The state's longest winning streak has ceased to exist, courtesy of Hillhouse.
The Academics beat New London 64-61 at the Doc Hurley Classic Saturday, snapping the Whalers' 28-game winning streak.
As Hillhouse coach Renard Sutton put it in the article on nhregister.com, defense has long been the hallmark of the program. And defense the Academics played.
They forced turnovers. They forced New London ti rush shots. And most importantly, they made New London guard Kris Dunn work for every bit of his 26 points.
Andre Anderson, Bobby Bynum and Rich Bronson are part of a scary three-guard attack that is very good on both ends of the floor. But they all had turns harassing Dunn into a difficult shooting game. We also found out how much the Whalers will miss Torin-Child Harris, a two-time Register All-State selection. DeAnte Bruton filled up the stat sheet with 20 points as he was open often when the Academics went to double-team Dunn. But none of Dunn's other teammates were able to muster much offense. Dunn was able to run free last year because opponents couldn't and wouldn't abandon Harris.
Now comes part one of the city rivalry against Wilbur Cross, which dismantled Bulkeley 69-50 in the game following Hillhouse-New London. It wasn't nearly that close - Cross was up 65-32 through three quarters. The Governors are deep and look to be better than anticipated.
Will they press the Academics? How will Cross handle Hillhouse's half-court defense? It's always an offensive struggle when these two teams get together. But the Govs will have to do something New London couldn't do - or most of his opponents couldn't prevent when he led Lyman Hall to the Class L state semifinals last year - keep Bronson out of the lane. He creates havoc when he gets deep into the post.
With weapons like Anderson and Bynum on the perimeter, and some athletic big men who can finish, that makes Bronson all the more dangerous.
6 p.m. Floyd Little Athletic Center Tuesday, Dec. 20. Be there.