The Warriors advance to their first-ever CCC Tournament championship game with a win over top-seeded RHAM.

By Marlon Pitter

Lexi Gellerman scored 15 second-half points to lift West Hartford’s Hall High School past No. 1 seed RHAM 57-50 in the girls basketball CCC Tournament semifinal round at Glastonbury High School on Thursday night.

Gellerman led the way with 18 points in the game – all of them from 3-pointers and free throws – to spark the team offensively. Amber Raisner and Olivia Deslauriers also scored in double figures with 14 and 10, respectively.

With the win, Hall makes its first appearance in the CCC Tournament championship game, facing No. 3 Enfield at Glastonbury High School on Thursday at 7 p.m. Enfield defeated No. 10 Berlin 80-50 Thursday afternoon in the first semifinal matchup.

“The girls played a lot tougher on defense,” Hall head coach Brittany Huggins said, comparing the victory to last year’s CCC semifinal loss to Middletown. “That’s the one thing that was different in this game. Last year … through three quarters, we did exactly what we had practiced, but today we played a complete game.”

Hall kept pace with RHAM early with five lead changes in the first quarter. The Warriors went down 16-10 after a four-point play by Jaclyn Santella with 1:52 left in the quarter but went on a 10-0 run to lead 20-16 heading into the second.

The Sachems fought back early in the second quarter, taking a 22-21 advantage on a layup by Anna Barry with 5:52 remaining.

With the score tied at 26, RHAM fouled Gellerman on a 3-point attempt, and she made all three free throws with 1:04 to play in the half. Deslauriers made a 3-pointer to extend the Warriors’ lead to 32-26 going into halftime.

The Warriors played best on both sides of the ball in the third quarter, where they allowed RHAM to score just nine points in the quarter. Hall’s offense continued to roll, stretching its lead to a comfortable 13 points on a Raisner layup near the halfway point of the quarter to go up 42-29.

Olivia Bonee hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left in the quarter to give Hall at 48-35 lead to end the third.

RHAM put pressure on Hall in the fourth quarter, trimming its 13-point deficit down to a 52-48 margin with 44 seconds remaining.

Despite making only one field goal in the final eight minutes, Hall was able to close out the game in the bonus with free throws from Raisner and Gellerman. Both players made pairs of 1-and-1 free throws to push the Warriors’ advantage to 56-48 with 28 seconds to play, putting the game out of reach for the Sachems.

Katie Shea led RHAM with 14 points, scoring 12 in the first half, while Barry chipped in 12 with 10 after halftime.

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