The Hall High School boys basketball team defeated South Windsor 67-37 in West Hartford on Monday night.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Dressing only seven players, the Hall boys basketball team had its work cut out for it on Monday night when they hosted South Windsor.

Going down 7-0 two and a half minutes into the game didn’t help, but the Titans got it together and managed to coast to the 30-point win to move to 5-1 on the season. Isaiah Gaston led Hall with 19 points, and Max St. Arromand chipped in 11 in the victory.

“They (South Windsor) did what they wanted on offense and that bothered us,” said Hall head coach Bryan Moretti of the start of the game. “We settled in and did what we had to do.”

After being held scoreless for the opening 2:30, the Titans took their first lead at 9-8 on Tim O’Brien’s baseline layup and never trailed again in the game. Eli Kramer pushed the lead to 5 with 1:34 to go, and Hall ended up scoring 17 points over a five-minute span of the first to go up 19-9 after one.

The Bobcats (2-4) regrouped and came out strong again in the second, turning two early Hall turnovers into 6 points, and it was just a four point game one minute into the second. The Titans settled down and when Dalin Fotache drilled a 3 from the corner with 4:29 to play, Hall had an 11-point lead.

They kept it up and over the rest of the period, outscoring South Windsor 11-3 for the 37-18 intermission lead. Kramer had 11 points at the break and Fotache had seven.

In the second half Hall kept its foot on the gas and pushed their lead and controlled play across the final 16 minutes. South Windsor got some strong play from senior Ryder Haynes, who had several shot blocks for the Bobcats and ended the night with 21 of his team’s 37.

As they have in many of their games this year, Hall relied on timely 3-point shooting and some good work on the boards to keep control of play. Zach Debin (nine points) and Kramer were hitting from the outside, while Gaston and St. Arromand were grabbing rebounds and hitting on the inside.

Gaston – who had not played varsity ball before this season – had the highlight of the night when he banked in a 3-point shot at the buzzer of the third to record his 15th point and give Hall a 55-30 advantage.

Things continued to fall in the Titans’ favor in the fourth as they grabbed timely rebounds and worked the ball around court looking for the best shot. It was another game where Moretti had to rely on players with little varsity experience to learn on the fly. In their last game before Monday, he had to start four juniors in the win over Avon.

Things are going to get much harder for Hall as they start a three-game road stretch against Newington. “Things will be tough, “ said Moretti. “Nothing will be easy for us.”

The Nor’easters came into their game Monday with a 4-1 mark, and were ranked ninth – just one spot behind Hall. The other two away games are at Enfield on the 13th and then Torrington on the 16th before coming back home to host RHAM on Jan. 20.

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