WEST HARTFORD — As the clock ran down, the semifinal matchup between Endow Hartford 21 and Vargas Chapman Woods neared its end.

Despite the defending champ’s run that cut VCW’s lead to under 10 points with a few minutes remaining, the game was decided in the first quarter. VCW had led by more than 20 points for most of the game. 

NEW HAVEN — Matt Knowling of Yale basketball gave a straightforward answer when asked about why it was important for him to play in the Greater Hartford Pro-Am again this year. 

WEST HARTFORD — The 25th year of the Greater Hartford Pro-Am has begun, and the league has already started filling up its new home at the University of St. Joseph, the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium.

The league’s founder, Pete Higgins, had to make a call for permission to pull out the gym’s second set of bleachers to accommodate the Sunday night crowd, one of the largest of this quarter-century celebration so far, that dismissed the rain and came out to see former Windsor High star Amir “Primo” Spears Jr. put on a show with his former high school teammate Corey McKeithan.