Shelton boys' basketball remains winless at home

From the opening tip, the Shelton boys' basketball team was out-hustled and out-played by the West Haven Blue Devils, who defeated the Gaels 54-43, on Tuesday night.

The Blue Devils' full-court press frustrated the Gaels all game, causing turnovers, which  resulted in West Haven points.

Shelton's Christian Pierre was the game's leading scorer with 15 points, while Shaquill Holman added 11 and Arron Gagner had just 10 (three 3-pointers) after his 25-point outburst Friday at Foran.

West Haven was led by a three-headed monster of Tieron Jackson (12 points), Kadialy Toure (11) and Deshawn Moncrease (11).  The result left both teams with 1-2 records this season.

"We didn't hustle, we didn't play hard," Shelton coach Brian Gardiner said. "That wasn't anything we preach, and that's what happens. You lose games when you don't play 32 minutes of hard, full-out effort. We played four minutes of that game (at the start of 3rd quarter)."

West Haven's defense stalled the Gaels from the start, as Shelton did not score its first basket until 1:10 into the game.

West Haven attacked the rim, rather than settle for the three-ball, like Shelton, and it worked for the Blue Devils early. Shelton battled back and took the lead at  the end of one on a 3-pointer from Holman at the buzzer.

"We settled for threes, didn't attack the basket," Gardiner added. "We allowed that team to get confident. I thought that was a good matchup for us, but when you don't attack and you play tentative and the other team starts hitting shots,  everything starts going the wrong way. Momentum is a big thing in basketball and we had none of that."

Shelton kept its lead at the start of the second - until the Gaels began playing sloppy basketball, fumbling with the ball, not securing rebounds. Once West Haven gained the lead, it never relinquished it.

It was more of the same in the second half, with West Haven still utilizing its frustrating full-court press, which created more steals and more turnovers for  Shelton.

"I told them you can't lose focus when you're worrying about what the other team is saying, what fans are saying, what calls aren't being made," Gardiner said. "You lose focus and you lose games like this one."

While Shelton continued to fight with the Blue Devils,  its problems pursisted. With 5:15 left, the Gaels got within three of West Haven on basket from Holman,  but got no closer.

"We're going to go to work really, really hard I'll tell you that much," Gardiner said.  "You got to work it out. It's nothing basketball-wise, skill-wise. We just need to refocus."