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Posted on Wed, Mar 5, 2008 |
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Prep
knocks off two-time defending champion Hillhouse |
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By Joe Morelli,
Schools Sports Editor |
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NEW
HAVEN — The shot left Gordon Watkins’ hand with precious seconds remaining
Tuesday night. It was one last chance for the Hillhouse
boys’ basketball team to draw even and keep their season alive. But the
shot glanced off the rim into the waiting arms of Chris Ruskay
from Fairfield Prep. Then the buzzer sounded and, just like that, Hillhouse’s two-year dominance over the state of
Connecticut came to a close. Fairfield
Prep, the No. 22 seed in the Class LL division, held on for the 56-53 win at
No. 11 Hillhouse, ending the Academics’ winning streak
at nine that included consecutive state championships. “People
complain about how loaded the (LL) bracket is. I don’t care. I like the
challenge,” Prep coach Rich Lee said. “This is the best team in the state two
years running, and I want to play them because I want to see how good we
are.” Lee
called it his biggest win in four years as a coach.,
mainly because it was his first state tournament victory. “We’ve
been in the winning locker room a heckuva lot more
times than we have in the losing locker room,” Hillhouse
coach Kermit Carolina said. “Now there is a little bit of finality to the
season. It’s going to hurt some of these guys.” Fairfield
Prep will now play host to No. 27 Cheshire, a stunning 62-60 winner over East
Catholic-Manchester, in Thursday’s second round. East Catholic lost to Hillhouse in the last year’s state championship game. Hillhouse (17-6), loser of four of its final
five games, trailed by 11 points (44-33) with less than 1 minute remaining in
the third quarter. The Academics cut it to five with less than 2 minutes gone
in the final quarter. Hillhouse’s defense began to wear down the
Jesuits (13-10), especially when they decided to pull the ball out and run a
delay offense. Prep committed nine turnovers in the final quarter. Hillhouse went on a late 8-0 run to take a
53-52 lead, its first since early in the second quarter, with 66 seconds left
in the game. Advertisement
“The
lesson they have to learn is what it means to have a sense of urgency,”
Carolina said. “They need to learn how to come out and don’t take any minute
for granted. Thirty-two minutes, you can’t wait for last three to play your
best basketball.” That
left things to Fairfield Prep point guard Tavonne
Reid. He drew a foul with 39.3 seconds left and made both free throws to put
the Jesuits ahead 54-53. “I knew
if I could draw a foul, I would make the free throws,” said Reid, who
finished with a team-high 21 points. “In my opinion, this was the best team
in the state. If we can beat them, we can beat anyone. They had a rocky
season, but I knew they were a great team.” Jeremy
Moore (game-high 23 points) then lost the ball out of bounds for Hillhouse and immediately fouled Prep’s Brian Murphy, who
made both free throws with 21 seconds left. Moore
fouled out on that play, leaving it to Watkins to try and get the Academics
into overtime. “(The
seniors) have seen both sides and they have nothing to hang their heads
about. I’m proud of each and everyone
of them,” Carolina said. “They brought Hillhouse
and the New Haven community a great deal of pride and notoriety. They were
some of the guys who reintroduced the state of Connecticut to the Mecca of
high school basketball. How can I hang my head and be disappointed to be
coach of the No. 1 team in the state of Connecticut the last two years?. ... We have to rebuild and start over. We will be
back.” Hillhouse trailed by 11 (33-22) at halftime,
missing its final 12 shots of the first half. The Academics played without
starter Terrance McKiver, along with reserves
Hassan Toler, Jason Preston and Josh Greenwood, all of whom were suspended. “The
program is always bigger than the individual,” Carolina said. “Any time you
do anything that jeopardizes this program to put it in a negative light, I
will respond accordingly. Could they have helped us tonight? Maybe. But we
choose to do the right thing over putting players in a uniform to win a
game.” Joe Morelli can be reached at jmorelli@nhregister.com |
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