Hall shows no fear in win over rival Princeton

SPRING VALLEY - Hall boys basketball coach Mike Filippini feels his Red Devils have been intimidated by Princeton at times due to the Tigers’ success over the last several seasons.

Not anymore.

“We’re not scared of them,” Hall senior Wyatt West said. “We’ve gotten better. My teammates come out here to play hard and I believe in all of them.”

The Red Devils showed their lack of fear Friday.

Hall built a 14-point lead in the third quarter and held off a late Princeton charge to earn a 62-54 Three Rivers Conference East Division victory in front of packed house at Hall.

“The gym was packed, it was loud, it was emotional,” Filippini said. “That’s what rivalry games are supposed to be like.

“Princeton’s had a lot of success in the postseason the past five-six years. Our kids are finally not afraid. There was probably a time we were a little bit intimidated to play them because they were so good. Our kids deserve the win. I can’t say enough good things about them.”

It was Hall’s second win over the Tigers this season after beating them 56-46 during the Colmone Classic when Princeton was without star forward Noah LaPorte.

“The first three quarters looked like we’re not the most physical team in the world,” Princeton coach Jason Smith said. “We took three quarters off. We just lost to a better team. They’re playing a lot better than we are right now. They’re a better basketball team right now. We strike to be as good as they are come postseason because right now they pretty much own us going 2-0 against us so far. Until we can match their physicality, that’s going to continue to happen.”

LaPorte played for Princeton this time against Hall, and the Red Devils played physical defense on him and the rest of the Tigers.

The 6-foot-6 Northwestern football recruit scored six points in the first quarter as the Tigers and Red Devils were tied.

LaPorte was held to just two points in the second quarter as Hall outscored Princeton 16-7 to build a 26-17 halftime lead.

LaPorte got going in the second half, finishing with a game-high 28 points. He scored 13 points in the third quarter and seven in the fourth.

Jordan Reinhardt scored 11 points before leaving with an injury and no other Tiger scored more than five points.

“We won the game with our defense,” Filippini said. “We had all kinds of plans and ideas to combat (LaPorte), but not one of them worked. It almost got to the point where we just let him do what he needed and we tried to stop everybody else, which I thought we did. It was our man-to-man defense. We don’t have a kid over 6-1, but we play great man-to-man. We’ve done it all year.

“Luke Bryant did a great job on Reinhardt. Jack Jablonski and Chace Sterling used 10 fouls (on LaPorte) and we needed to use all 10 on him. Those two kids did a great job.”

The Red Devils (9-7, 1-1 TRC East) also had several players step up offensively.

West drained five 3-pointers and scored 22 points, while Braden Curran finished with 13. Both had key baskets during an 11-2 run to close the first half that gave the Red Devils the lead for good.

West sank a 3 off a pass from Greyson Bickett, who was under intense pressure, to give Hall a 45-34 lead with 6:34 left in the fourth and later scored a layup as he got behind the Tiger press for a long pass.

“My teammates were telling me to shoot it all night,” West said. “I felt the first one going in so I knew it was going to be a good night.”

While West and Curran did the bulk of the scoring, others made crucial contributions as well.

Bickett handled the ball against Princeton’s pressure and made 6 of 6 free throws in the fourth, while Aiden Redcliff came off the bench to make a key layup in the fourth.

The Tigers (7-9, 2-2) came back in the fourth as a three-point play by LaPorte pulled them within 51-48 with 2:43 left and a 3 by Jackson Mason made it 55-53 with 2 minutes left.

But Princeton never tied or took the lead as the Red Devils made 9 of 10 free throws in the final 2:32, while Princeton finished 12 of 25 from the line.

“We played physical and we played aggressive,” Smith said about the fourth quarter. “That’s what it’s going to take for all four quarters. We made a few changes on the defensive end. Hats off to Hall. They out executed us.”