The Hornets' boys' basketball squad took on North Haven in a rematch of a defensive duel the Indians won by three last month. Once again, the division rivals engaged in a low-scoring battle, except this time there was one major difference: Branford emerged victorious.

Jake Palluzzi's squad exacted that revenge in front of a packed house at the MacVeigh Complex on Feb. 4, using a big third-quarter run to turn a one-point deficit into a nine-point lead en route to a 49-38 triumph that capped off a week which saw Branford win all three of its games in improving to 12-4 overall and 4-4 in the SCC Oronoque.

"We're in a good place right now and the kids did a great job of winning three games this week, two which came against teams who beat us the first time," said Palluzzi of his team's 55-50 revenge win against Cross and 81-28 defeat of Law. "Tonight wasn't the prettiest game, but we hit some big shots when we needed them-especially Connor Moriarty-and Sam Poryanda and Nick Dummar did a great job of defending their top scorer Billy McDonald in the second half."

After McDonald hit a lay-up which gave North Haven a 22-21 lead with 4:55 left in the third quarter, Dylan Palluzzi hit a three from the corner to return the edge to Branford, followed by the first of Moriarty's key shots, a jumper which made it 26-22 with 3:20 remaining. Palluzzi then snagged a steal which led to a reverse lay-up from senior guard Seth Karlins, after which Moriarty drained a three from the side, and then Palluzzi's steal and lay-up capped the 12-2 run which had Branford up 33-24. Although McDonald hit a three the buzzer, Moriarty and Palluzzi responded by swishing their own three-pointers to start the fourth and the Hornets never looked back. Of the 20 points McDonald scored for the Indians (8-7, 3-4), only seven came in the second half for the senior captain forward.

"We wanted to try and stop McDonald as much as we could, and overall, we contained him in the second half," said Dylan Palluzzi, the Hornets' point guard.

Palluzzi recorded 14 points with five steals for Branford and fellow senior captain Nick Dummar, a guard, scored 10. The Hornets' other senior captain, center Sam Poryanda, netted five points to go with 10 rebounds, and additionally for the Hornets, Moriarty scored 13 points, Karlins scored four with five assists, asenior forward Zac Cast scored three, and junior point guard Jeff Mahon also contributed to the revenge victory

"Losing a close game [44-41] to North Haven last time motivated us to come out and win this one," said Dummar. "We had good looks all game and then they started to fall in the third quarter."

The first quarter saw both teams struggle to establish offense as the frame ended with North Haven ahead 7-6. A Palluzzi three, Moriarty's lay-up on a long pass from Karlins, and two Moriarty free throws accounted for Branford's scoring in that frame. Then in the second, Cast hit a three that tied the game at 9-9, followed by two Dummar lay-ups and a Moriarty jump shot that had Branford up 15-11 with 3:23 to go until halftime. Poryanda then made a lay-up and the Hornets took a slim 17-16 advantage to the locker room.

Poryanda hit another lay-up, after which Palluzzi made a runner and Branford led 21-18 before sophomore Josh Lopez and McDonald hit shots to put the Indians up 22-21, although that would be the last time Pete Civitello's squad led in the game. That's because the Hornets embarked on their 12-2 spurt to end the third, followed by threes from Palluzzi and Moriarty to make it 39-28 with 5:25 left in the game. Karlins then hit a lay-up, Moriarty made two free throws, Palluzzi reeled in a steal that led to a pair of free throws by Dummar, and then Dummar notched his own steal to seal the deal for the Hornets.

"We've developed good chemistry on this team through playing in the summer and fall leagues," said Dylan Palluzzi. "Now we're going to try and finish with as many wins as possible to get good seeds in the SCC and state tournaments."

In the Hornets' earlier victory versus Cross, Dummar scored 17, Poryanda had 13 points with 14 boards, Palluzzi scored 13 with eight assists and three steals, Moriarty had four points with four steals, Karlins scored six with two assists, and Cast had two points with three assists.

In previous week's action, Branford dropped a 64-60 overtime decision to Career, a game which saw Dummar score 19 points and Poryanda post eight points with 18 rebounds for the Hornets, who were further aided by Palluzzi (13 points, 6 assists, 4 steals), Moriarty (7 points, 4 assists, 4 steals), Karlins (6 points), and Cast (4 points).

"We played a hard-fought contest at Career, the 4th-ranked team in the state, showing that we can play with anybody in the state and have a chance to win," Coach Palluzzi said. "I was proud of how hard the kids competed and then we won and important Oronoque game against Cross."