Panther Seniors Celebrate With Fourth Period Flurry

The Pomperaug seniors saved their best for last as they unloaded 20 points in the fourth period to hang on and defeat Joel Barlow 53-46 on Friday.

Both teams seemed to be stuck in the mud for three periods as far as offense was concerned. But in the final eight minutes the points went up on the scoreboard at a blistering pace. The 9-9 Falcons were not in a celebrating mood as they looked to spoil the 15-4 Panthers senior night throwing down 21 points in the fourth period.

Down the stretch the game was in the hands of senior guard Brent Pelella who matched his uniform number knocking in a team high 23 points to lead the Panthers to victory.

Pomperaug had a comfortable 48-39 edge after senior Tim Harris (12 points, 6 boards) took a pass from senior play maker Jake Belden (7 assists) and put one in off the window at 1:43 to go.

The Falcons staged a furious rally scoring on three straight trips down the floor on a pair at the free throw line, a steal that went coast-to-coast and with 46 ticks left on the clock, and then Tom Auer (23 points) went baseline to make it a one possession game at 48-45.

With the game hanging in the balance Pelella stepped to the free throw line three times facing one and one situations delivering on five of six shots to put the game away for the Panthers.

“I knew they were big and they would cause us a problem in the paint,” said Pomperaug head coach Dave Yachtis. “They played that match up zone to perfection and we couldn’t hit a jump shot in that first half. They are a good team and will definitely cause someone problems in the Class M division.”

As much as the Panthers struggled on offense in the first half the Falcons weren’t fairing much better. That was directly related to the inside game of seniors Andre Makris (12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks) and Kevin Foy (5 rebounds, 2 blocks).

Pomperaug took a 13-12 advantage into the second period when both offenses stopped flowing. The Falcons managed 9 points in the period while the Panthers couldn’t buy a basket putting up just 5 points and trailed 21-18 at the break.

“This was certainly a good measure for us with the tournaments coming up,” said Yachtis. “Hopefully we weren’t looking past this game. We have Notre Dame of Fairfield on Monday to decide the number one seeding in the SWC tournament. But hats off to Barlow they came in here and played there game and gave us all we could handle.”

Pomperaug came out in the third period and took back the lead on the strength of a defensive effort that allowed just 4 points vaulting the Panthers into a 33-25 advantage. The 15 points on the scoreboard by the Panthers was generated from the perimeter shooting of Pelella with two-three pointers and the final dagger coming from Makris behind the arc just before the buzzer.

“Brent (Pelella) is a finisher,” said Yachtis. “With about a minute to go he made a turnover but when the game is on the line he is the one you want with the ball. These seniors have a lot of tournament experience and I’m excited about our chances in the post season.”

Pomperaug will travel to Notre Dame of Fairfield on Monday to decide the seeding for the SWC tournament that will begin next Saturday at Pomperaug.