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12/22/2016 11:00 PMThe 2016 winter season saw the legendary Joe Grippo coach his last game with the Huskies’ girls’ basketball squad, whose star guard Sami Ashton broke the school scoring record earlier in the year. Along the way, Morgan won 21 games and returned to the Shoreline final. Elsewhere, there was one other Morgan basketball player who hit a personal milestone, while girls’ track won several events at the conference championship.
Girls’ Basketball
Joe Grippo’s final season as head coach of the Morgan girls’ basketball team saw the Huskies finish with a record of 21-5 after making it to the Shoreline Conference Tournament final and the Class M State Tournament quarterfinals.
Morgan dispatched Old Lyme (69-37) and East Hampton (49-43) to advance to the Shoreline final and a contest against Cromwell, which defeated the Huskies 57-50. Then in the Class M State Tournament, Morgan beat Suffield (55-38) and Waterford (50-36) before losing to Cromwell 50-38 in the quarterfinal round.
The Huskies’ campaign featured two-time Shoreline Conference Player of the Year Sami Ashton setting the program’s all-time scoring record with 1,732 points. Ashton, a guard who averaged 25.8 points and 4.5 assists per game, broke the record when Morgan defeated Waterford in states. She was ultimately named to the Connecticut High School Coaches Association All State Team, the New Haven Register All-Area and All-State teams, and was also a unanimous First Team All-Shoreline Conference selection. Fellow senior captain Josie Sullivan averaged 14 points with 14 rebounds and also made First Team All-Conference. Riley Thompson was the other senior captain for the Huskies.
A few weeks after the season ended, Grippo announced that he was resigning as Morgan’s head coach after having held that position since 1982. He finished his career on the Huskies’ sidelines with more than 600 victories to go with two state titles and seven Shoreline Conference championships.
Boys’ Basketball
Morgan finished with a record of 10-11 for the regular season, after which the Huskies dropped a 67-53 decision at Old Saybrook in the first round of the Class S State Tournament.
Senior captain Dylan Ketch made history on Feb. 22, when he surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career in a 71-53 win versus North Branford. Ketch and Mike Murray were the captains for Head Coach Ken Beeman’s club. Ketch was Honorable Mention for the New Haven Register’s All-State Team.
Girls’ Indoor Track
Morgan snagged fourth place at the Shoreline Conference Championship and followed that with a sixth-place performance at the Class S State Championship.
At the Shoreline meet, Head Coach Mike Underwood saw several athletes prevail in their events. In the shot put, Tori Barron grabbed the gold with a throw of 34-5.5. Kate Mozzochi finished first in the 55 hurdles with a time of 8.82. Also, the team of Mozzochi, Courtney Viglione, Catlen Goss, and Courtney Carroll placed first in the 1,600 sprint medley relay (4:21.76), while the 4x400 relay featuring those same four ran a 4:15.15 to claim victory. The 4x4 later took second at states, while the sprint medley relay was third and later placed third at the State Open. Mozzochi finished third in the 55 hurdles for the Class S meet.
Boys’ Indoor Track
The Huskies posted a sixth-place showing at the Shoreline Conference Championship, a meet at which three relays finished in third place.
Doing so for Morgan were Juan Avila, Mateo Zumpano, Calvin Jackson, and Sam Hauser in the 4x200; Burton Caldwell, Justin Navarra, Zumpano, and Jackson in the 4x400; along with Avila, Navarra, Zumpano, and Al Viglione in the 1,600 sprint medley. All three relays later ran at the Class S state meet.
Wrestling
Head Coach Eric Leiss and the Huskies posted a regular season record of 14-8 and then came in 10th place at the Class S State Championship meet.
Sophomore Trevor Follo was Morgan’s top finisher by earning a fourth-place medal in the 106-pound weight class. Fellow sophomore Joe Bradley grabbed fifth at 145, while senior captain Malik Shipman was sixth at 126.
Cheerleading
Morgan competed at Class S State Championship this winter and scored 123.2 points to finish in eighth place out of 18 teams.