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01/07/2017 11:00 PMGirls’ Basketball
The Hand girls' basketball team improved to 6-2 with a 62-34 victory over Lyman Hall on Jan. 4 and a 37-29 win versus Career on Jan. 5.
Facing Lyman Hall in the team's SCC Oronoque Division opener, Emma Sullivan scored a game-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds for Hand. Gabby Martin racked up 11 points, eight assists, seven steals, and four rebounds. Gabby Egidio chipped in 11 points and four rebounds. Halle Freund posted nine points, 11 rebounds, six steals, and five blocks to aid the Tigers.
Hand shot 54 percent from the floor and forced Lyman Hall into 28 turnovers in the victory. Hand jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and, although Lyman Hall scored the next five points, the Trojans never got that close again as Hand stretched the lead to 18-10 after one. Hand continue its hot shooting in the second quarter, outscoring the Trojans 14-6 behind 10 points from Egidio and Sullivan to take a 32-16 halftime lead. Lyman Hall showed some signs of life coming out of the locker room, scoring the first four points of the second half, but the host Tigers quickly righted the ship and outscored Lyman Hall 17-7 for the rest of the quarter to essentially put the game out of reach with a 49-27 lead.
"Aside from a rough stretch the final two minutes of the first half, this was the most complete game we've played to this point," said Head Coach Tim Tredwell. "We moved the ball well, found the right pass, and hit shots. Halle did a phenomenal job controlling the paint and our guards put a ton of pressure on the ball. Gabby Martin just seems to cover every inch of the court and it shows in her numbers. When we got steals and turnovers, we ran the floor well and finished. When this team is clicking, they're really fun to watch, and they were clicking tonight."
In the Career game, Gabby Martin racked up nine points, 10 rebounds, six steals, and five assists for Hand. Egidio added eight points and five rebounds, while Wohlgemuth chipped in seven points and three rebounds. Hand shot just 24 percent from the field, but out-rebounded Career 44-37 and forced the Panthers into 21 turnovers. Career jumped out to an 8-2 lead, but Hand finished the first quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 9-8 lead after one. Hand struggled to start the second and fell behind 14-9 before getting on the scoreboard with 2:24 remaining in the half. Both teams' cold shooting resulted in a 15-14 Career lead at the break.
Career then held a 21-16 lead before Wohlgemuth stepped up and scored five straight points to tie the game at 21. Career scored the last three points of the quarter to take a 24-21 lead into the final frame. In the fourth quarter, the Tigers found their defensive intensity and held Career to just five points. Multiple Tigers stepped up in the closing moments as Gabby Martin's layup and free throw put Hand up 29-26. After Career tied it at 29, Egidio's layup put Hand up for good at 31-29. Finally, with under a minute to go and the visitors clinging to a three-point lead, Sullivan hit a free throw and then came up with a layup to put the game out of reach as Hand upset the No. 8 team in the state.
"I'm incredibly proud of the toughness and heart our kids showed tonight. Coming off a night where it felt like we couldn't miss, we couldn't buy a bucket tonight," said Tredwell. "Against a quality program like Career in a hostile environment, we did a remarkable job keeping our composure down the stretch. Once again, it was a great team effort. Colleen Caruth, Halle Freund, Kaitlyn Martin, and Hannah Martin hit the boards hard and our guards kept attacking. It wasn't pretty, but it's a win our kids can and should feel good about."
Previously, on Dec. 29, Hand squared off with Thomaston and won 66-59. Gabby Martin led four Tigers in double figures with 20 points and she also posted six rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Kaitlyn Martin totaled 11 points and nine rebounds for Hand. Egidio added 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals, plus Wohlgemuth chipped in 10 points and three steals.
Hand raced out to a 16-9 first quarter lead, led by 10 points from Egidio and Gabby Martin. Thomaston hung around thanks to some prolific three-point shooting and was down 31-21 at the half. The third quarter saw a change of plan from the Bears as they pounded it inside to St. Francis-bound big Casey Carangelo. However, Hand maintained its 10-point advantage behind five points from Gabby Martin and a pair of jumpers by Emma Sullivan. Thomaston got as close as five late in the fourth, but the Tigers were solid from the free throw line and went 10-for-13 down the stretch to hold off last year's Class S state finalist.
"Going into this game, we knew Thomaston was going to be in our faces for 32 minutes. It was not a game where we could afford any lapses, no matter how brief. Add in the fact that they were routinely hitting NBA-range threes and we definitely had our hands full," said Tredwell. "I was most impressed with how we maintained our composure. There were several instances where we could have folded or broken down, but we always found a way to get a deflection or come up with a rebound or knock down a jumper when we needed it most. Starting the season with six road games against quality opponents really tells us a lot about the team we have. Surviving this meat grinder and coming out with a winning record will hopefully set us up well for the start of league play."
Boys’ Basketball
The Tigers played two games last week and dropped a pair of decisions to move to 0-6 on the season. Hand took a 56-53 loss to Branford on Jan. 3 and an 63-32 defeat versus Amity on Jan. 6.
The week before, Hand lost 54-38 to Masuk on Dec. 29.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
Hand faced off against Guilford at the Northford Ice Pavilion on Jan. 4. The Tigers recorded a 9-0 shutout against the Indians and then upped their mark to 5-2 by edging Amity-North Haven-Cheshire (A-NH-C) 3-2 in overtime on Jan. 6.
Kaitlyn Sandor had two goals and two assists versus Guilford. Nicole Lemieux added two goals and an assist, Haley Rodham notched two goals, plus Kylie Garguilo made 13 saves for the Tigers. Rodham started off the scoring on a nice pass from Ciara Halloran. Rodham's goal was followed by goals from Lemieux and Sydney Ogden with both assisted by Sandor. The first goal of the second period was from Sandor at the 10:30 mark and she netted her second goal at 13:10. Rodham and Sarah Conroy also scored goals in the second. The Tigers finished the scoring with two in the third, with the first from Grace Lavin at 1:08 and the second by Lemieux at 14:44.
On Jan. 6, Bridgette Dwyer had two goals, Rodham added a score, and Carina Mancini had 19 saves against 21 shots in the win against A-NH-C. Hand won the game on Dwyer's goal 58 seconds into overtime. The Tigers jumped out to a two-goal lead with goals from Rodham at the 4:19 mark and Dwyer with 1:55 left in the opening period. The second period was played to a draw and then A-NH-C rallied with two goals in the third to tie the game. Dwyer scored the game-winner for Hand after a strong forecheck forced a turnover by A-NH-C that went to Dwyer, who slapped the puck home for the win.
"It was a great team defensive effort. I'm particularly happy that after giving up the tying goal with only 36 seconds left and all of the momentum in Amity's favor, we never hung our heads," said Head Coach Tad McGwire. "We showed real heart at the start of overtime and dominated play until we scored the game-winner."
Boys’ Ice Hockey
The Tigers took on Guilford last week and lost a 5-3 contest on Jan. 4. The defeat put Hand’s record at 1-4 for the year.
Gymnastics
The Tigers opened their year with a matchup against Law on Jan. 5. Hand came away with a 134.8-119.95 decision to start the season at 1-0.