NEW BRITAIN - Offensively, the No. 29 Cheshire boys basketball first-round game against No. 4 New Britain couldn't have started much better.

The Rams finished the first quarter shooting 6-for-7 from the field and 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. The only problem was, as the final second ticked off the clock, they were down by eight, 24-16.

It would be that kind of night for the No. 29 Rams as the talented Hurricanes pulled away easy with a 73-45 CIAC Class LL victory on Monday night at New Britain High School.

"They're not 18-3 by accident," Cheshire coach Dan Lee said. "They are not only great basketball players, they are great athletes. We got a lot of shots tonight that we wanted. Why they didn't go in? I'm not sure. We missed our share of layups and 3-pointers."

Glowiak knew the Rams were a dangerous team after knocking off East Catholic 62-60 in the first round of Class LL action last season.

"They were hot," New Britain coach Stan Glowiak said. "I don't know if they missed a shot in the first quarter, but we had some good looks too. Our spurts were a little bit longer than theirs and the key for us - even though we had a 15-point lead - was to keep the momentum in the second half. We didn't want them to hang around because they have a bunch of guys that can shoot threes ... It played out how we wanted it to play out."

New Britain's 6-foot-5 forward Darius Watson made his presence known with two buckets to open the second period. Watson scored a game-high 21 points and was more than a handful for the Rams to handle down low - 15 of his points came in the first half.

Cheshire got the game back into single digits with a 3-pointer by Dan Manke that made the score 31-23 with 4:55 to go in the first half. After a New Britain travel, Manke had another chance from downtown and it bounced out. New Britain capitalized with a 9-2 run to end the period.

"To win a game like this we need to hit shots and need them to miss some shots," Lee said. "That's the reality of the situation ... At the end of the first half, they took a layup that we missed and came down and capitalized. That's a four-point swing. Instead of going into the locker room down 11 points, we went in down 15."

The Hurricanes (19-3) ended the third quarter on a 12-0 run to put the game well out of reach. That run ended with a steal and deep 3 by junior guard Steve Glowiak (16 points).

Center Brian DeBisschop was the Rams' best offensive weapon, tallying 17 points and 10 rebounds. The junior is someone that Lee can build on for next year's squad. But Lee said this year's seniors have left a big mark.

"We're sad to see the seniors go, but as a coach you're an eternal optimist and I think we have a great core of kids coming back again," Lee said. "You always tell your seniors to leave a legacy and I think these seniors left a legacy behind that hard work matters. Coming to practice and doing your best matters. That could mean something in the future long after they are gone. We hope it will pay dividends to the program."

Cheshire is graduating seven seniors, including their leading scorer, Billy Ragone. The point guard had seven points in Monday's loss.

New Britain moves into Wednesday's second round, when it host CCC North rival and No. 13 seed East Hartford.

Cheshire vs. New Britain boys basketball photos