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01/12/2019 11:00 PMThe Branford girls’ basketball team earned a critical victory when the Hornets rallied for a 41-39 home victory against North Haven on Jan. 9. Branford trailed North Haven 30-22 entering the fourth quarter, but outscored the Indians 19-9 during the final frame to walk off the floor victorious.
Senior captain forward Sophia Araneo scored 19 points, including the go-ahead basket with two minutes remaining, to help Branford edge out the Indians for its fourth win of the season. She also hauled in 15 rebounds. Sophomore Gabriella Lucertina contributed 16 points for the Hornets, who completed a season sweep of North Haven after having defeated the Indians 57-36 on Dec. 11.
First-year Head Coach Rob Manghnani was impressed with how Branford battled back to beat North Haven. Manghnani knows that his team needs to win as many 50/50 games as possible in order to obtain the eight victories that guarantee a squad a spot in the playoffs. Manghnani said the Hornets were spurred to victory by playing with the same unrelenting effort they’ve been displaying all season.
“I think what they showed is something that they’ve been showing in every single game, whether we’re up or down, and that’s just resiliency and never quitting on each other,” said Manghnani, whose team has a record of 4-5. “They don’t let any moment get too big for them. They continue to give a maximum effort in every little thing they do. We knew, from coaches to players, that we were going to pull it out.”
Branford held a 7-5 lead after the first quarter, but then Araneo had to sit for a few minutes after picking up her second foul of the game. North Haven responded by going on a 12-0 run to close out the first half and take a 19-15 lead into intermission. The Indians outscored the Hornets 11-7 in the third quarter to bring an eight-point advantage into the final frame.
Coach Manghnani challenged his athletes to play more aggressively during the fourth quarter. The Hornets responded by using their full-court press to force North Haven into committing a slew of turnovers that allowed them to tighten the gap. With the game tied 33-33, Araneo hit an inside bank shot against a double team to put Branford up by two. After the Indians made two free throws, Araneo swished a pull-up jumper off a screen to give Branford a 37-35 lead with two minutes to play.
With 1:30 remaining, junior captain point guard Karly King made a layup that increased Branford’s lead to 39-35. King converted two free throws to make it 41-36 with 30 seconds to go, after which North Haven hit a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to two with six seconds left. Branford then committed a turnover while trying to inbound the ball. North Haven inbounded at half court with a chance to tie the game or win it, but was unable to get a shot off before time expired, as the Hornets hung on for the 41-39 victory.
“It was huge. I was telling the girls leading up to the game that North Haven is different team than the first time we played them. They will bring pressure and keep coming at you, and we weren’t going to hit 10 3-pointers like we did in the first game,” Coach Manghnani said. “It was definitely going to be a 50/50 matchup that came down to who was hungrier and who wanted it more.”
This wasn’t the first time that Branford notched a come-from-behind victory this season. On Jan. 14, the Hornets trailed Lauralton Hall in the fourth quarter, but stormed back for a 38-36 win that culminated with King assisting Araneo for the go-ahead layup with three seconds remaining. Coach Manghnani said that Araneo and King are doing an excellent job of leading Branford as the team’s captains this season. He’s also been pleased with their contributions on the court.
“Sophia lives and breathes basketball. She’s extremely passionate about basketball and is always thinking about basketball. Sophia gives a 120-percent effort. She’s the heartbeat of this team. We face a ton of defenses that are designed to stop her, but she’s able to fight through it, and put up stats for us. She’s a game changer,” said Manghnani. “This is Karly’s first year playing point guard, and we told her it would be difficult, but as a natural leader, we knew it was something that she could take on. Every game, she’s getting better and better and better. Karly does a little bit of everything. She has an extremely positive attitude and brings that approach to her teammates on and off the court.”
King scored four points in the North Haven victory. Sophomore guard Isabel Mannle had two points for the Hornets. Coach Manghnani added that Lucertina had “a mini-breakout game” with her 16-point performance.
Two days later, Branford dropped a 68-34 decision to Mercy in an SCC Hammonasset Division contest at Xavier High School. Araneo scored 13 points for Branford in the game.
From the Sidelines
The Branford girls’ basketball team’s varsity roster features senior captain Sophia Araneo, junior captain Karly King, fellow juniors Lily Moore-Markey, Mikayla Brown, Ava Stratton, Celia Turbert, and Isabel Mannle; sophomore Gabriella Lucertini, and freshmen Nicole Pagliaro and Jacqueline Bacote.
First-year Head Coach Rob Manghnani is a 2004 graduate of East Haven High School, where he played basketball and tennis. Manghnani is the head coach of boys’ tennis at East Haven and previously held that position at Career. He’s also served as head coach of the freshman and JV boys’ basketball teams at East Haven. At Branford, Manghnani is assisted by Chris Manner, who is head coach of the Hornets’ JV girls’ basketball squad; and Penny Blauvelt, who’s a newcomer to the program.
Thus far this season, Branford has earned two victories against North Haven (57-36 and 41-39) and one win versus Sacred Heart Academy (47-32) and Lauralton Hall (38-36). The Hornets have also taken defeats to East Haven (60-41), Foran (63-41), Law (51-46), E.O. Smith (57-45) and Mercy (68-34).
For the rest of the year, Branford has home games versus East Haven, Career, Foran, Mercy, Law, and Sheehan on its schedule. The Horents also have road games against Sacred Heart Academy, Sheehan, North Branford, Career, and Lauralton Hall.