This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Overmatched Bellringers Fall to Cromwell

East Hampton still hopes to make state tournament despite setback.

The East Hampton boys’ basketball team struggled, as expected, against 2009 Class S state champion Cromwell.

The good news is the Bellringers don’t have to wait long to redeem themselves and move closer to their goal of reaching the state tournament.

Pat Sirois led four players in double figures with 13 points as the Panthers cruised to a 58-41 victory in East Hampton on Tuesday night.

Find out what's happening in East Hampton-Portlandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Freshman point guard Matt Vasquenza had 13 points for the Bellringers (6-9, 6-7 Shoreline), who couldn’t stay with Panthers up-tempo style.  Cromwell, which forced 13 turnovers, closed the half on a 12-2 run and led by 21 after three quarters.

Needing two wins to qualify for the Class S state tournament, East Hampton will try to rebound on Wednesday on the road against North Branford.

Find out what's happening in East Hampton-Portlandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We have to play [Wednesday], so we don’t have time to [dwell on it],” East Hampton coach Bob Freitas said. “Today is over and done with. This is part of basketball.   Tomorrow is another day. We have to win [Wednesday] and then we play again Friday, so it’s a battle.”

Despite the loss, the Bellringers have to feel pretty good about the season thus far. East Hampton returned just one starter (Austin Shumbo) from a team that finished 6-14 last season and has been relying on a freshman to run its offense.

“I told the kids that we dictate our destiny,” Freitas said. “[The state tournament] is our goal. We have to get to seven before we get eight. We’ll be fine. The kids are working hard; sometimes they are just not making shots and not making good decisions.”

Even if they had made better decisions,  it probably wouldn’t have mattered on this night.  After falling behind early, Cromwell (13-3, 11-2) pulled away thanks to its superior size and athleticism.

Vasquenza tied the score at 16 on a layup with 3:46 to play in the second quarter, but Brett Director answered with a layup, which was the start of a 12-2 run that gave the Panthers a 28-18 halftime lead.

The Bellringers had a chance to head into the break down by six. They were holding for the last shot, but Colin Burkhart intercepted a pass and was fouled as he attempted a layup. 

Burkhart hit two free throws and the Panthers carried all the momentum into the second half.

The play was a microcosm of the game.

“We didn’t take care of the ball,” Freitas said. “And we can’t run with them. When we settled down and ran the offense we were fine. But at this point they are just a better team.”

That was evident.  The Panthers, who beat the Bellringers 50-31 in the season opener for both teams, widened the gap with a 13-3 run to start the third quarter.

R.J. Anderson (10 points) had a nifty hook shot in the lane during the spurt, which gave Cromwell a 39-20 lead with 4:32 left.  Director added a layup moments later that stretched the lead to 20 points.

“We didn’t really do a good job in the half-court offense,” Cromwell coach John Pinone said. “We got some steals and got some easy shots in transition. That was a big thing for us.”

The Bellringers were unable to answer. Freitas said his team isn’t adept at coming from behind.

It didn’t look like East Hampton would be in such a situation early, however.  The Bellringers were crisp offensively in the first quarter and jumped out to a 9-4 lead. 

Cromwell aided in the strong start by missing five of its first six shots, but settled down and trailed 11-9 after one quarter.

“They are much better than they were the first game of the season,” Pinone said. “They hung with us pretty much the whole first half. We made a little run at the end of the second half to get up 10 at halftime.  Coach Freitas does a really good job with them. They play hard.”

Download the movie

Download the movie

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?