The Pomperaug Panthers were riding a four game winning streak until they ran into a very tough Stratford team on Friday.
The Red Devils who went undefeated last season and went on to win a state championship showed no signs of slowing down in a 62-52 win over the Panthers.
On Saturday in Woodbridge the Panthers were poised to put that loss behind them as they took on a middle of the road 4-4 Amity team. However the Spartans were in the middle of a streak that saw them knock off two straight opponents with winning records.
Amity made it three wins in a row as they made all the plays down the stretch and Pomperaug saw a victory slip through its fingers in the final minute in a disappointing 64-60 loss.
There is an old adage that states, ‘practice makes perfect’, and that may very well be the difference in the rough patch that the Panthers are going through.
“Honestly what we need is a good practice,” said Pomperaug head coach Dave Yachtis. “With the way the weather has been we have played three games in five days without any practices and it’s effecting our play. I don’t think we are handling the ball well or shooting the ball well. We are a very good team we just need to get back in the gym and establish our routine again and we will be okay.”
It didn’t help that Amity has been in a zone as of late. The Spartans entered the week at 2-4 on the season and then went on to knock off a 6-2 Foran team of Milford and hung 8-2 Lyman Hall out to dry escaping with a one point win on Friday.
Pomperaug came out and ran up a 7-0 lead in the opening period led by Brent Pelella (23 points) who threw down a jumper in the lane and a three pointer from the corner. Tim Harris (18 points, six rebounds) muscled his way inside for a bucket forcing Amity into a timeout at 4:56 still looking for its first points of the game.
Grant Watkins (21 points, 7 rebounds) ended the scoreless spell with a drive to the baseline but Amity chased the lead throughout the rest of the period.
Andre Makris (13 points, 7 rebounds) hit a shot in the paint, Pelella went the length of the floor on a steal and Harris again used his size to get one to go off the window as Pomperaug was in control at 18-11 entering the second period.
“Amity is a very good team and their big man (Watkins) scored a bunch of points for them,” added Yachtis. “They stayed in the game making all the plays they had to make and it came down to the final period and they did what they had to do down the stretch.”
The Panthers were out in front with a comfortable lead until a three-possession stretch with 5:02 remaining in the half. Cam Ratliff (7 points) drove the lane for two and Watkins nailed a jumper on an inbounds under the Amity basket.
Kevin Kochiss (15 points) hit one of two at the line and it was a tight game after that with the Panthers clinging to a 20-18 lead. Pelella knocked down a three and Nate Rubinstein hit a shot out on the wing but Amity was able to put together a couple of back-to-back baskets to hang in there trailing 30-26 at the break.
“We had a couple of close losses at the beginning of the season,” said Amity head coach Jeff Nielsen. “We knew we were a much better team than that. Pomperaug has a very big team and I felt if we could hold our own on the boards we could stay with them.”
The Panthers forged a 36-31 lead on a Pelella three pointer with Jake Belden (4 points, 9 assists) directing the offense. Amity responded by going on a 9-0 run to take its first lead of the game at the 4:46 mark of the third period.
With 2:42 to go in the period Amity had the momentum and the lead at 40-36. Mike Foley (5 rebounds) and Kevin Foy began to crash the boards for the Panthers allowing Harris to put down five points in the closing minutes that tied the game at 43-43 going into the final period.
Amity went ahead 50-45 on a three pointer from Ratliff. Three times Pomperaug got it down to a one-possession game when Pelella hit a pull-up jumper in the lane, Makris threw down a thunderous dunk and Harris tossed in a put back to make it a 58-56 deficit with 1:58 to go.
Amity used its third back door play with Ratliff firing a pass at the top of the key to Zach Campbell (14 points, 9 rebounds). As the defense collapsed around him Campbell slipped a pass to a wide open Kochiss down on the baseline to open up a 60-56 lead with: 42 seconds to play.
Pelella went down the lane to cut the deficit at 60-58 only to have Amity hit on 5 of 6 at the charity stripe to put the game away.
The 5-3 Panthers will be back in action on Tuesday at New Fairfield as they try and put a halt to the two game slide. Pomperaug will host Naugatuck on Wednesday and Brookfield on Friday closing out the first half of the season.
