The East Catholic boys basketball team lost its first game, by three points, at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield last Thursday night.
The Eagles were headed to play then-unbeaten Manchester Friday. The game was sold out.
“We knew they were going to be coming out hard and they did,” Manchester coach John Reiser said.
East Catholic scored 27 points in the first quarter. Kahil Bell, who had five 3-pointers in the first half, had 11 points for the Eagles in the quarter.
Manchester regrouped, like the Red Hawks did in a win over Windsor, but couldn’t make it all the way back and East Catholic handed them their first loss, 72-66.
“It was a great high school game,” East Catholic coach Luke Reilly said. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence and they’re really tough at home.
“We had come off a tough loss the day before, we were down 1 with 15 seconds left and we were unable to convert. That added a little sting for us going into the game.”
Brayden Jones had 28 points and 16 rebounds for East Catholic (9-2) and Bell had 18. Chance Clark led Manchester with 25 points.
Manchester had a one-point lead with about a minute left in the game but couldn’t hold on.
“Chance Clark hit a 3, just like Windsor,” Reiser said. “But there was too mujch time. We were right there. They’re a good team. to get down and battle back against such good teams says a lot about us. You take what you can from those games.”
And there will be a rematch Jan. 27, this time at East Catholic.
“It came down to the last minute and I thought we did a good job controlling the game,” Reilly said. “We executed where we had to and got a few critical stops.
“We’re getting there. we were unable to close the game out in Springfield but we were able to the next night, so that’s a good sign.”
Top performances
Jeff Akoff, Bloomfield: Akoff scored 28 points in a 67-43 win over Conard Monday.
Richard Chandler, Aerospace: Chandler had 24 points in a 51-50 win over Granby Friday and 18 points in a 76-42 win over Capital Prep Thursday.
Andrew Czerwinski, Somers: Czerwinski had 17 of his 26 points in the first half in a 60-46 win over Wheeler Thursday.
Tommy Dinunzio, Lewis Mills: Dinunzio had 33 points and 15 rebounds to lead Lewis Mills over Northwestern 64-40 on Saturday and 28 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in 66-58 win over Conard Friday.
Jack Grasso, Windsor Locks: Grasso scored 28 points in a 65-46 victory over Bolton Thursday.
Brady Marsh, Windham Tech: Marsh scored 33 points and had six steals, five assists, three rebounds and two blocks in a 69-52 win over Hartford Public Thursday.
Camden Mazerolle, E.O. Smith: Mazarolle had 20 points and 16 rebounds in a 53-41 win over South Windsor Friday.
Elijah Moore, Xavier: Moore scored 27 points in a 62-45 win over Fairfield Prep Wednesday.
Alex Weaver, Windsor: Weaver scored 25 points, six assists and three steals in a 76-66 win over Northwest Catholic Friday.
Avant Williams, Classical: Williams had 24 points in a 74-58 win over Bulkeley Thursday and 18 points in a 78-37 win over Capital Prep Tuesday.
Storylines
Aerospace stayed unbeaten at 11-0 last week when the Jets beat Granby 51-50 behind 24 points from Richard Chandler. Aerospace, which advanced to the Division V quarterfinals last year, is the top-ranked team in Div. IV.
Manchester senior Derrick Sheets scored his 1,000th point in a 68-58 win over New Britain Tuesday and that was not the only day this month he lit up the scoreboard. Sheets had 19 points in the loss to East Catholic, hitting five 3-pointers and on Jan. 10, in a 91-70 win over Tolland, Sheets hit 10 3-pointers and had 39 points.
Games to watch
Ellington (9-0) at Granby (7-3), Tuesday, 6:45 p.m.: Granby has dropped its last two games by close margins but this is usually a good NCCC game.
Innovation (8-1) at Comp Sci (9-2), Thursday, 5 p.m.: Innovation, last year’s Div. IV champion, has a seven-game win streak, while Comp Sci is 6-1 in its last seven games.
Glastonbury (10-1) at Hall (8-2), Friday, 6:45 p.m.: Glastonbury hasn’t lost since the Guardians dropped a game to Northwest Catholic Dec. 21.
East Catholic (9-2) at Northwest Catholic (9-2), Friday, 6:45 p.m.: East is in the middle of a tough stretch, with a game against perennial rival Northwest sandwiched in between two games against Manchester.