WEATHERSFIELD — McDonald’s Blue Devils faced an uphill battle in Saturday’s Division VII, Northeast 1, district final at Mineral Ridge High School, where they were down by 22 points in the third quarter. Despite a valiant effort in the fourth, the Blue Devils were unable to overcome the deficit, suffering their second and final loss of the season in a 80-70 defeat to No. 5 Jeromesville Hillsdale.

Fourth Quarter Surge Falters

The Blue Devils, who had gone undefeated through 21 games this season, found themselves trailing by 22 points in the third quarter. However, they managed to chip away at the deficit in the final quarter, cutting it to as few as seven points. Despite this, they were unable to complete the comeback, with Hillsdale holding on for the victory.

McDonald’s head coach James Franceschelli acknowledged the team’s effort, saying, ‘They’re pretty good, they really are. Coach [Ben] Ferguson does a great job. We knew this was going to be a battle all night, and we dug ourselves a pretty big hole there, but give our guys some credit there. We cut it to eight a couple times, six maybe once and scored 32 points in the fourth quarter. If we could have done that all along, probably would have finished a little bit better here.’

The first quarter was relatively balanced, with both teams trading baskets. Hillsdale, however, showed its offensive prowess early, hitting three 3-pointers in the quarter, including two by Lowen Ferguson, who finished the game with a game-high 30 points. McDonald managed just one three-pointer in the quarter, courtesy of Joey Cappuzzello, who hit a deep shot at the buzzer to bring his team within two points.

Second Quarter Intensity Rises

Hillsdale began the second quarter on a 9-2 run, briefly extending their lead to nine points. McDonald responded with two three-pointers, but the scoring slowed as the game became more physical. Only three points were scored in the final 1:55 of the half, with both teams showing increasing intensity and trash talk.

At halftime, Hillsdale led 32-24. The Falcons continued their dominance in the third quarter, building their lead to 60-38 with just eight minutes remaining in the game. McDonald managed to score two of the first three baskets in the period, but Hillsdale countered with a 10-0 run over a two-minute span.

Despite a brief resurgence in the third quarter, McDonald was unable to close the gap significantly. With 4:29 left in the quarter, they ended their scoring drought, but Hillsdale continued to extend their lead, scoring seven straight points to end the quarter. A last-second layup by Hayden McFadden extended the Falcons’ lead to 60-38 with only eight minutes remaining.

Fourth Quarter Comeback Attempts

Facing elimination, McDonald resorted to a full-court press in the fourth quarter, which quickly paid off. Within 75 seconds, the deficit was cut to 18 points. However, the momentum quickly stalled, with Hillsdale still leading 64-45 with 4:45 remaining in the game.

Things clicked into place for McDonald after that. Brady Klockner opened the scoring with a three-pointer, followed by Casey Miller, who hit a triple and a layup. After a timeout, Miller scored again, cutting the deficit to 13 points. Following a Falcons turnover, Joshua Krumpak converted a three-point play, beginning a run of seven straight points for the Blue Devils. Krumpak’s three-pointer after Miller forced a turnover made it a 69-62 game with 2:01 remaining.

Despite the momentum, the comeback fizzled out in the final moments. Krumpak fouled out shortly after his string of buckets, and Cappuzzello missed a three-pointer. A critical foul by McDonald while going for a rebound gave Hillsdale a chance to make up for their missed shots, which they did. The error was compounded by a pair of missed free throws by Cappuzzello, effectively ending the game with less than a minute to go.

Franceschelli acknowledged the challenges his team faced, saying, ‘We wish we could have went to the press a little bit earlier, but playing seven guys with [Brenden] Emerick down tonight, it just wasn’t feasible to be able to do it the whole game.’

Cappuzzello played all 32 minutes Saturday after barely playing in the Blue Devils’ district semifinal win vs. Badger due to a lingering elbow issue. Meanwhile, Emerick, a fellow senior starter, did not dress against Hillsdale due to a shoulder injury that had limited him for the last few weeks.

On the night, Krumpak led McDonald with 18 points. Miller added 15, while Zajack and Cappuzzello had 12 and 11, respectively. Lowen Ferguson scored a game-high 30 points.

With the loss, McDonald finished the season with a 23-2 record. The Blue Devils won the first 21 games of the year before suffering a 72-48 road loss to Lake Center Christian in their regular-season finale. They then defeated Waterloo and Badger to earn a spot in Saturday’s Northeast 1 district final.

‘I’m so proud of our seniors,’ Franceschelli said. ‘What they’ve done for us and this program going forward, it’s remarkable. … I just love those guys, and we’re going to miss them so much. But what they’ve done is set the foundation for the future, so we got to just build on it, keep going here. But man, I love those guys, and I’m going to miss them, there’s no doubt about it.’