Late rally lifts Hampshire past Burlington Central
A key defensive adjustment coupled with hot shooting helped Hampshire rally from a 10-point, third-quarter deficit to win 54-51 at rival Burlington Central on Saturday night.
Central 6-foot-5 forward Ryan Fitzgerald was killing the Whip-Purs for two and a half quarters of the nonconference contest. The big junior scored 10 of his game-high 19 points in the second quarter to stake the Rockets to a 25-19 halftime lead, and he scored 3 more buckets in the third quarter to bulge that advantage to 35-25.
However, Hampshire's strategy changed after coach Bob Barnett took a timeout with 3:20 left in the third quarter. Instead of trying to simply front Fitzgerald with a big defender, as the Whips had been doing unsuccessfully, Barnett had a rotation of smaller but more physical defenders also help against Fitzgerald from the back side: senior Austin Spaeth (6-0), sophomore Brennen Woods (6-3) and senior Matt Bridges (6-2).
The strategy worked as Fitzgerald was held without a field goal for the game's final 11-plus minutes.
"It was tough there at the end when they started closing in on the post a little more," Fitzgerald said.
Meanwhile, Hampshire got hot offensively. After shooting 30 percent in the first half (6 of 20), the Whip-Purs sank 65 percent of their attempts in the second half (13 of 20), including a 4-of-7 performance from 3-point range in the fourth quarter.
Hampshire took the lead for the first time since the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Woods with 5:25 remaining, but Central's Drew Wiss scored on a drive to put the Rockets ahead 44-43 with 4:48 left. It would be Central's last lead of the game.
Bridges sank a 3-pointer at the other end to give the Whips a 2-point lead. He drained another from beyond the arc with 2:25 to play to make it 51-46.
"I ended up getting in foul trouble this game," said Bridges, who scored 7 of his 15 point in the fourth quarter. "It was good to get back in there and hit some shots for the team."
Central kept it a 2-point game down the stretch, thanks to a 3-pointer by guard Stefan Jochum (13 points) and a pair of free throws by Luke McCurdy with 48 seconds to play.
However, Luke Tuttle sank the first of 2 free throws with 15 seconds left to put Hampshire ahead 54-51. Central rebounded the miss and hustled up court, but a 3-point attempt by Jochum didn't connect. McCurdy gathered the long rebound and stepped behind the arc for another try, but his shot didn't fall either. Neither did Fitzgerald's tip attempt at the buzzer.
"Coach probably would have called timeout but it was such a good look that he let me take it," said McCurdy, who finished with 9 points. "He had confidence in me. I just missed it."
The comeback win improved Hampshire to 5-1.
"We have a lot of kids back from last year and we lost a lot of games down the stretch," Barnett said. "I remember 7 games last year we were either tied or ahead in the fourth quarter and we lost all 7. And that's off a 13-15 team. We've got a lot of these kids coming back now. So they've got to learn. They don't quit. A 10-point lead is nothing to us. We can score. We know we can score. It's just a matter of staying disciplined on the defensive end."
The loss dropped Central to 4-2, but the Rockets feel they are on the right track overall despite losing a second-half lead.
"I was pleased with some things, but at the same time I know we're all a little frustrated because we felt like we let one slip away," Central coach Brett Porto said. "But to be 6 games in with a lot of question marks when the season started for this group, I'm very pleased with where we're at right now this early in the season."