Printer Friendly Version - Duby Breaks North Haven's 40-Year-Old Diving Record; Blades Playing Great Entering SCC Tourney

Senior Kyle Duby scored a 256.85 in the diving competition for the Indians last week to break a school record that had stood for four decades. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

Senior diver Kyle Duby posted a score of 256.85 points in a recent meet for the North Haven boys’ swimming and diving team to not only set his lifetime-best mark, but also break a school record that had stood for 40 years. As a team. the Indians hosted two meets at Gawrych Town Pool last week and took two defeats to move to 3-7. North Haven took a 90.5-84.5 loss to SCC opponent Xavier on Feb. 13 and then dropped a 90-85 contest against non-conference squad Haddam-Killingworth on Feb. 17. Duby broke the school record during the Indians’ Senior Night meet versus Xavier.

The following athletes also recorded lifetime-best marks between these two meets: sophomore Will McCleery in the 200 individual medley (2:18.93), 100 backstroke (1:01.07), and 500 freestyle (5:18.34); junior Riley Powell in the 100 free (56.78), sophomore Tommy O’Connor in the 50 free (26.50) and 100 free (58.31), freshman Carlo Frunzio in the 200 IM (2:18.02), 500 free (5:42.91), and 100 breaststroke (1:10.85); and senior Jack Hildebrandt in the 100 backstroke with a 1:04.26.

“Although we didn’t secure these two wins, I am thrilled we remained in contention through the last event,” Head Coach Martha Phelan said. “Even with a small squad, we have been able to compete with teams that in past years outmatched our ability”

North Haven is competing at the SCC Championship this week. The Swimming Qualifier is at Cheshire Town Pool at 4 p.m. on Monday. Feb. 27; the Diving Championship takes place at Hamden High School at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28: and the SCC Swimming Championship will be held at Southern Connecticut State University at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1.

The Blades had packed schedule with six games in as many days last week and came away with four wins to finish the regular season at 13-6-1 overall and 8-2-1 in SCC Division II play. Amity-North Haven-Cheshire (A-NH-C) is competing in this week’s SCC Division II Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will host No. 3 Hand for a semifinal game at The Rinks at Shelton at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 20. With a victory, the Blades would face the winner of West Haven-Sacred Heart Academy (WH-SHA) and Notre Dame-Fairfield/Foran for the title at Bennett Rink on Friday, Feb. 24. The Blades won last year’s title by defeating WH-SHA 2-1.

The Blades began last week by doubling up Guilford 12-6 at home on Feb. 14. The Blades scored four goals in the first period, five in the second, and three in the third. Shannon Reilly scored two goals and had an assist, Melissa Montesi scored a goal and handed out three assists, Jackie Howlett and Kiley Degrand both had a goal with an assist, plus Kyle DelVecchio and Katelyn St. Peter added assists.

The following night, A-NH-C had another SCC Division II matchup versus Hand at Northford Ice Pavilion and emerged with a 3-1 win. Hand led 1-0 after one before the Blades struck three times in the third. Reilly scored from Howlett just 48 seconds in to tie the game at 1-1. A minute and a half later, Haley Cable netted an unassisted goal to put the Blades up 2-1. With 30 seconds left, Howlett put the game away with a goal that gave the Blades a 3-1 advantage.

On Feb. 16, the Blades traveled to the Newington Ice Rink to face defending SCC Division I champion East Catholic-Glastonbury-South Windsor (EC-G-SW) and prevailed 2-1. The Blades got on the board first when Reilly scored from Nadia DeNatale with four minutes left in the first period. In the second period, Bailey McNamara scored from Degrand and Tess Cesjka to extend the lead to 2-0. EG-G-SW scored late in the frame to make it 2-1, but the Blades held their opponent in check the rest of the way, and came home with a one-goal victory.

The night after that, the Blades took a 4-1 loss to non-conference opponent New Canaan at the Darien Ice House.

On Feb. 18, the Blades took on West Haven-Sacred Heart Academy at Bennett Rink and the two clubs skated to a 0-0 tie. Andrea DelVecchio, a sophomore at Amity, made 58 saves in net.

The Blades wrapped up their busy stretch by hosting SCC DII opponent Masuk-Newtown-Barlow-Oxford on Feb. 19 and claimed a 5-2 victory in their regular season finale. Montesi and Degrand both scored goals in the win.

The Indians only played one game last week when they faced Guilford at DiLungo Rink in East Haven on Feb. 15. North Haven took a 6-2 loss to its SCC Division II foe and is now 4-13.

CJ Kenny scored North Haven’s first goal from Jamie Montesi and Sam Pethick. Later in the game, Pethick found the back of the net with Kenny getting the assist. North Haven trailed 3-2 early in the second period before Guilford scored the last three goals.

North Haven is riding a five-game winning streak after posting a pair of recent victories to stand at 10-9. On Feb. 15, the Indians hosted Law and won 71-62. Two days later, North Haven played Branford on the road and prevailed 41-37. The Indians open play in the SCC Tournament on Thursday, Feb. 23 and would need to win three games to make the final, which takes place at Quinnipiac University at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1.

Against Law, Mike Gagliardi shot 9-of-13 for 18 points to lead the Indians. Jack Steinman scored 14 points, while Ethan Okwuosa had 10. Preston Young (9 points), Anthony Beretta (7), Tom Myjak (6), and Tom Dodge were the team’s next leading scorers.

In the Branford game, Okwuosa scored 12 points, Jack Steinman had 10 points, and Jared Sancho scored eight to lead the Indians to the four-point victory.

Kiley Degrand (left), Melissa Montesi, and the Biades picked up a few victories last week and are playing some solid hockey as the postseason approaches. Visit Zip06.com to see more photos from the team’s win versus Guilford last week. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier