This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
02/18/2014 11:00 PMGirls' Basketball
Hand finished the regular season 15-5 (7-1 in SCC Hammonasset Division) with a 56-42 win at Law on Feb. 11.
Gillian Kraemer led all scorers with 15 points with five assists while Lily Taylor scored 12 points, nine boards, three blocks, three assists, and two steals. Lauren Brandau totaled six points, 10 rebounds, and three assists and Cassidy Wygonik chipped in nine points and nine rebounds.
Playing without leading scorer Sophie Joel (concussion), Hand burst out of the gate on its way to a 19-7 first quarter advantage. Law picked up the pace in the second, but Kraemer scored seven and Taylor dropped a pair of three-pointers to take a 37-21 lead into halftime. The Tigers left their shooting touch in the locker room, getting outscored 16-7 in the third as Law closed the gap to just seven heading into the final eight minutes. The Eagles would get as close as five, but with Hand playing keep-away, Law could muster just five points in the fourth as Hand closed out the decision.
Wrestling
Hand (103.5 points) finished runner-up to Xavier (224) in the SCC Championship on Feb. 15 at Shelton. The Tigers had three finalists in Connor Sakmar (106; lost 8-0 decision), Ashton Gyenizs (138; 5-2 decision), and Ben Onofrio (160; 12-4 decision). Third-place finishers included Liam Sullivan (126), Kevin Mallon (132), and Justin Dwyer (195).
Gymnastics
Hand (16-1) scored 140.85 points to sweep a home quad-meet versus Glastonbury, Oxford, and Newtown on Feb. 11 at home before notching 113.7 the next night against Valley Regional and Haddam-Killingworth/Hale-Ray/Old Saybrook.
For the all-around, Stefani Taschner won with a 36.4 and Kendall Jerzyk followed with her 35.6. In the vault, Taschner again came in first (9.3) with Jerzyk second (8.9). For the bars, Taschner took that event (9.4), and Abby McGuirk was third (9.3), while on the beam Jerzyk won with an 8.6, plus Taschner and Maria Iennaco tied for the three spot (8.3). Finally, Taschner (9.4) and Jerzyk (9.3) again finished first and second for the floor.
Against Valley and HK/Hale-Ray/Old Saybrook, the Tigers' scorers were McGuirk (36.25 all-around, 9.35 on bars, 9.0 on floor and vault, 8.9 on beam); Erin Maxwell (33.4 all-around, 8.6 on beam, 8.4 on vault and floor); Lily Spencer (8.3 on floor, 8.0 on beam); Olivia Finke 8.1 on floor, 8.2 on vault); Julie Keenan (8.0 on vault); plus Jerzyk (8.45 on bars).
Girls' Ice Hockey
The Tigers defeated Lauralton Hall 7-0 on Feb. 12 to improve to 2-13. Mackenzie Hilton finished with three goals and an assist while Ele Schikler had a score and two helpers. Morgan Conners added three assists and Nicole Francischelli had a goal. Anna Leveroni, Haley Rodham, Kerstin Perlman each got their first varsity goals.
Skiing
Hand raced on Feb. 6 against 13 other schools with the girls finishing fifth in the competition as Melanie Rennie was third with a time of 49.06. Carly Fischer placed 13th with her time of 50.14, followed by Caitlyn Harvey (17th, 51.11). The boys finished sixth with Ethan Wilson third (46.05) while he was followed by Jared Newton (26th, 48.41) and Jeremiah Mead (43rd, 50.74).