Career spoiled the head coaching debut of Hillhouse coach Renard Sutton as the Panthers upset the Academics 63-58 at the New Haven Athletic Center Wednesday night.
Kevin Hoff had 21 points for the Panthers, who led 63-41 at halftime, then withstood a run by the Academics, whow ere led by Freddie Wilson's 16 points. Problem was no one else reached double figures.
I'd be willing to bet Career coach Larry Kelley had his guys very motivated. They needed look no further than Wednesday's Register to see Hillhouse ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll. This is the first time Career beat Hillhouse since 2004.
The underlying story here are a handful of Kelley's players from last year who transferred to other schools, including Drew Crudup, who played for Hillhouse Wednesday, scoring seven points.
Hillhouse will need to rebound pretty quick - the first of two games agiainst Wilbur Cross is Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Athletic Center.

In another game, No. 2 New London beat Stratford 67-61 in a rematch of last year's final, won by Stratford. This was the back end of a home-and-home series with Stratford beating New London in last year's season opener. New London showed already why it has the state's best backcourt - Torin Childs-Harris and Kriss Dunn combined for 51 points. Tommy Bajda had 28 to lead Stratford.