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01/06/2019 11:00 PMBoys’ Basketball
The Morgan boys’ basketball team won two of its three games last week to raise its record to 4-3 this year. The Huskies defeated Branford and Coginchaug and also lost a contest versus Cromwell in their recent games.
On Dec. 28, Morgan picked up a 78-60 victory against Branford in the consolation game of the Fred Kelly Holiday Tournament at North Haven High School. Morgan led wire-to-wire in its win over non-conference opponent Branford. The Huskies made a season-high total of 12 3-pointers in the game, including a 5-for-6 performance from sophomore Zach Johnson.
The Huskies started the game by taking a 17-8 first-quarter lead. Zach Johnson’s fourth 3-pointer of the half capped a 20-point outpouring for Morgan that extended the lead to 37-22. Branford narrowed the gap to nine with just more than three minutes to play in the third, but the Huskies scored six straight points to close out the quarter, and push the lead back to 15. Morgan handled the Hornets’ pressure defense in the final quarter and drained six 3-pointers to put away the game.
Zach Johnson scored 15 points in the win, while senior Garrett Johnson scored 14 points to go with four rebounds and six assists. Senior Chris Nuzzo had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and fellow senior AJ Fritz handed out 10 assists to go along with four points and five rebounds. Sophomore Robbie Zirlis scored 12 points and had eight boards for the Huskies.
On Jan. 2, Morgan scored a 50-45 road win over Coginchaug, holding of a fourth-quarter comeback attempt from the Blue Devils to secure the victory. After a slow start from both teams, the game picked up heading into halftime, and the Huskies led 21-17 edge at the break. Morgan continued to build its lead in the third quarter to take a 33-24 advantage into the fourth. In the fourth quarter, Morgan led by 13 with a little more than two minutes remaining, when Coginchaug’s defensive pressure helped the Blue Devils start mounting an unlikely comeback. Coginchaug hit a 3-pointer cut the lead to just three points, but senior JP Nye made a layup off a Zach Johnson assist with just less than 10 seconds left to solidify the win for Head Coach Frank Rossi’s squad.
“It took us a while to get going. We were shooting well for most of the game, and our defensive effort really fueled a lot of our scoring,” said Rossi, who’s in his first season as Morgan’s head coach. “The kids did a nice job disrupting what Coginchaug was trying to do. We got a little confused and flustered late. Their press threw us, but we made plays when we needed to.”
Nye scored 10 points to go with seven rebounds, and Zirlis had 10 points and four boards for Morgan. Garrett Johnson and Fritz both had nine points with three rebounds, while Nuzzo hauled in 14 boards and scored four points.
Two days later, Morgan lost a 68-44 contest against an undefeated Cromwell team in a home game. The Panthers started the game with a 9-0 run and were up 23-9 after the first quarter. The Huskies went on their own 9-0 run to cut the lead to 35-30 with about five minutes left in the third, but Cromwell scored 10 straight points to regain control of the game, and then outscored Morgan 33-14 during the fourth quarter.
Garrett Johnson led the Huskies in scoring with 18 points to go with five rebounds and four assists. Fritz scored 11 points, while Zirlis added four points and eight rebounds. Nuzzo had six points and eight rebounds.
Boys’ and Girls’ Fencing
The Morgan fencing program traveled to North Haven for a meet on Jan. 3. The girls’ team won a 17-10 decision versus the Indians to improve to 2-1 on the season. Ella Franzoni and Bea Attengco both went undefeated for the Huskies in the saber competition.
On the boys’ side, the Huskies took a 17-10 defeat against North Haven to move to 1-2 for the year. Noah Scapace had a strong showing with an undefeated day in saber for Morgan. In foil, Caleb Adams-Hull and Thomas Baker led the way to help the foil team get a win over North Haven.
Morgan is hosting its annual Invitational Meet at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12. At the meet, the Huskies will be collecting non-perishable food and canned goods to donate to the Clinton Food Pantry as part of their Fencers Bouting Hunger program. During the past three seasons, the team has collected more than 2,000 pounds of food.
Girls’ Indoor Track
Morgan competed Shoreline Conference League Meet No. 1 at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Jan. 3. The Huskies scored 66 points on the day to finish in third place among the 12 teams represented at the meet.
Boys’ Indoor Track
The Huskies participated in Shoreline Conference League Meet No. 1 last week. Morgan finished in fifth place as a squad by scoring 38 points on the day.