Hornets Basketball Falls in Overtime Thriller

The last time Branford played Lyman Hall-Wallingford in late December, Lyman Hall won by 31 points. It wasn't quite as easy Thursday night.

Lyman Hall, the No. 4 seed in the CIAC Class L tournament, defeated Branford 65-59 in an overtime thriller at Wallingford to advance to the quarterfinals. The loss ended Branford's season.

"It was a little different than the first time out," Branford coach Jake Palluzzi said. "Our kids have really improved. They played very hard tonight."

The Hornets trailed the entire first half and fell behind by nine points at the end of the second quarter, but they didn't quit. With 2:06 remaining in the third quarter, Dylan Palluzzi scored on a breakaway layup to cut the lead to five points, 37-32.

Less than a minute later, Nick Dummar hit a pair of free throws and Buddy Shea hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to one point, 38-37. Lyman Hall hit a bucket in the final seconds of the third quarter to take a three point lead after three quarters, 40-37.

In the first minute of the fourth quarter, Palluzzi hit a pair of free throws and scored on a layup to give Branford its first lead of the game, 41-40.

The game remained close for the entire fourth quarter. With 42 seconds remaining, Shea hit a jumper to give Branford a one-point lead, 52-51. Lyman Hall looked like they were holding for the last shot of the game and a potential win. With 20 seconds remaining, Lyman Hall started to run a play, but Palluzzi drew a charge giving the Hornets the ball back with 15 seconds remaining.

Lyman Hall fouled Palluzzi on the inbound and he hit one-of-two free throws to extend the lead to two points, 53-51.  Lyman Hall junior Jack McCarthy hit short bank shot at the buzzer to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Branford fell behind by four points with just over a minute to play in overtime, before Dummar connected on a three-pointer to cut the lead back to one, 60-59, but Lyman Hall scored the final five points of the game to secure the win.

"Every possession is very important in tournament play and they executed down the stretch," Palluzzi said. "I am really proud of the way our kids played. That is a very good basketball team and we were a couple of free throws or a possession away from having a chance to win that game."

Branford was led by Dummar (18 points), Shea (15 points), Nolan (10 points and 12 rebounds), and Palluzzi (nine points and eight assists). McCarthy led Lyman Hall with 22 points.

Lyman Hall will host Berlin in the quarterfinals on Mar 14. It is the end of the season for Branford and its three seniors- Shea, and Kunimel Lomotey.