East Hampton Stunned By Previously Winless North Branford

East Hampton coach Bob Freitas had a simple message for his team after it struggled with down-trodden North Branford for a half.

“I told the kids, 'We need to pull away, or else, as it stays closer, the harder it gets, especially on the road,'” Freitas said.

Unfortunately for Freitas and East Hampton, he proved to be prophetic. Playing for the second time in as many nights, the Bellringers suffered a heart-breaking 41-40 loss to the Thunderbirds on Tuesday.

Center Alex Delizio hit two free throws to put North Branford ahead with 21 seconds left, then came up with a key block of Matt Vasquenza moments later which helped the Thunderbirds (1-12, 1-11 Shoreline) pick up their first win of the season.

It was a tough outcome to swallow for East Hampton (6-10, 6-8), which lost by 17 at home to Cromwell on Monday.

The Bellringers’ pursuit of the requisite eight wins needed to reach the Class S state tournament has hit a speed bump the size of those in the North Branford parking lot.

And there was a feeling they let one slip away, unlike Monday, when the Bellringers were simply overwhelmed by Cromwell.

“This is a team that we can compete with,” Freitas said. “It’s different than last night. It’s a tough loss.”

In a nip-and-tuck affair, East Hampton took its first lead of the second half when Vasquenza (15 points) capped a 10-2 run with a deft finger roll with 40 seconds left in the game.

But North Branford answered. Delizio snatched an offensive rebound after Dan Esposito missed a runner, and was fouled.  He calmly knocked down both free throws.

After a timeout, Vasquenza drove the right side and was rejected by Delizio. He grabbed the offensive rebound and went back up, drawing a foul.

One of the Bellringers’ most consistent players - if not the most - Vasquenza missed the ensuing free throws. 

But it still wasn’t over.  He followed his second miss, got the rebound but was again met by Delizio, whose block sealed the win. There was a little contact, but nothing egregious.

“We have to put the ball in the bucket at the end,” Freitas said. “The refs are going to let you play through that. I couldn’t see what happened to Matt from my angle, so I don’t know what happened.”

While Freitas was upset that it came down to the final possession, he was encouraged that his team battled back from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit despite playing for the second time in 24 hours.

“We did a nice job,” he said.

“Matt brought us back. We didn’t give up after back-to-back nights, but we were on the short end of the stick tonight. Should it have come down to that? No, but it did.  We had a shot at the end to win and we didn’t win it.”

The Bellringers didn’t win because they allowed the Thunderbirds too many second chances. And none were more important than Delizio’s rebound in the final seconds after East Hampton had just taken the lead.

That was more critical than Vasquenza’s missed free throws, according to Freitas.

“I don’t think those free throws cost us the game," he said. "I think defensive rebounding cost us the game. We didn’t make enough stops and if you don’t make enough stops you’re not going to give yourself a chance.”

The Bellringers led 19-18 at halftime, but North Branford opened the third quarter on a 10-5 run and took a 28-24 lead on Esposito’s steal and layup with 2:05 left in the period.

The Thunderbirds extended the lead to 37-30 on a layup by Taylor Gamache (12 points) with 3:45 remaining in the fourth.

Vasquenza’s three-pointer cut the lead to 37-35 and Austin Shumbo (10 points) gave East Hampton its first lead of the quarter by drilling a three off a curl with 40 seconds left.

Delizio’s two free throws put North Branford back on top, 39-38, with 1:14 to play. That set the stage for the frantic final minute.

“We got a couple shots off at the end,” Freitas said. “It shouldn’t have come down to that, but it did. Give them credit for playing hard."

East Hampton will try to move closer to qualifying for the state tournament on Friday at Haddam-Killingworth.                  

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