Hall earned a season sweep of Conard with an overtime win Tuesday morning.

By Marlon Pitter, Photos by Ronni Newton

Conard scored late in regulation to force overtime, but the Hall boys basketball team took down its crosstown rival in a 61-53 win Tuesday morning in West Hartford.

Max Boyd scored four points in overtime, including a basket that gave the Warriors a 57-51 lead with 45 seconds remaining after the Chieftains missed two consecutive 3-point attempts. Matthew Walker and James DeCrisantis subsequently added a pair of free throws each to stave off Conard.

DeCristantis led all scorers with 20 points. Boyd and Dadrien Ramos added 13 and 12 for Hall respectively.

“I thought we ran some good offense in the second half,” Hall head coach Bryan Moretti said. “We ran a couple good sets for James (DeCrisantis). James got a couple good looks. I don’t think Max (Boyd) played a great game … but we gutted it out.”

Moretti added: “I liked how we played in overtime. And I thought [Conard] played awesome. I thought they were really good in the second half.”

Down 48-44, Connor Olechna scored twice for the Chieftains under the two-minute mark to tie the game. DeCrisantis made two free throws to put Hall (12-8) ahead 50-48 with 20 seconds left.

Peter Simplicio scored off the inbounds pass with eight seconds in regulation to tie the game for Conard and force overtime.

From there, turnovers and missed shots derailed a valiant upset effort for Conard (4-16).

“I hate to oversimplify it, but we didn’t make free throws, a couple layups, and the open threes that we took,” said Conard head coach Jared Leghorn.

Both teams were inefficient offensively in the first half, but the Warriors took a 24-16 edge into the break.

Conard outscored Hall 21-11 in the third quarter, capped off by three consecutive 3-pointers to take a 37-33 lead, its largest of the game. DeCrisantis scored to trim the margin to two heading into the fourth quarter.

DeCrisantis made a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 40-39 lead early in the fourth quarter. He then forced a turnover, scored on the fast break, and sunk the ensuing free throw to put Hall ahead 43-39 with 6:18 to play.

Arsen Shtefan answered with a 3-pointer for the Chieftains seconds later, narrowing the gap at 43-42. Shtefan scored seven of his team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Along with Shtefan, three other Chieftains scored in double figures: Olechna (12 points), Simplicio (10), and Connor McKeown (10).

With the regular season complete, the Warriors will begin Central Connecticut Conference Tournament play Thursday night hosted by the higher seed. Regardless of what happens in the conference tournament, the Warriors will open the state tournament at home on March 5 – hosting for the first time since 2005.

Conard did not qualify for the postseason.

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