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02/18/2018 11:00 PMWrestling
Junior Ben Falivene represented Valley Regional by wrestling in the 220-pound division at the Class S State Championship that took place at Windham High School on Feb. 16 and 17. Falivene’s record on the day was 3-3, earning him sixth place in the tournament and a spot at the State Open Championship, which will be held at Floyd Little Athletic Center beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23. Falivene scored 15 points on behalf of the Warriors, putting them into a tie for 26th place at the Class S meet.
After earning a first-round bye, Falivene, the No. 8 seed, wrestled 9th-seeded Charles Thierren of Oxford in his first match on Feb. 16 and grabbed the win by pin with a take-down at 1:32 of the first period. The win advanced Falivene to the quarterfinals the following day.
In the quarterfinals, Falivene faced No. 1 seed and eventual champion Nick Tibbetts of Montville. Falivene got out to a 4-0 lead, before falling behind 7-4, and was eventually pinned at 5:29 in the third period. The loss put Falivene in the consolation bracket.
In the consolation rounds, Falivene faced 15th-seeded Chris Zakorchevnoy of Thomaston. Falivene worked quickly, getting the pin in just 13 seconds. Falivene advanced to face No. 5 seed Chris Rosario Clemente of Windham. Falivene was dominant, taking an 11-3 lead into the third period, where he pinned Clemente at 4:03 to advance to the consolations semifinals. This victory also solidified Falivene’s spot at the State Open.
In the consolation semis, Falivene faced No. 3 seed Dan Geriak of Notre Dame-Fairfield. The match went back and forth with Geriak earning the victory with a pin at 3:58 of the third period. Falivene then lost to No. 6 seed Thomas DiMatteo of Rocky Hill by pin at 1:53 of the second period to finish in sixth place.
Boys’ Basketball
The Warriors’ boys’ basketball squad dropped a pair of contests last week to move to 11-7 on the year as they approach the final week of the regular season.
On Feb. 13, Valley was on the road to match up against Cromwell and took a 59-53 defeat. After Valley took a 31-23 lead in the first half, the Panthers come on strong in the third and fourth quarters and outscored the Warriors by 14 points during the second half. Mitch Holdmeyer led Valley in scoring with 22 points to go with 16 rebounds. Ernest Jean-Pierre had 13 points, eight boards, an assist, and a steal, while Ben Weinstein had eight rounds and two assists.
Three days later, the Warriors headed to North Branford to face the Thunderbirds and lost 60-44. North Branford got out to a commanding lead with a 17-2 first-quarter advantage, and Valley was never able to close the deficit. Weinstein scored 12 points to go with five rebounds and two assists. Cade Ensinger had nine points to complement his five rebounds, one assist, and a steal. Holdmeyer hauled in 11 rebounds and scored eight points for Valley.
Head Coach Kevin Woods lamented the two losses from the week as they cost the Warriors a chance at a first-round home game in the upcoming Shoreline Conference Tournament that begins on Saturday, Feb. 24. After Valley lost to Cromwell, Woods felt that his team let that game linger on into its match up against North Branford. Now, he knows it’s important that the Warriors get back on the right track by getting a couple of wins before the postseason.
“If we had won a game, we could have had a home game in Shorelines. In the Cromwell game, we didn’t play badly; we just got beat. I can live with that, but we had a hangover effect going into the game against North Branford,” said Coach Woods. “It was disappointing, but it was a teachable moment. These next few games are critical. We want to go into Shorelines playing well.”
Girls’ Basketball
The Valley Regional girls’ basketball team completed its regular season last week and then lost to Haddam-Killingworth in the play-in round of the Shoreline Conference Tournament. The Warriors are 8-13 as they get ready to compete in the Class M State Tournament.
On Feb. 12, the Warriors were at home against Cromwell and lost 48-24. The Panthers leaped out to a 17-3 lead in the first quarter on their way to the to the double-digit win. Freshman Alena Crosby led the Warriors in points with 10, while Paige Atkinson took down seven rebounds. Addision Marchese swiped three steals and had two assists on the night.
Two days later, Valley hosted North Branford on Senior Night and lost a close contest by the score of 47-46. The Thunderbirds looked to have the game in hand after outscoring the Warriors in each of the first three quarters to take a 35-23 lead. However, Valley stormed back by outscoring North Branford 23-12 in the final quarter and came up just one point short of the win. Alexis Finnerty was the leading scorer for the Warriors with 17 points, and she also had eight rebounds, four steals, and two assists. Atkinson had 10 points, two assists, and a steal.
The next day, Valley was on the road to face Haddam-Killingworth in the Shoreline Conference Tournament and dropped a 46-37 decision. The two teams were tied 22-22 at the end of the first half, but the Cougars pressed the issue in the second half, and outscored the Warriors for the nine-point win. Crosby had 12 points and five rebounds; Finnerty had 10 points, four rebounds, and two assists; and Addison Marchese had seven assists with two steals.
Head Coach Geoff Konstan is focused on giving his squad some time to heal, so the Warriors can come back healthy for states. Valley is slated to play Haddam-Killingworth again in the first round of the tournament.
“I want us to be able to regroup. We have to play H-K, and we’re going to host that game healthy,” said Konstan. “Then the winner goes into to play No. 1 seed Northwestern. They play in a small conference. It’s not impossible that we can knock them off. We’ve really just gotten ourselves focused on states.”