This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
02/10/2018 11:00 PMCheerleading
The North Branford cheerleading squad competed in the inaugural Shoreline Conference Championship on Feb. 10 and finished in fourth place among all the teams in the league. Head Coach Marisa Laudano said the Thunderbirds performed great at the meet, where they totaled a score of 69.5 out of a possible 100 points.
Four T-Birds made the All-Shoreline Conference Team at the meet. Kaley Oliverio and Brooke Hammond were named to the All-Shoreline A Team, while Madelyn Humphrey and Jessica Armin made the All-Conference B Team. The other members of North Branford’s squad are Nicole Cove, Marisa D’Amico, Ariana Esposito, Rachel Helwig, Brianna Iuteri, Rachel Kwalek, Kelsey Laucella, Annika Pearson, Kayla Ronaldo, Amanda Scell, Ava Smola, Alliyah Tropiano, and Rachel Vitarisi.
Boys’ Basketball
North Branford split its two contests last week, moving the team’s overall record to 11-6 with three games to go in the regular season.
The T-Birds started their week by posting a 59-57 victory over Morgan on Feb. 6. It was a comeback effort for North Branford, which outscored the Huskies 24-15 in the final quarter of play. Brett Lequire led the way for the T-Birds as he scored 27 points to go with 25 rebounds. Jake Haeckel added 14 points in the winning effort.
On Feb. 9, North Branford took a 75-53 loss to Cromwell. Cromwell broke the game open by outscoring North Branford 46-23 between the second and third quarters. Lequire scored 18 points, and Sydney Franklin added 13 in the loss.
Girls’ Basketball
The Thunderbirds won two of their games last week to improve to 11-7 this season with two games remaining on the regular-season schedule.
North Branford notched a 49-36 victory over Morgan on Feb. 5. Morgan Violette led the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Jessie Kilburn scored 10 points and recorded five steals.
After that, North Branford lost to Cromwell 59-32 in its final home game of the season on Feb. 8 and then defeated non-conference foe North Haven by a 45-38 score on Feb. 10.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
North Branford improved its overall record to 11-3 by picking up a win last week.
On Feb. 10, North Branford hit the road and earned a 2-1 victory at E.O Smith-Tolland. North Branford fell behind early, but Nick Barrett evened the score on assists from Sean McKee and Jake Neubig. McKee later scored the game-winning score on an assist from Mancini.
Girls’ Indoor Track
The Thunderbirds sent five individual competitors and three relay squads to the Class S State Championship at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 10.
The top individual performance for North Branford came from MacKenzie Glenn in the long jump as she took 14th place with a leap of 15 feet-6.75 inches. Onna Gott put forth a solid performance in the 1,600 by finishing 17th with a time of 5:57.98. Lydia Mattson finished 21st in the 55-meter hurdles at 10.24 seconds. In the 55-meter dash, Grace Little and Tatyana finished 25th and 36th, respectively, with their times of 8.01 and 8.16.
In the relays, the T-Birds’ 4x200 squad of Erika Roof, Little, Glenn, and Jenna Bryden placed eighth with a time of 1:53.39, while the 4x400 group of Roof, Nadia Becker, Glenn, and Bryden finished eighth at 4:27.79.
Boys’ Indoor Track
Junior Michael Rabuffo competed for North Branford at the Class S State Championship last week. Rabuffo placed 14th in the 300-meter dash with a time of 38.66 seconds, which was his personal best time for the season.