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Sports

Lyman Hall Nips Spartan Cagers to Win Housy Title

Trojans overcome early 15 point deficit to sneak past Amity 42-41.

Jack McCarthy’s lay-up with one minute, 40 seconds left in the game put Lyman Hall ahead of Amity 39-37.  From there the Trojans (now 12-3, 6-1) capped an amazing comeback to nip the Spartans 42-41 and clinch the Southern Connecticut Conference—Housatonic Division championship Friday night in Woodbridge.

The winners started off with a woeful first quarter, trailing by 15 points (17-2) until Steve Nations swished a rainbow with three seconds left. That 3-pointer came after Lyman Hall had missed all of its previous nine shots in the opening session. While the visitors couldn’t throw the ball into the proverbial ocean from the proverbial beach in the first quarter, Amity (now 6-7 overall and 2-4 in the Housy) hit half of its 16 shots from the floor. Midway through the first quarter Lyman Hall’s fiery Coach Mike Connor called a time out and angrily screamed at his team with a voice that could have been heard all over Woodbridge.

The two teams had total role reversals in the second quarter. Suddenly a lid slammed shut on the Spartan basket and Lyman Hall outscored them 16-4 to walk off with a 21-21 halftime deadlock. Amity connected on only two of its nine tries from the floor, while the Trojans, led by McCarthy, a rugged 6-foot 7-inch senior and guard Rich Bronson, were good on six of their nine shots.

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With 1:47 left in the half, Amity led 21-14 but Bronson hit three consecutive baskets--the first being a trey and that last being a put back with three ticks left on the clock. While Lyman Hall scored the final seven points of the first half, Amity went scoreless for the last 1:59.

Spartan Coach Jeff Nielsen said, “We had come out flat against Sheehan and didn’t want that to happen again tonight. I feared another let down but we came out focused on what we had to do and ready to go. We had a great first quarter.”

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Nielsen went on to explain that the Trojans had played a man-to-man defense in the early going and his team quickly dissected it, taking its 17-2 lead.

He added, “In the second quarter they stepped up their defensive intensity by switching to a very aggressive trapping zone defense that turned the game around. They are very long and also quick out front. While we got the big early lead that we wanted, their trapping pressure defense in the second quarter enabled them to get several steals that led to baskets in transition.”

Playing at a somewhat slower pace in then third quarter, Amity opened up a 28-24 lead when Grant Watkins put his own rebound home off the glass. Shortly thereafter, McCarthy’s tip-in and a 3-pointer from Nations put the Trojans in front (29-28) for the first time.

Amity quickly regained the upper hand. Keyed by Cam  Ratleff’s 20 footer at 1:09 and a Zac Campbell’s driving lay-up off a perfect lead pass from Hunter Ricks,  the Spartans went on a seven point run. The Black and Gold went into the final stanza with a five point margin (37-32).

That lead soon evaporated as Nations converted a theft into two points and then followed that with a game-tying shot from afar. Knotted at 37-37, play got very intense and at times ragged. Neither team could score. Finally, McCarthy’s lay-up at 1:40 broke the tie and the long scoring drought with what proved to be the game-winning points.

With 52 seconds left, Watkins stole the ball and was fouled. He hit one of two free throws to make it 39-38, but Bronson netted two freebies with 15 seconds remaining. Campbell missed a 3-point try with six ticks left but McCarthy was fouled and made the first of his two free throws. Trailing by four points (42-38), Watkins tossed in a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“It would have been nice if Grant hit both of his foul shots as that would have tied the game. Then, they made two foul shots and led by three points. We played good defense at the end of the game. Unfortunately, they made their shots. We had good looks but the ball just didn’t fall for us,” Nielsen said.

He added, “McCarthy picked up his game and played well down the stretch. He took over in the middle. Cheshire and Sheehan gave us trouble with presses but I thought we handled Lyman Hall’s pressure well tonight.”

Neither team had particularly good shooting nights. The Trojans hit 15 of their 37 shots (41 percent) while Amity netted 15 of its 43 tries (35 percent).

Nations scored a team-high 11 points for the winners and Bronson added 10.McCarthy and his 6-6 front court mate, Jason Dempsey shared 14 rebounds, with half of that total came in the final quarter, but Amity ended up with a slim 32-29 edge off the glass. Each team made 13 turnovers but six of Amity’s miscues occurred in the fourth quarter.

Watkins led all scorers with 18 points and also pulled down rebounds. In addition to tallying eight points, Campbell recorded 10 rebounds.

Taking one last look at his scorebook, Nielsen said,  “Grant Watkins was really into the game and played his heart out. Zac Campbell isn’t that tall but he’s a strong kid and he hits the boards hard

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