Basketball Teams Advance in FAA Tournaments

The Parents' Association is currently putting together a Hamden Hall Cookbook, and surely would be saying that there is nothing like a bit of home cooking. On Wednesday evening at the Beckerman Athletic Center, both basketball teams served up a tasty dish and cooked up a winning plate to advance in the annual Fairchester Athletic Association Tournament.
        In the opening game, the #2 seeded girls squared off against #3 seed Greenwich Academy. The visiting Gators had defeated the Hornets earlier in the season down in Greenwich, but found it difficult to build any momentum against the swarming Hornets. The first half became a grinding defensive battle with HH emerging with a slim 24-22 lead at the break. The Gators fought back to briefly lead in the second frame, led by their freshman phenom, Kaitlyn Davis, who was a force at both ends of the court. The Hornets managed to regain the slimmest of leads and slowly expanded it; however a fierce trapping defense by GA continuously kept the game within their reach. But the Hornets would not be denied and withstood Davis and the Gators down the stretch to earn the 45-38 victory. Rachel Menze led the Hornets with 18 points and 21 rebounds, while Naomi Van Nes threw in 12 more. As always, Kai Clemons was a whirlwind, and snatched 6 steals and scored 6 points. The Hornets also got clutch play from Lexi Palmer, Alyssa Vine, Jenna Berens, Shannon Rhone, and Cassi Smith. 
        With the win, the Hornets improved to 15-7 and will travel to New Canaan on Friday to play #1 seed St. Luke's in the championship game at 6:15.
        In the nightcap, the boys had to fight off a sluggish start and another hot shooter as they finally pulled away with a powerful second half en route to a 70-45 win over the King School of Stamford. The #3 seeded Hornets looked reasonably sharp; however, the #6 seed Vikings enjoyed an early lead thanks to plenty of hustle and some NBA range three point shooting from junior guard Trey Canevari. Coach Beckerman continued to shuffle players in and out, looking for a hot combination, but HH failed to rattle the visitors. Two quick baskets by Andrew Rice and TJ Rountree with seconds left finally gave the Hornets a 32-27 lead at half.
        The second half was a completely different story, as the relenteless defense began to force errors by the Vikings, leading to a number of fast break points, including a few thunderous dunks by Andrew Rice and Dan Draffan. The junior center took control of the boards and finished with 24 rebounds, tying Mike Massey's 12 year record for rebounds in a game. The Hornets also shut down the sharpshooting Canevari and held the visitors to 18 total points in the second half. TJ Rountree led all scorers with 27 points, including 5 three pointers. Rice finished with 15, Draffan 14; other Hornets scorers included Pasquale Villano with 6, Michael DiMartino 5 (to go along with 3 steals), Kyle Smith 2, and Miles Cogdell 1.
        With the victory, the boys advance to a semifinal showdown with crosstown rival Hopkins on Friday at 6:00. The teams split the regular season, so this game should be indeed intense. Go Hornets!!!