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01/21/2017 11:00 PMBoys’ Basketball
The North Haven boys’ basketball squad split a pair of games last week and now owns a record of 4-6 for the year. The Indians started things off by posting a 66-55 home victory versus Housatonic Division opponent Hand on Jan. 17. Then on Jan. 20. Head Coach Justin Falcon’s team traveled to Wallingford to tip off against Sheehan and dropped a 51-36 decision.
Sophomore Jarrod Sancho had a huge night by nailing 13 field goals en route to a 28-point performance when the Indians defeated Hand to improve to 2-2 in Housatonic action. The Indians trailed 23-19 at halftime, but outscored the Tigers 14-6 in the third quarter, and then won the fourth quarter by a 33-26 margin to solidify the 11-point victory. Jack Steinman scored 16 points, Mike Gagliardi had seven points, and Ethan Okwuosa had six points to aid North Haven.
“It was a good win for the team. We really needed it,” said Coach Falcon. “The kids came out with energy in the second half. The guys who came off the bench really stepped up and made a difference.”
Against Sheehan, the Indians were only down 18-17 at halftime, but were outscored 33-19 in the second half, and took a 51-36 defeat. Sancho scored 18 points to lead North Haven, while Preston Young contributed eight points in the loss.
Girls’ Basketball
The Indians dropped two games on the road in Oronoque Division action last week before prevailing at Coginchaug in a non-conference contest for their second win of the season.
North Haven opened the week with a matchup at Hillhouse and lost a 57-24 decision in New Haven on Jan. 17. Jessica McInnis scored nine points to lead the Indians.
Two nights later, North Haven went to Milford for a game against Law and lost by a 64-31 final. Ariana DelVecchio netted 13 points for Head Coach Ray Degnan’s club.
The Indians closed the week by facing Shoreline Conference opponent Coginchaug in Durham on the afternoon of Jan. 21. North Haven prevailed by a 57-53 margin to stand at 2-11 for the season.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
The Blades’ girls’ ice hockey squad faced off against Simsbury at The Rinks at Shelton on Jan. 19 and emerged with a 3-1 home victory over their SCC Division I foe. Amity-North Haven-Cheshire is now 7-5 on the campaign.
The Blades scored all three of their goals in the first period in the win versus Simsbury. Cheshire’s Meghan Hogan scored the first goal, Amity’s Haley Cable netted the second on an assist from North Haven’s Melissa Montesi, and then Cable assisted fellow Amity student Grace Kosh for the third goal. Amity’s Andrea DelVecchio made 36 saves in net for the Blades.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
North Haven lost both of its games last week to drop to 1-8 on the year.
On Jan. 18, the Indians hosted SCC/SWC Division II opponent Guilford and took a 7-1 loss at Northford Ice Pavilion. With North Haven trailing 1-0 in the first period, Jake Wentworth converted a power play goal on an assist by CJ Kenny to make it a 1-1 game through one. However, Guilford scored three goals in both the second and third periods on its way to the victory.
Three days later, North Haven faced off against SCC/SWC Division I squad East Catholic at the Champions Skating Center in Cromwell and lost 4-1.
Boys’ Indoor Track
Omar Gebril took first place for North Haven in the 600-meter run at the SCC Coaches Invitational at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Jan. 21.
Gebril, a senior, ran a time of 1:25.86 to defeat runner-up Marcus Manson of Windsor, whose time was 1:26.15. Gebril also posted a sixth-place finish in the 600 (37.47) for the Indians, who scored 15 points to place 17th out of 42 teams at the meet. Additionally, senior Eric Milliard placed seventh in the shot put with a distance of 41 feet-9 inches.
Previously, on Jan. 17, the Indians were represented at the SCC Novice Meet, which took place at the same site. Sophomore Jianni Snipes ran a time of 7.11 in the preliminaries of the 55 and then won the event by going 7.10 for the final. Snipes also took second in the 300 with a 40.19. Sophomore Robert Farley took first place in the 55 hurdles by running 8.93 seconds in the final after crossing the finish line in 9.0 seconds for the preliminaries. Freshman Kyle Maruca prevailed in the shot put behind a toss of 37-10.75. Also, freshman Evan Schweickert placed third in the 1,000 (2:57.56), while sophomore Jobin Valiyaveettil took third in the 3,200 at 11:45.23.
Girls’ Indoor Track
Sophomore Sarah Vanacore took third place in the shot put behind a throw of 36 feet-5 inches to lead the Indians at last week’s SCC Coaches Invitational. As a team, North Haven scored 14 points and placed 17th among 40 clubs.
Additionally at the meet, senior Elise Symon ran a time of 5:28.10 to take fourth place in the 1,600-meter run for North Haven. Junior Ashley Brown finished eighth in the 300-meter dash at 44.60 seconds. Also, the Indians’ 4x800 relay of Symon, fellow seniors Maily Tran and Elya Paolillo, and junior Macey DiCarlo claimed seventh place with a mark of 10:39.32.
Earlier in the week, North Haven saw several athletes compete at the SCC Novice Meet. Junior Jacqui Weaver placed second in the pole vault at 6-6 for the Indians. Sophomore Sarina Torres was first for the preliminaries of the 55 hurdles with a time of 10.87 and finished second for the finals at 10.81.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
The North Haven boys’ swimming and diving squad competed against Hamden on Jan. 17 and lost a 95-81 decision at Gawrych Town Pool. The Indians are now 2-3 this season.
Even with the defeat, Head Coach Martha Phelan noted that a slew of lifetime-best performances were recorded by her athletes. Posting lifetime bests for North Haven were Kevin Powers in the 200 individual medley (2:28.76) and the 100 butterfly (1:05.79), Stephen Borrelli in the 50 freestyle (29.26) and 100 breaststroke (1:33.92), JP Stoeffler for the 50 free (23.44) and 100 free (53.31), Will McCleery in the 100 backstroke (1:03.16) and the 500 free (5:19.29), plus Marcus Zikaras in the backstroke (1:17.90) and 500 free (6:35.21). Carlo Frunzio posted a lifetime-best mark of 2:20.53 in the 200 IM and went a season-best 1:13.72 in the breaststroke. Riley Powell’s time of 57.51 in the 100 freestyle marked a lifetime best and he also swam a season-best time of 1:13.59 in the breaststroke. The Indians also saw two relays turn in season-best performances. The 200 medley relay of McCleery, Powell, Powers, and Stoeffler did so with a time of 1:53.42. North Haven’s 200 freestyle relay of Jack Hildebrandt, Frunzio, Powell, and Ryan Tanguay recorded a season-best mark of 1:45.16 against Hamden.
“Despite our loss, the team had incredible energy and posted great times,” Coach Phelan said. “It’s a good indicator that the team continues to perform so well at this time of year, when our training is demanding.”
North Haven is hosting its annual Lion Heart Lap-a-Thon fundraising event for breast cancer research at Gawrych Town Pool at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 27. According to Coach Phelan, the Southern Connecticut Conference was planning to abolish this year’s SCC Qualifier due to financial constraints. However, the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven donated $5,000 to underwrite the cost of the SCC Qualifier and, in return, each boys’ swim team in the conference is holding a Lap-a-Thon fundraiser for the Lion Heart foundation. The SCC’s girls’ swimming teams did this last fall and collectively raised $33,000 that contributed to the 2016 total of $145,000—100 percent of which goes toward research at Yale. To make a donation to this cause, visit www.lionheart.kintera.org.
“It is a great example of community coming together to make a difference,” said Phelan.