Panthers Shred Terriers, 62-45

The defense for suffocated the offense of the boys' basketball team Tuesday night, which lead to the Panthers’ 62-45 victory.

E.O. Smith Head Coach Ron Pires said his team's pressure defense forced Rocky Hill to play up-tempo, which caused the Terriers to hurry up their offense and make mistakes.

"We forced them to take a lot of bad shots," he said.

Rocky Hill head coach Pete Asadourian felt his team, which was down by double digits for most of the game, could have played better and beat the Panthers.

"I feel these are wins for us," he said "We need to go out and take advantage of the situation. We haven't been taking advantage of situations at all."

At halftime, the Terriers were down 30-15. The game would get dicey in the third quarter and three technical fouls were handed out, including two for Rocky Hill. The Terriers would go into the fourth quarter down by 21 points.

Rocky Hill has struggled recently and lost four in a row. The Terriers have not played up to its potential, according to their coach.

"We have just been in a funk the past few games and it is up to us to get out of it," Asadourian said. "Guys need to pick it and feed off each other a little more than they are."

Senior Harrison Chipkin lead the Terriers with 13 points. Albert Figueroa scored 10 points. But, Asadourian said his offense has been stale for several games.

"We are not getting a good flow going," he explained.

E.O. Smith was lead by junior Carder Chatey with 15 points. Senior Matt Taiman and sophomore Mitchell Foster both had 11 points.

There are six games left in season and Rocky Hill needs to win three games to have a chance to qualify for the state tournament. Asadourian feels his team can improve and make the tournament.

"We're still positive," Asadourian said. "We are going to ride that wave."

E.O. Smith has won three games in a row and Tuesday's victory was the fifth win on the season for the Panthers.

Rocky Hill's next game is at Hartford Public High School on Friday at 7 p.m. E.O. Smith will play RHAM at RHAM High School on Friday at 7 p.m.

Editor's Note: Did you attend the game? Send us your pictures! Email us at Joseph.Wenzel@Patch.com.

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