New Britain herald., 1930-04-23

In a sensational and hotly con- tested battle, featured by brilliant floor work and thrilling baskets, the fast travelling First Lutheran quin- tet of this city suffered a 32 to 31 defeat at the hands of the Central Baptist five of Hartford last evening at the local "" gymnasium but it earned the right to enter the finals for the inter-church state cham pionship by scoring five-p point margin in the two-game series with the Insurance City aggregation. New Britain, state champ of 1s2s-1s2s, will meet the First Baptist church five of Meriden for this years title some night this week on a neutral floor, probably in Middletown. The locals are favorites to retain their title.
 A large crowd watched the Hart ford aggregation outplay New Brit ain for the greater part of the game and was given thrill after thrill as a game and hard-hghting New Brit ain team staged a brilliant come- back in the final period to hold its opponents to two points while SCOT ing ten counters itself. This last quarter stand of the local quintet brought the crowd to its feet time after time as the result of thrilling baskets. For the greater part of the battle, the Hartford team was cut in front by at least 10 points, kIyt o never die spirit of the local aggre- gation came to the fore and grabbed the game out of the fire.
 The first quarter was a torrid ses- sion with the score changing on al- most every play. Hartford started off fast in the first minute and caged two hoops in quick succession. The Lutherans came back strong and finally went into the lead on bril- liant shot by "Huggy" Carlson. The game speeded up considerably and the first period whistle found the two teams tied at nine-all.
 The Baptists started a great at- tack on the Lutherans' basket in the second quarter and outplayed the local team completely through out the session. New Britain seem- ed powerless to stop the scouting Hartford players and when the per- iod ended, the visitors were leading by 8 q to 12 score.
 The beginning of the third period found the Baptists still going strong and the score was soon 24 to 14. About the middle of the third per- iod the New Britain players began to fight like wild men and became veritable ball hawks, devoting all their efforts to getting possession of the sphere. Hartford was forced or the defensive, but managed to hold a 30 to 21 lead when the whistle ended the period.
 Final Period Rally
 With disaster and hopeless defeat facing them, the Lutherans showed their best form in the final period and proved to the fans that they were a courageous team. At the pace that Hartford had been travelling, many teams would have folded up without fight but not the Luther ans. Hoist started the fireworks with a beautiful shot a half minute after the period started. Erickson brought the house to its feet by following with another hoop a few seconds la- ter. AS New Britain had started the game with a six-point advantage. Erickson's basket left the score at 30 to 24, making the two teams actu- ally tied.
 Nyborg was fouled in the act of shooting and made both tries good, putting New Britain two points ahead. A Hartford man followed with a foul shot and the lead was cut to one point. Nyborg and Brick son then clinched the series for the Lutherans by coming through with two much needed baskets near the