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04/23/2018 12:00 AMThe East Haven girls’ basketball team put together its most successful season in program history this winter that culminated with the Yellowjackets bringing home their first state championship. East Haven clinched its third straight division title, advanced to the SCC Tournament final, and then swept through the Class M State Tournament en route to finishing the year with an overall record of 24-3.
“I think it’s important to have consistent goals. In some seasons, they may be more attainable than others, but as long as you stay focused, anything can happen,” Head Coach Anthony Russell said. “I knew going in that we had a nice team coming back, and then the infusion of [Makenzie Helms] made us that much better. We did have the injury to [Olivia Coyle], so we had some adversity to overcome, but we still accomplished three of our four goals.”
East Haven’s victory in the Class M state final was about as magical at is gets. The Yellowjackets faced SCC foe Career for the third time on the season and won the game when sophomore Isabella Ragaini hit a put-back at the buzzer for a 49-47 victory at Mohegan Sun Arena. Ragaini’s basket capped off a comeback that saw the Easties rally from an eight-point deficit with 3:23 to play. Senior captain Kylie Schlottman scored 20 points in the game to cap off a high-school career for the ages.
“It’s still kind of surreal. I can’t believe we won a state championship, because it’s really hard to do,” said Russell. “You need a lot of things to go your way in order to win a state championship. There are a lot of great teams out there with high expectations that may get derailed by an off night against the wrong team. To get there and win, a lot of things need to go your way.”
Coach Russell said that entire day was a blur, but he added that he’s happy his athletes got the experience of playing all the way through the state tourney. East Haven routed its first three opponents in the Class M bracket and then came back from a late seven-point deficit to beat Rocky Hill in the semis, before upending Career in the title bout.
“The whole experience was amazing. The bus ride in, when you’re on Mohegan Boulevard and you see the casino and how excited the girls got, you feel like you’re in the NBA,” Russell said. “They bring you underneath and you walk in between two seating areas and the whole thing opens up. You realize how special it is when you get there. To coach and play it—I can’t tell you what it feels like to play, but to coach it was a boyhood dream. It was that much more meaningful that I got to watch them have the opportunity to play it.”
As exciting as the postseason was, East Haven had a pretty spectacular regular season that saw the team finish at 18-2 and earn a share of the Quinnipiac Division crown with Hamden.
Then in the SCC Tournament, East Haven posted a 56-54 overtime win versus Career in the quarterfinals and then edged Hand 56-55 in the semis on a last-second shot by Helms, after which the Yellowjackets took a 64-40 loss to Mercy in the championship game. Despite the defeat, it was a great accomplishment for East Haven to make the SCC final for the first time, and the experience primed the squad for its run to the state title.
Along the way this year, Russell earned his 100th career win as the Easties’ head coach when they defeated Branford on Jan. 6.
“I didn’t even realize how close I was until this year somebody asked me for the records over the past 20 or 30 years. I looked and realized I was only six away at the beginning of the season,” he said. “My first three years we were 10-50, so back then I felt like I was never going to get there. That type of stuff isn’t important to me, though; it’s more important if the team is successful. But if the team is successful, that type of stuff will take care of itself.”
Schlottman leaves East Haven High School as one of the most decorated athletes in Yellowjackets’ history. Schlottman finished her high-school career with 1,693 points and 919 rebounds, which are both school-record totals for the girls’ and boys’ basketball programs. Schlottman first broke Sue Crisafi’s record for the most career points in East Haven girls’ hoops history during win over Cross on Jan. 16. Ten days later, she broke Josh Charbonneau’s mark for the most points scored for either basketball team when the Easties defeated Amity.
“Those kids only come around once or twice in a coaching career,” Russell said of Schlottman.
Schlottman, who averaged 19.7 point and 9.6 rebounds per game this winter, was named the SCC Player of the Year for the second straight season. Schlottman and junior Helms were both named to the All-SCC First Team, the New Haven Register All-Area Team, the Register’s All-State Team, the Connecticut High School Coaches Association All-State Class M Team, the New Haven Tap-Off Club’s All Area Team, and the USA Today All-USA Connecticut Team. Sophomore Alexis Pendziwater earned All-SCC Second Team honors for the Yellowjackets.
Even with Schlottman’s dominance, one of the reasons behind East Haven’s success was the fact that it had such a versatile roster. Helms recorded 17.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game; Ragaini averaged 6.2 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.8 rebounds a game; and Pendziwater drilled 68 three-pointers to break the school record she had set last year.
“We were pretty balanced and a lot of kids could handle the ball, shoot, and flash to the basket,” Coach Russell said. “We were pretty deep and a dynamic team where we could get you from everywhere. We pressured teams a lot and wore teams down. A lot of times we had extra gas in the tank and took advantage to come from behind to win.”
East Haven’s seniors were also the team’s captains in Schlottman, Olivia Coyle, Jessica Stettinger, Marley Herard, and Haley Montesanto. The group notched a record of 77-23 in their four years in the program, and Coach Russell couldn’t say enough good things about their impact on East Haven girls’ basketball.
“They all definitely had a team-first mentality. They’re probably going to go down as the best group we’ve had in East Haven girls’ basketball history based on accomplishments alone. Three division championships, a SCC final, and a state championship—they’ve set the bar high,” Russell said. “The way to replicate that is to start molding who you have and give them quality, meaningful minutes so they can step into those roles.”
From the Sidelines
East Haven’s Class M State Tournament roster consistd of senior captains Kylie Schlottman, Haley Montesanto, Olivia Coyle, Marley Herard, and Jessica Stettinger. The Yellowjackets’ other athletes were juniors Makenzie Helms and Jaime Gallo; sophomores Isabella Ragaini and Alexis Pendziwater; and freshmen Erin Curran, Angelina Munoz, and Taylor Salato. Head Coach Anthony Russell’s coaching staff consists of varsity assistants Jeff Crisafi, Alyssa Guarino, and Cathy Celotto.
East Haven went 18-2 during the regular season. The Easties recorded victories against Sheehan (51-40 and 52-35), East Lyme (59-42), Amity (61-60 in OT and 66-47), Hillhouse (55-34 and 64-56), Foran (73-40), Branford (67-39 and 54-39), Hamden (73-54), Bassick (78-57), Wilbur Cross (59-43 and 64-63), Lauralton Hall (57-25 and 73-29), and Career (59-25). The Yellowjackets also took losses against New London (69-55) and Hamden (66-63).
In the SCC Tournament, No. 2 seed East Haven lost a 64-40 contest against top-seeded Mercy in the final. In the quarterfinals, East Haven edged Career 56-54 in overtime, after which the Yellowjackets topped Hand 56-55 in the semis.
Prior to defeating Career in the final, the Yellowjackets upended Woodland (83-30), Plainfield (81-29), Wolcott (85-33), and Rocky Hill (56-52) in the first four rounds of the Class M State Tournament.