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02/18/2018 11:00 PMGirls’ Basketball
After putting a bow on a solid regular season, the North Branford girls’ basketball team entered the Shoreline Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed and took a 61-54 loss against No. 5 Old Lyme in the quarterfinal round on Feb. 17.
North Branford fell behind early, trailed the Wildcats 34-26 at halftime, and then Old Lyme held strong through the rest of the contest to get the victory. North Branford now stands with a record of 13-8 heading into the Class M State Tournament.
Jessie Kilburn scored a game-high 18 points for North Branford on the night. Angelina Ramada scored 10 points, Morgan Violette had nine points, Marie Zampano scored seven, and Danielle Ramada added six points for the Thunderbirds.
Prior to its Shoreline Conference Tournament game, North Branford closed out its regular season by posting a pair of victories on the road. On Feb. 12, the T-Birds topped Coginchaug by a 56-41 score. Violette scored a game-high 17 points, and Kilburn was right behind with 16 points. The Ramada sisters scored nine points apiece for North Branford, which outscored Coginchaug 32-19 in the second half.
On Feb. 14, North Branford notched 47-46 victory over Valley Regional in its season finale. The T-Birds held the lead throughout the game and survived a comeback scare as Valley outscored North Branford 23-12 in the final frame. Violette scored 18 points, while Kilburn dropped 15 points in the victory.
Boys’ Basketball
North Branford recorded two more wins to improve to 13-6 with one game to go before the Shoreline Conference Tournament begins.
On Feb. 13, the T-Birds defeated Coginchaug 67-54 behind a 33-point performance from Brett Lequire, along with 23 points by Jake Haeckel.
North Branford continued its strong play by notching a 60-44 win over Valley Regional on Feb. 16. Lequire recorded his second triple-double of the season by scoring 20 points to go with 13 rebounds and 10 assists in the win. Haeckel scored 18 points to help North Branford distance itself from Valley early by outscoring the Warriors 29-11 in the first half.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
The Thunderbirds played an even week by finishing with a win, a loss, and a tie to put its record at 12-4-1 for the year.
North Branford started off by skating to a 1-1 tie with New Fairfield-Immaculate on Feb. 12. Sean McKee scored North Branford’s goal on an assist from Brendan Dupuis. John Lovelace made 22 saves for the T-Birds.
North Branford then took an 8-2 loss against Amity on Feb. 14. Nick Mancini and Nick Vecchio scored North Branford’s goals, and Dupuis had an assist.
The T-Birds closed out their week by earning a thrilling 1-0 victory against New Milford on Feb. 17. The teams played a scoreless contest through two periods, but McKee broke the tie at the 14:25 mark of the third period by scoring the game-winner on an assist from Vecchio. Lovelace recorded 17 saves for the shutout.