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01/20/2018 11:00 PMBoys’ Swimming and Diving
The North Haven boys’ swimming and diving team put together an excellent week by recording two huge victories to improve to 4-3. North Haven defeated Shelton 93-81 in a home meet at Gawrych Town Pool on Jan. 15 and then prevailed at Hamden by the score of 98-85 the following afternoon. The Indians have now won their last three meets to get above the .500 mark.
By defeating Shelton, North Haven earned a win against a SCC Division I school in a crossover meet. With the victory over Hamden, the Indians remained undefeated in their SCC Division II meets on the season. The win marked the first time that North Haven boys’ swimming earned a win versus Hamden in several decades.
“What an amazing week for North Haven. We still have four meets to go, but this team has surpassed all my expectations for this season already. I couldn’t be more proud of this humble, but determined group of athletes,” Head Coach Martha Phelan said. “North Haven has not defeated Hamden High since the early 1980s, and this meet was one of the most gratifying and exciting meets I have ever had the privilege to coach. Things are looking bright for this team, and we are determined to build on the success we have had to date.”
Several of North Haven’s athletes recorded personal-best times between the Indians’ two victories last week. Coach Phelan said the most exciting individual performance came from sophomore Stephen Borrelli, who dropped 21 seconds from his previous best time in the 500 freestyle to swim a lifetime-best mark of 5:59.78 and finish second in the event at the Hamden meet. Borrelli also posted a lifetime-best mark of 1:21.80 in the 100 breaststroke during the week.
Senior Albi Koleci swam lifetime-best marks in the 50 freestyle (26.93 seconds) and the 100 butterfly (1:08.62), and senior Riley Powell had a lifetime best of 1:10.33 in the 100 breaststroke for North Haven. JP Stoeffler recorded lifetime-best times in the 200 individual medley (2:12.85) and the 100 freestyle (50.19), while fellow junior Kevin Powers went a lifetime-best 1:02.19 in the 100 butterfly. Sophomore Carlo Frunzio turned in lifetime-best performances in both the 200 IM (2:18.18) and the 100 breaststroke (1:08.42). Freshman Cameron Cargan swam a lifetime best in the 200 freestyle (2:12.99), as well as the 100 freestyle (57.94), and freshman diver Joe O’Connor posted a lifetime-best point total of 142.45 for Coach Phelan’s club.
Boys’ Basketball
The Indians played two games last week and split the pair to move to 6-3 for the year. North Haven lost at Hand and then won big at home against Sheehan later in the week.
North Haven opened its week with a SCC Housatonic Division game at Hand and dropped a 62-43 decision versus the Tigers on Jan. 17. Senior Jared Sancho scored 13 points, sophomore Ethan Okwuosa had 11 points, and senior Jake Lafond added seven points for the Indians.
Then on Jan. 19, the Indians hosted Sheehan and routed the Titans 82-59. The Indians led 22-13 after the first quarter, held a 37-22 advantage at halftime, and then busted the game open by outscoring Sheehan 24-12 in the third quarter to bring a 61-34 lead into the fourth. Okwuosa hit nine field goals, including five three-pointers, and went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line to score 28 points in the win. Dave Christoforo and fellow sophomore RJ Hager added 13 points apiece for North Haven.
Girls’ Basketball
North Haven took a pair of home defeats in SCC Hammonasset Division play last week. The Indians lost against Hillhouse and Law to drop to 4-8 for the season.
On Jan. 16, North Haven hosted Hillhouse and lost by a 37-24 final. Senior captain Kylie Brandt scored 10 points, while sophomore Laura Petrafesa had eight points, six rebounds, and four steals for North Haven.
Two nights later, the Indians had a home game versus Law and dropped a 43-31 decision. Brandt scored 11 points, Petrafesa had nine points, and sophomore Zoi Burns added six points in the loss.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
After going several days without playing a game, the Amity-North Haven-Cheshire (A-NH-C) girls’ hockey squad was back on the ice for pair of matchups last weekend and came away with two wins. The Blades now have a record of 11-3 this winter.
A-NH-C started off by hosting Hall-Conard for a non-conference game at The Rinks at Shelton on Jan. 20 and prevailed 4-3 in overtime. Andrea DelVecchio scored the game-winning goal in OT on assists from Megan Spring and North Haven junior Shannon Reilly. DelVecchio and Cally Dixon both finished two goals on the night for the Blades, who saw North Haven senior Julianna Daddio make 23 saves in net to get the win.
The following night, A-NH-C took on West Haven-Sacred Heart Academy (WH-SHA) at Bennett Rink in West Haven and prevailed 4-1. The Blades had taken a 2-1 defeat in overtime against WH-SHA just one week prior. In the rematch, North Haven sophomore Melissa Montesi scored on an assist from Spring to give the Blades a 1-0 lead after one. The game stayed that way until WH-SHA tied it up with a goal in the third period. However, the Blades scored next three goals of the game to come away with the win. Tess Csejka scored an unassisted goal for a 2-1 lead, Dixon scored from Montesi to make it 3-1, and then Reilly put a bow on the victory by scoring from Meghan Hogan. Daddio stopped 26 shots from the opposition to pick up the victory.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
North Haven dropped a pair of recent non-conference contests on the road and now has a record of 3-6 this year.
On Jan. 16, the Indians lost a 3-0 game to Conard at Veteran’s Memorial Rink in West Hartford. To close out the week, North Haven faced off against Greenwich at Dorothy Hamill Ice Rink and lost by a 6-1 score.
Boys’ Indoor Track
North Haven saw several of its up-and-coming track and field athletes turn in notable showings at the SCC Novice Meet, which was held at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Jan. 18.
One of the biggest highlights for North Haven came in the shot put, where the Indians had four sophomores finish among the top seven. Joe Ranciato led the way by recording a toss of 37 feet-3.25 inches to finish in second place. Fellow sophomore Dominic Borrelli finished third by throwing 36-8. Matthew Mullen came in fourth place at 35-11, while Josh Blumenthal finished seventh with a throw of 34-10.75.
Junior Kevin Spencer posted a time of 10.02 seconds to finish second in the preliminaries of the 55-meter hurdles. Spencer then finished fifth in the finals with a faster time of 9.95. Junior John Crispi finished fourth in the high jump by clearing 5 feet and then took eighth place in the long jump with a distance of 17 feet. Junior Eric Spignesi cleared 9 feet to finish fourth in the pole vault for North Haven. Fellow junior Jacob Wrum finished sixth in the 600 (1:37.13) and was seventh in the pole vault at 8-6.
Girls’ Indoor Track
The Indians were represented by many athletes at last week’s SCC Novice Meet.
Sophomore Aletha Torres took first place in the pole vault by clearing 6 feet-6 inches for North Haven. In the 55-meter hurdles, sophomore Elizabeth DeVaux placed third in the preliminaries by running a time of 10.86 seconds and then moved up to second place in the final with a time of 10.81.
Also for North Haven, sophomore Reagan Forbes came in fourth place in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 6:26.69. The Indians’ 4x800 relay of junior Kelly Fresher, sophomore Raven Tebbetts, junior Madeline Libero, and Forbes took fifth place by timing in at 12:14.32.