49°
The St. Luke's boys basketball team trailed by as many as 17 points late in the first half against Hopkins (New Haven) on Monday night, then came all the way back to tie it up. But the time spent scratching and clawing to pull the game to even seemed to suck the life out of the Storm as Hopkins regained the lead and refused to relinquish it. It was St. Luke's first loss of the season 62-56, and its home opener.
St. Luke's came out refocused in the second half, employing a full-court press and drawing fouls to get to the line. The Storm started the half on a 20-8 run, bringing the game even at 38 on a three-pointer by sophomore Jackson Prince. The comeback sent the enthusiastic home crowd into a frenzy, but St. Luke's could not take the lead. The Storm got into foul trouble of its own as Hopkins began to pull away.
"I've seen a thousand games and it always seems to be the case where you use all your energy to come back and you try to keep the momentum," St. Luke's head coach Brian Kriftcher said. "You give a team like that one or two extra possessions and the game ends."
Steven Johnston netted 12 of his team-high 16 points during the comeback. Josh Dugas and Brandon Yarborough each had 13 points. Hopkins' Lucas Hausman was simply too much for St. Luke's, scoring 21 points and coming up with an answer to every comeback.
"Some nights things go one way and other night they go another," Johnston said. "The great thing about basketball is that there are a lot of games and we can look to improve every day."
St. Luke's falls to 2-1 on the year in the Fairchester Athletic Association. The Storm will have to regroup quickly as its travels to Rye Country Day for a matchup at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Click here to follow Daily Voice New Canaan and receive free news updates.
