Pomperaug’s Josh McGettigan soars over the top of the Lyman Hall defense in the Panthers 85-55 win in the second round of the Class L state tournament in Southbury on Wednesday. Pomperaug advances to the quarterfinals tonight, Friday, March 11, at Middletown. (Ken Morse photo)
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By KEN MORSE Special to Middlebury Bee-Intelligencer
When Lyman Hall came into the Panthers’ Den Wednesday, the team not only had to contend with a Panthers team that boasts four players averaging in double figures, they also had to put up with a boisterous student section apply labeled “The Jungle.”
It’s no secret that Pomperaug is undefeated at home this season. In the second round of the Class L tournament, the No. 22 seed 12-11 Lyman Hall found out firsthand the reason why.
It was a 27-24 seat grabber with 3:26 to go in the first half, and by the time the 3:22 mark rolled around in the third quarter, the Trojans were toast after getting outscored 26-6 in a span of eight minutes. The No. 6 seed 19-5 Panthers opened the floodgates to the tune of a convincing 85-55 victory.
Pomperaug will lace them up again today, Friday, March 11, as they travel to face off against the No. 3 seed 20-2 Middletown Blue Dragons in the Class L quarterfinals.
“It’s a great atmosphere to play in,” said Noah Miree. “The student section gets us all pumped up. That’s probably why we haven’t lost at home.”
Miree (19 points, six rebounds, six steals, three blocks and four assists) had a hand on the outburst that led to Pomperaug taking over the game. His one-handed put-back at the buzzer gave the Panthers an 18-14 edge heading into the second quarter.
With Pomperaug clinging to a 27-24 advantage as the first half was coming to a close, Josh McGettigan (18 points) buried a 3-pointer. Miree then scored a quick basket off an inbounds pass from Grant Wallace (15 points) and made a steal at the other end, finishing it off with a one-handed jam.
The student section went into a frenzy, and Pomperaug went into the locker room at the half with all the momentum they would need while holding a 36-29 lead.
“We switched up to a 1-3-1 zone right before the end of the half,” explained Pomperaug head coach Dave Yachtis. “I usually save that for the second half so teams can’t make the adjustment, but I felt we needed a spark.”
The Panthers got a spark all right as they came out and owned the third quarter, depositing 28 points through the cylinder for the second straight game in a row to simply take over the game.
“Noah has been disruptive this season when we go into the 1-3-1 zone,” added Yachtis. “But tonight he was crazy disruptive. When he gets his hands in the passing lane and gets fast-break dunks, that really gets the momentum going.”
In the third quarter, Pomperaug turned up the defense as seven blocked shots and 11 steals for the game took Lyman Hall right out of their offense. The Panthers began to run the floor with Chase Belden (10 points, six assists) working the give-and-go to Wallace all alone underneath to open up a 53-31 lead with 3:22 to go in the quarter.
At the other end, Matt Wynne came up with an in-your-face block, and Rich Pugliese took it down the floor for a 3-pointer, opening the floodgates at 60-37. Tom Satkowski converted a blocked shot into a bucket and Jacob Mendicino buried a 3-pointer.
Pomperaug just had too many weapons at their disposal as Lyman Hall trailed 64-43 heading into the final quarter. Zach McGettigan, Mario Paniccia and Jason Hirschauer all scored in the last quarter to put the finishing touches on the victory.
“We kind of went through the motions during the regular season,” said Yachtis. “We knew we would make the tournament, but now we turned it up, and these guys don’t want to stop playing.”
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