This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
12/22/2016 11:00 PMThe 2016 winter season saw both of the Warriors’ basketball teams persevere through some rough patches to finish their regular seasons strong, with the boys additionally securing a place in the playoffs. Elsewhere, James Whaley wrapped up his career as a Valley swimmer by turning in fine performances at a pair of postseason meets.
Boys’ Basketball
Despite graduating four of five starters from a team that won the Shoreline Conference crown and was the Class S runner-up in the preceding season, the Valley Regional boys’ basketball team was able to fight its way back to both postseason tournaments for the seventh year in a row in the 2016 winter campaign.
The Warriors needed to prevail at Haddam-Killingworth in their regular season finale to seal their berths in both tourneys and did just that by defeating the Cougars 89-79 on Feb. 22. Valley then took a 72-55 loss to Cromwell in the quarterfinals of the Shoreline Conference Tournament, followed by a 63-59 defeat against Northwest Catholic in the Class S State Tournament first round. The Warriors’ final overall record was 8-14 and the team also went 8-9 in the Shoreline Conference. One of the biggest highlights from the year came on Feb. 2, when senior captain Nash Eppard hit a buzzer-beating lay-up to stun Hyde 44-43. Eppard was an All-Shoreline Conference Second Team honoree and also selected to play in the Connecticut High School Coaches Association All-Star Game. He scored 27 points to go with 10 rebounds and five assists when Valley beat H-K to punch its State Tournament ticket.
For the season, Eppard averaged 19.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Other key contributors for Head Coach Kevin Woods’s squad were senior Raejon Gaines, who had 20 points and 10 boards in the H-K victory; along with senior captains Garrett Hines and Kelvin Peterson, junior Jordan Moran, and sophomore Colin Sparaco.
Girls’ Basketball
The Warriors welcomed a new head coach in Geoff Konstan, whose team remained in the playoff hunt for the duration of the campaign and ultimately finished with a record of 7-13.
The Warriors’ victories came against Coginchaug, Hale-Ray, Old Saybrook, Portland, North Branford, Hyde, and East Granby. The Coginchaug win was Konstan’s first as head coach and it was a 49-41 triumph for the Warriors. In Valley’s last game of the season, despite being eliminated from playoff contention, the Warriors battled hard to earn a 37-35 win against East Granby.
Sam Torrenti was the lone senior for the Warriors, whose captains were juniors Francesca Daniels and Libby Spitzschuh. Sophomore Carly Thompson was the team’s leading scorer by averaging 12.6 points per game. Thompson was named the Warriors’ Most Valuable Player and was also All-Shoreline Conference Honorable Mention. Freshman Alexis Finnerty posted an average of 12 points for Coach Konstan’s squad and won Rookie of the Year honors. Junior Brianna O’Brien was named Valley’s Defensive Player of the Year, while freshman Heather Jones won the Coaches’ Award.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
Valley Regional senior James Whaley completed his career as a Warriors’ swimmer by taking second place in two events at the Class S State Championship and then swimming both events at the State Open.
Whaley, who had won both events at the previous season’s Class S meet, earned All-State honors for the third consecutive year in the 200 IM and the second straight season in the butterfly. Whaley finished with a time of 1:56.81 in the 200 IM and recorded a mark of 52.28 in the butterfly for his two second-place performances in the Class S meet that took place at Wesleyan University on March 15. Whaley improved upon his preliminary times in both events and his time in the 200 IM was faster than in his victory at the 2015 state meet. In the butterfly, Whaley lost by only four-tenths of a second to Weston’s Stefan Garbee, who finished at 52.24. Whaley went on to place eighth in the butterfly at the State Open with a time of 52.01 and he also finished 10th in the 200 IM at that meet with a 1:57.46.
Wrestling
Senior Austin Guasp and freshman Ben Falivene represented Valley Regional at the Class S State Championship this year.
Guasp wrestled two matches in the 195-pound weight class. Falivene was seeded 16th in the 220-pound weight class and defeated Tyler Kreh of Northwestern by pin at 3:47 of the second period in his opening bout. Throughout the season, both athletes practiced with and attended meets with the team at Morgan, while scoring points for individually for Valley. Early in the year at the Griswold Invitational, Guasp won four bouts by pin to finish in third place at 195. Wrestling in a JV tournament, Falivene pinned all four of his opponents to take first place in the 212 class.
Gymnastics
Valley Regional was led by captain Melanie Lee, who was the lone senior on a team that featured six other gymnasts.
Lee was joined on the Warriors juniors Cassidy Kehlenbach and Liza Miezejeski; sophomore Emily Brucker; and freshmen Lily O’Neil, Corrine Fowler, and Mikayla Bruton. Valley’s co-head coaches were Carl Cavrell and Monica Bauer.
Boys’ Indoor Track
Valley came in 11th place at the Shoreline Conference Championship this winter.
The Warriors’ top finishers were senior Colton Kinney, who took fifth in the long jump at 19 feet-4.75 inches; and sophomore Travis Baldwin, who placed fifth in the pole vault with a height of 10-6. Kinney later placed sixth in the long jump with a distance of 19-feet-10.75 inches in the Class S State Championship.
The captains for Head Coach Chris Allegretti were seniors Arik Sypher, Kinney, and Ben Toles.
Girls’ Indoor Track
The Warriors came away with a 13th-place finish at the 2016 Shoreline Conference Championship.
Junior Maleena Frazier had the best finish by taking fourth in the high jump at 4 feet-6 inches. Sophomore Addie Byars finished ninth in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:49.25. Byars later came in 16th place (12:46.55) for the 3,200 at the Class S State Championship. Also at that meet, Frazier tied for 17th in the high jump at 4-6 and was 28th in the preliminaries of the 55-meter hurdles behind a time of 10.14 seconds.
Senior Emily Trezza was the lone captain for the Warriors, whose head coach was Brent Ali