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01/21/2014 11:00 PMWith six wins heading into its Jan. 14 home showdown with SCC Quinnipiac Division power Xavier, Hand boys' basketball looked to show it's a legitimate SCC title contender. Unfortunately for the Tigers, at least on this night, they were unable to state their case in a 61-47 loss. While Hand fought back from being down 10-0 to start the game to get within a point after the first quarter, the Falcons took advantage of the Tigers' foul trouble by shooting from the line 32 times and knocking down 25 attempts.
"It was just too many mental breakdowns on our part. Offensively, we didn't execute our game plan one bit," said Head Coach Frank Rossi. "We rushed too many shots and they gave us a hard time with their matchup zone that forced us to make adjustments. But we didn't do a good job of reacting and there was a lot of standing around on offense. We settled for a lot of shots that could've been better and we didn't execute our halftime adjustments."
Hand (7-of-11 from the charity stripe, 11 two-point buckets, and 6 three-pointers) was led on offense by senior Andre Frederick with 16 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks. Seniors Sam Jablonski (14 points) and Brendan Hughes (10 points) also contributed for the Tigers, who struggled with a sharp Falcons' attack.
"Offensively, give them a lot of credit. They executed as well as anyone could have," said Rossi. "We've been inconsistent at times this year, and we want to be considered among the elite teams in the SCC. But we are inconsistent; tonight there were points in the game where we looked like the better team."
Xavier (7-1) jumped out to a 10-0 advantage thanks to a pair of shots from beyond the arc, a jump shot, and a pair of free throws. Although the Tigers (7-3) started to respond with a Jablosnki three-point strike, and it continued with another bucket from downtown by senior Phil Crampton (6 points, 6 boards) as Hand capped off the 13-4 first quarter-run with a three ball from Hughes at the buzzer to trail, 14-13.
After both clubs exchanged three ties and four lead changes to begin the second, Hand grabbed a 21-19 edge following Frederick grabbing a loose ball for a dunk that sent the home crowd into a roar. Yet those were the final points before halftime for the Tigers with Xavier going on a 9-0 run heading to the break and scoring seven of its 14 period points from the line to lead, 28-21.
While Frederick notched the third's initial four points alone with a put back and another slam to have his squad trail by three, Xavier began to create some separation again thanks to its foul shooting, nailing down 12 of its 14 free throws in the frame, and taking a 47-38 command into the final period.
Another Crampton three cut the Falcons' edge to six with 5:37 to play, yet it was as close as Hand got the rest of the way. The Falcons collected a couple more buckets before Hand was forced to foul to slow the clock down as Xavier sealed the victory.
"The last couple of games, we have played with leads and not that much with a deficit, so there was a little bit of panic and rushing the offense on our part," said Rossi. "We were trying to play catch-up with one possession rather than taking it one possession at a time."
Hand did improve to 3-1 in the Hammonsset Division later in the week, though, thanks to a 66-44 road win over rival Law on Jan. 17.
Their three losses have come against top league competition in Cross, Hillhouse, and Xavier, yet Rossi feels the Tigers need to grab that landmark win.
"Our three losses are to teams in the Top 10 of the New Haven Register Poll, so there' s some solace there, but we want to be one of the teams in that poll," said Rossi. "In order to be recognized, we will have to beat one of those teams."