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01/20/2018 11:00 PMGymnastics
The Hand gymnastics team improved its record to 4-0 after picking up three wins between its two meets last week. The Tigers posted wins over Norwich Free Academy and Hamden in their first meet and then notched a victory over Foran later in the week.
The Tigers scored 126.65 points to defeated Norwich Free Academy (124.7) and Hamden (114) on Jan. 16. Erin Naclerio took the top spot on the bars with a score of 9.1, while Grace Rogers was third (8.0). Rogers also tied for first on the floor (8.4) with Kelley Levis in second (8.0) and Lexi Theel in third (7.9). Rogers was additionally the runner-up for the beam (8.6) and finished second in the all-around with a 33.3.
For the vault, Carly Barba finished second with a score of 8.5 for Hand.
On Jan. 18, the Tigers defeated Foran by the score of 130.75-125.3. Naclerio won the vault (8.8), beam (9.35), floor (8.9), and the all-around (35.2) for the Tigers. Rogers was second on the floor (8.5) and all-around (32.85). Barba placed second on the vault (8.3), Naclerio was third for bars (8.15), and Kayla Cataldo finished third for the floor (7.9) in the victory.
Wrestling
The Tigers’ wrestling squad notched a victory over Foran last week and is now 12-2 on the season.
Hand defeated Foran 37-30 on Jan. 17. Hand’s victories came from Sam Stein in the 106-pound bout with a pin at the 5:40 mark, as well as Zachary Morro (113, by 9-0 decision), Kyle Davern (120, pin at 2:20), Dylan Brochard (126, by 7-4 decision), Mark Hartmann (132, pin at 0:51), Adam Hendrick (170, pin at 1:38), and Michael Burchell (285, pin at 0:50).
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
Hand split its two recent dual-meets, capping the week with a big victory against Cheshire.
The Tigers were edged 96-90 by Amity on Jan. 15. However, three days later, Hand defeated Cheshire by the final score of 98-87.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
The Hand-Coginchaug-Old Lyme (H-C-O) girls’ ice hockey team has now won four straight games and stands at 8-3 overall after notching recent three victories.
The Tigers first recorded a 1-0 win on Jan. 16 over Fairfield Ludlowe-Warde (FL-W). The Tigers outshot FL-W 31-18 in the game. The only score of the game came about halfway through when Ciara Halloran put away a power-play goal. Carina Mancini was solid in goal, stopping all 18 shots for her first shutout of the season.
The very next day, H-C-O defeated Stamford-Westhill-Staples-Trinity Catholic (S-W-S-TC) 4-1 on the road. After getting out to a slow start, H-C-O found its legs and took over the game. As the clock ran down to the end of the first period, the Tigers broke through with 9.3 seconds remaining as Anna Sather found a loose puck at the top of the crease and put it away for a 1-0 lead. Halloran capped off a dominant second period power play with her second goal in as many days. Jacqui Sandor scored for the Tigers just 21 seconds into the final period, before the home side answered 21 seconds later. Grace Lavin added an insurance goal off a pass from Sam Rodham later in the period to put away the 4-1 win. Goalie Kylie Gargiulo’s shutout streak ended at 165 minutes and 42 seconds as she improved to 4-0 with the win.
Hand then defeated Avon-Southington-East Granby-RHAM (A-S-EG-RHAM) 3-2 on Jan. 20 as the Tigers held off a late push in the game to get their fourth straight win. A-S-EG-RHAM started the scoring early in the second period, but the Tigers scored the next three goals to take a 3-1 lead late into the game. A-S-EG-RHAM made it a one-goal game with just less than three minutes to play, but a penalty four seconds later stopped its momentum. After killing off the penalty, the Falcons peppered the Hand net with shots for the remaining 50 seconds. Mancini (23 saves) and the Hand defense stood tall with clutch saves and blocked shots to hang on for the win. Halloran scored a power-play goal for the third game in a row for the Tigers, who went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Skylar Rascati and Bridget Dwyer also scored goals for H-C-O, while Grace Lavin and Sarah Conroy assisted on scores.
Boys’ Basketball
Hand was triumphant in both of its contests last week by defeating division foes North Haven and Lyman Hall to move to 4-5 overall and 2-1 in the SCC Housatonic Division.
The Tigers defeated North Haven 62-43 on Jan. 16. Hand took a 23-19 lead into halftime, before outscoring North Haven 18-11 in the third quarter and 21-13 in the fourth. Flynn Driscoll posted a double-double with 20 points and 17 rebounds and he also had two blocks for the Tigers. Graeme McGivern led all scorers with 21 points, nailing five three-pointers and snaring five boards. KJ Richmond had six assists and three steals, while Jeremy Long scored seven points, had six assists, and added two steals.
Hand then defeated Lyman Hall 44-38 on Jan. 19. Tyler Boris and McGivern each had 11 points and five boards, plus Flynn Driscoll had six points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks. Hand fell behind by seven points in the second quarter, but Long hit two huge threes to help chip the halftime deficit to 21-18. It was a see-saw third quarter where Hand could not get closer than two, and so the Tigers went into the fourth down 29-27. Hand played solid defense in second half, holding the Trojans to only 17 second-half points, and the Tigers were able to tie the game with three minutes remaining, before an “and-1” layup from Driscoll on an out-of-bounds play gave Hand its first lead of the game with 2:30 minutes remaining. Big free throws by Boris and McGivern iced the game down the stretch.
Girls’ Basketball
The Tigers are now 10-2 overall and 4-0 in SCC Oronoque Division play after dispatching Lauralton Hall and Hillhouse.
Hand routed Lauralton Hall by a convincing 51-26 final on Jan. 16. Sara Wohlgemuth led the way with 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting, and she also posted four rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Halle Freund added 10 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals, and three blocks, while Summer Adams chipped in five points, five boards, and three steals.
Hand shot 52 percent from the floor, while Lauralton Hall committed 25 turnovers. Hand jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, before Lauralton Hall slowly crept back into the game, tying it at 6. Hannah Martin’s buzzer-beater gave the visiting Tigers a two-point advantage at the end of one. The Crusaders scored the first bucket of the second quarter to briefly knot the game at 8, before Wohlgemuth led a 12-0 run by scoring 10 points and assisting on the other two to give the Tigers a double-figure lead they would not relinquish. Up 23-11 at the break, the Tigers continued to extend the lead in the second half, coasting to the win.
The Tigers then defeated Hillhouse 79-58 on Jan. 19. Sullivan led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go with four steals and four assists. Gabby Egidio added 19 points, three assists, and three boards; Wohlgemuth chipped in 13 points, four steals, four rebounds, and three assist; and Freund racked up nine points, seven assists, six rebounds, four steals, and three blocks.
Boys’ and Girls’ Fencing
The Hand fencing program began its 2017-’18 season by competing against North Branford and Guilford on Jan. 9 and 12, respectively.
Facing North Branford, the Tigers’ boys’ varsity foil team prevailed 6-3, while boys’ JV foil won 5-4.
In the Guilford contest, Hand’s girls’ varsity foil squad earned a 6-3 victory.