Hall coach Mike Filippini didn’t have a lot to say at halftime in Friday’s game against rival Princeton, but Braden Curran and the rest of the Red Devils got the message.

After playing a lackluster second quarter with two late points and falling behind by nine early in the third quarter, the Red Devils started to turn things around.

Hall outscored the Tigers by 13 points to close out the third quarter, ending on an 11-point run. That proved just the ticket to send the Red Devils to a 57-51 Three Rivers East win.

“Team basketball was the key for us in the second half. Everyone played hard and kept grinding,” Curran said. “We came out slow in the second quarter and knew what we had to do to win the game. Noah had a great second half and made some big baskets for us. Same with everyone who got in though tonight.

“All props to Coach (Princeton’s Jason) Smith. I’ve played four years against him now, and it’s always a fun game. But tonight defense, hard play and making shots is what won us the game.”

Hall coach Mike Filippini joked that he couldn’t divulge what he said at halftime to get the Red Devils going.

“I can’t tell you what my halftime adjustment was, because it’s not suitable for print probably,” he said. “We didn’t spend a whole lot of time in that halftime. Just told them we had to hit some shots and play better.”

Jack Oester gave the Tigers a 23-17 lead at the half with a spin move with three seconds left in the second quarter. Oester followed a putback by Gavin Lanham and a drive by Jackson Mason with a runout to give the Tigers a 29-20 lead out of the gate to start the third quarter.

The Tigers still held a 32-25 advantage after another drive by Mason and a free throw by Stihl Brokaw.

Faster than you can spell Filippini, the Red Devils roared back. Noah Plym hit a 3-pointer to get the Red Devils going, with Chace Sterling and Luke Bryant adding two hoops each to close out the 11-0 Red Devils run for a 36-32 lead.

“It wasn’t any adjustments by the coaches. It was the players. It was the same kids who stunk in the second quarter that we were proud of in the second half,” Filippini said.

“We just started started moving the ball from side to side, cutting better, looking to make passes. Normally we’re a good man-to-man team. That’s been our bread and butter all year, which is what got us to 10 wins. We could not guard Princeton (in the first half). I don’t know what happened, I feel like we were guarding them too far away from the hoop. They’ve got athletic kids, and they were beating us to the basket.”

Freshman hotshot Julian Mucha heated up for Princeton, scoring three straight treys to pull the Tigers within 42-41 halfway through the fourth.

Plym answered with a 3-pointer and Greyson Bickett a 2-pointer to help Hall stem the tide. Mucha added a fourth 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, his sixth of the night, but the Tigers could not catch up.

“That’s been the story of the year,” Smith said. “I’m extremely frustrated right now. The kids practice so hard every day, and we can’t change it from practice to the floor for all four quarters of the game, and that’s frustrating as a coach. We even practiced in our game uniform (Thursday) just to change it up a little bit and try different things.

“Sometimes I think we settle for being in games. We’re just a team that doesn’t know how to win yet. We don’t have that one guy that will step up and will us to win. It just shows with our youth and experience. And I have to do a better job coaching them up in different situations.”

Plym led the Red Devils with 16 points, all in the second half. Curran added 13 points, Bickett had 11 and Sterling 10 for the Red Devils.

“It’s nice to have four guys in double figures. That’s the team we are,” Filippini said. “We don’t have a 20-point scorer. That No. 4 (Mucha), the freshman, he’s going to be a problem the next four years. That kid’s a legit scorer. Doesn’t matter that he’s 14 years old.

“You get rid of the Grady Thompsons, the Noah LaPortes and Teegan Davises, (and now you’ve got Mucha). That kid’s going to be keeping me up at night my last four years at Hall.”

Mucha finished with 18 points for the Tigers. Oester had 13.