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02/12/2017 11:00 PMOne week after clinching a share of the Quinnipiac Division title, the East Haven girls’ basketball team captured the crown outright by earning a 67-52 home victory versus WIlbur Cross on Feb. 7. Last year, the Yellowjackets shared the Oronoque Division title before the SCC’s realignment sent them to the Quinnipiac this season. The win over Cross put East Haven’s divisional record at 7-1.
“We tied with Career last year and the year before that we lost by one game. This year, we won it outright, so we’ve had a piece or won it the last two years and that’s a nice accomplishment for the program,” Head Coach Anthony Russell said.
The victory also completed a season sweep of Cross for the Yellowjackets, who had previously defeated the up-and-coming Governors by the same 67-52 final on road on Jan. 17. Unfortunately, this win came at a cost as junior Olivia Coyle was unable to finish the game after suffering a torn meniscus.
“We know the meniscus is torn, but we don’t know the extent of it yet,” Russell said. “Right now, she’s out for the rest of the regular season and the SCC Tournament. Depending on the nature of the tear, she could be out for the entire season. Losing those 15 to 16 points, five to six rebounds, and four to five assists will be tough shoes to fill.”
Junior Kylie Schlottman scored a game-high 22 points for the Easties in the win against Cross. Freshman Alexis Pendziwater scored 14 points and senior Haley Capozzo added 10. Although the Easties came away with the victory, Coach Russell made it a point to address going forward without Coyle to his team shortly thereafter.
“The first thing we addressed was the mental aspect. We let them know that we can still be successful if we collectively absorb some of the statistics she puts forth,” he said. “If we can get an extra basket or two out of a few extra kids, if they can hit the glass a little harder, hopefully, we can kind of cancel out what she does. It’s tough to do something like that when you lose someone that aggressive. It’s tough to replace.”
Four days after beating Cross, East Haven lost to Lauralton Hall in Milford by a 45-40 score. Pendziwater started in Coyle’s absence, while juniors Marley Herard, Haley Montesanto, and Jess Stettinger all saw increased minutes. East Haven was playing well and held a 27-18 lead at halftime, but let the game get away in the final quarter. The Yellowjackets dropped to 15-4 overall with the loss.
“We actually didn’t score a basket for the last 12 minutes of the game. At the four-minute mark of the third, we were up 14 points. From that point on, we scored two points on free throws,” Russell said. “If you look at the box score, only scoring 40 points is significantly lower than our team average. We’re usually around 50 or 60 and we hold our opponents to the mid 40s, which we did. We just got very tentative late in the game.”
Lauralton outscored East Haven 13-2 in the fourth quarter and forced 10 of East Haven’s 16 turnovers in the final eight minutes. East Haven’s strategy was to force the ball down low to Schlottman, who finished with 21 points.
“That’s exactly what we did [against Lauralton]. We tried to punch it inside, especially late in the game when it was tight and we were down,” Russell said. “I thought getting it inside to her was something we were consistently doing, but Lauralton did good bearing down on her, and closed on our perimeter shooters when we did kick it out. Kudos to them for having a good defensive game-plan and executing it.”
East Haven wraps up the regular season with a home game against Branford. Coach Russell knows that it’s an important game for his team’s seeding in both the SCC and Class M State tournaments.
“We started off so well, going 12-1 in our first 13 games and, in our last six, we’re playing .500 basketball. We went from second in Class M to eighth and we can drop to 11 if we lose. We went from second in the SCC to right now in limbo if we’re even going to get a home game, so there’s a lot at stake,” Russell said. “I hope it gives them increased motivation...There should be some incentive for us to get back on the winning track before the postseason. You don’t want to end the regular season on a sour note. You want to end on a positive note and take that momentum into the playoffs.”
The Yellowjackets open play in the SCC Tournament with a first round game on Thursday, Feb. 16. The quarterfinals are at Sheehan on Saturday, Feb. 18; the semis take place at Law on Monday, Feb. 20; and the championship game is at East Haven High School on Wednesday, Feb. 22. East Haven opens play in states the following week.