Bill O’Brien Photo
Captain Joe Carbone drives in for a finger roll basket.
When you walked in to the James L. MacVeigh Alumni Athletic Complex Gym Friday night you had an immediate feeling that this was going to be a special night.
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WELI and ‘coach’ George DeMaio were there to broadcast the game.
The Branford Hornets had beaten the Shelton Gaels in the second game of the year in late December by only 59 – 56 at Shelton so some were there to see another good game. Some knew that coach Jake Palluzzi was going for his 325th win and others knew that WELI and the state’s top high school announcer “Coach’ George DeMaio (pictured)was going to broadcast the game live.
Bill O’Brien Photo
Rich Jacobson scored 22 points against Shelton.
And as luck would have it everything came together for the home team. It was another close win for the Hornets, 53 – 47, and it brought Branford one game closer to qualifying for the state tournament in March.
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Coach Jake Palluzzi, assistant Pete Hawley and even a fan react to an official’s call.
Also the game gave coach Palluzzi win number 325. Here he reacting to a call. DeMaio was happy to be broadcasting an exciting game.
Bill O’Brien Photo
Kory King slips past a couple of startled Gaels.
And it sure was exciting with the lead changing hands throughout the hard fought contest. Shelton led at the end of the first quarter 10 – 8 but Branford outscored the Gaels 16 – 10 in the second to take the lead at halftime 24 – 20. Branford’s top scorers in the game Rich Jacobson (22) and Kory King (16) (pictured) made some key hoops early into the game to give Branford the lead.
Both teams scored a dozen points in the third stanza to keep it a four point game. The Hornets built it to a 7 and led (44 – 37) with 3:42 remaining but the Gaels charged back and narrowed the lead to 49 – 47 with just 36.7 seconds left. Jacobson made two clutch foul shots to increase the lead to four followed by two more by King to ice the win.
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Colin Tracy scores underneath after grabbing one of his rebounds.
In addition to Jacobson and King scoring 22 and 16 respectively, Carbone added 10 and Colin Tracy (pictured) chipped in with four plus pulling down a number of rebounds on both ends of the court. With the win Branford went to 7 – 6 on the season, one short of qualifying for the state tournament.
Bill O’Brien Photo
A Branford youth team performed during halftime.
The Hornets next scheduled home game is tonight, (Feb. 4) against East Haven.
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