing in the defense before dishing to brother Aidan in the corner for the basket and a 5-point lead. Once again it was McKeown answering from downtown., and later Hanawalt with a driving hoop to keep it a 2-point deficit.

“We’ve learned that we really work well together and our passing tonight was phenomenal,” said McKeown.

The game took a turn with just 20 seconds to go in the first quarter. McKeown and Tartaglia each had part of the ball along the sideline and a whistle blew for a foul on McKeown, and when Tartaglia went to the floor, a technical was called on McKeown. Tartaglia hit hits free throws, and Riley Fox converted the technical shots and Conard ended the half up 36-30.

While Hall could have fallen apart after the call, they instead used the intermission to regroup and recommit. “At the end of the half there was some adversity,” said Moretti. “It is part of basketball and we had a good discussion at the half.”

Part of the discussion at the half was also about changing up the defense for Hall, and both coaches agreed that it made a big difference.

One of the highlights came when Riley Fox stole a pass in the Hall end and went in for a 2-handed dunk to give his team a 43-38 lead. Shortly after, the game turned in Hall’s favor as Hanawalt – who played a strong inside game all night – hit a shot and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but the ball made its way to Justin Joiner who drained an emphatic 3 to tie things at 43. “I like using my driving ability and playing from there,” said Hanawalt.

Kramer would give Hall back the lead with a driving basket, but then at the other end Tartaglia grabbed a missed shot just before he and it went out of bounds. He found Shane Morris in the lane and he laid it in with 1:43 to go in the third to tie it at 45.

Kramer’s two free throws with just under a minute to play were matched by Riley Fox’s put back basket, before McKeown hit a jumper with 24 seconds to go to make it 49-47 Titans with one quarter to play. “I never let anyone think they can guard me,” said McKeown when asked where he gets his confidence to shoot. “I love to shoot the ball.”

It was still anyone’s game as the final period began, and Hall managed to push it to a 4-point lead on multiple occasions – none prettier than Amecca Freeman’s pull up jumper in the lane. Conard missed its next shot, and Kramer drained another 3 off a Titan’s offensive rebound and it was 58-51 with 4:43 to play.

The Red Wolves’ shooting, especially from range, went cold, and when combined with Hall’s aggressive defense, and good shot selection at the other end, allowed Hall to gain control. Kramer hit a hoop with 3:30 to go and the lead was now 61-52 for Hall.

“I knew I had to shoot tonight if we were going to win,” said Kramer in his first varsity game against Conard. “They have a lot of great players.”

Conard made a late run and when Fox hit the first two of his three free throws it was 64-62. He intentionally missed the 4th hoping Conard could grab the rebound, but it was Hall securing the ball and the win.

“It means a lot to us to win,” said McKeown. “We came out hard in the second half.” For Hanawalt, it was success after a series of setbacks in the crosstown matchup. “We haven’t beaten them in three years,” said the senior captain.

The loss snaps what had been the most successful stretch of the Conard season – a three-game win streak that had put them at 5-4.

“I’ve been playing against Bryan for a decade and they are always good games,” said Conard’s Leghorn. For Moretti, the win is just the latest effort in what has been a very good start to the season. “We’ve had some quality wins, “ he said. “ We’ve played maybe one bad half and we are 7-5. I’m happy where we are at.”

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