Printer Friendly Version - North Haven Boys’ Hoops Takes Two of Three; Girls Rally for Win in Guilford

Senior RJ Hager had 30 points when the North Haven boys’ basketball team beat Sheehan last week and then scored 20 points during their win against Wilcox Tech. North Haven improved to 5-8 this year by winning two of their three games on the week. Photo by Catherine Avalone/The Courier

The North Haven boys’ basketball team won two of its three games last week by posting victories versus Sheehan and Wilcox Tech to go with a loss versus Lyman Hall. North Haven now has an overall record of 5-8 on the season.

The Indians hosted Sheehan on Jan. 22 and claimed a 78-73 victory over the Titans in a SCC Housatonic Division matchup. North Haven held an 18-14 lead after the first quarter and was up 34-31 at halftime. The Indians gave themselves some breathing room by outscoring Sheehan 30-21 during a high-octane third quarter to bring a 64-52 advantage into the fourth. The Titans made a last-ditch effort in the final frame, but it was too little, too late, as North Haven hung on for its first win in divisional play this year.

Senior RJ Hager went off by scoring 30 points for North Haven. Hager hit 11 field goals, including four 3-pointers, in the victory. Fellow senior Mike Collins scored 14 points, while junior Dave Christoforo added 11 points. Senior Josh Monk and junior Jaden Watson scored nine and eight points, respectively, for Head Coach Justin Falcon’s club.

The following night, North Haven was back home to face Wilcox Tech and prevailed 57-45 in a non-conference contest. North Haven jumped out to a 20-10 lead and held a 28-20 halftime advantage. The Indians outscored Wilcox Tech in both the third (13-11) and fourth (16-14) quarters to lock up the win. Hager scored 20 points, and Collins had 14 points to lead North Haven. Chrisotforo scored 10 points, while juniors Bryce Charney and Jaden Watson added five points apiece.

Then on Jan. 25, the Indians took a 57-52 defeat at divisional opponent Lyman Hall to move to 1-3 in the Housatonic Division this season. North Haven was up 11-8 after the first quarter and led 21-17 at halftime. The Indians brought a 38-34 lead into the fourth quarter, but were outscored 23-14 by Lyman Hall during the final period, and came away with the five-point loss. Hager scored 22 points, Christoforo scored 12, Monk had nine points, and Collins added six points for North Haven.

The Indians picked up a big divisional win in Guilford and then took a loss against Shelton last week. With these results, North Haven now stands with an overall record of 6-8 and has a record of 2-2 in the SCC Quinnipiac Division.

North Haven kicked off last week by earning a 52-50 road victory versus Guilford in a Quinnipiac matchup on Jan. 22. North Haven was down 40-31 entering the fourth quarter, but outscored Guilford 21-10 during the final frame to pull off the win. The Indians’ defense forced Guilford into committing 30 turnovers on the night.

Sophomore Carly Fresher hit four 3-pointers on her way to netting 18 points for North Haven. She also has four assists and four steals. Senior Leah Zeisner chipped in with 11 points, eight rebounds, and four steals in the victory. Freshman Eveani Okwuosa scored nine points to go with six rebounds and seven steals. Junior Laura Petrafesa added eight points for the Indians.

Three nights later, North Haven hosted divisional opponent Shelton and dropped a 60-48 decision against the Gaels.

The Amity-North Haven-Cheshire girls’ ice hockey team won a pair of recent matchups to improve to 6-8 this season. The Blades defeated the Notre Dame-Fairfield co-op team and Guilford in last week’s action and have now won six of their last seven games.

The Blades started off last week by posting a 6-4 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield/Law/Foran/Weston/Pomperaug in a road game at The Rinks at Shelton on Jan. 23. The Blades led 3-2 after the first period, trailed 4-3 through two, and then scored three goals in the third to come away with the win. With the Blades down 1-0, senior Andrea DelVecchio scored an unassisted goal to tie the game at 1. Notre Dame scored a goal to go up 2-1, but sophomore Caroline Cadelina’s goal tied the game again, after which senior captain Shannon Reilly netted a goal to give the Blades a 3-2 lead.

The Lancers came back with a pair of goals in the second period to bring a 4-3 lead into the third. In the final period, junior Sara Cable scored from Cadelina to tie the game at 4-4. Later in the frame, Reilly scored her second goal of the day to give the Blades a 5-4 advantage. Junior Nadia DiNatale scored on an assist from senior Meaghan Hogan to seal the victory with a 6-4 lead. Senior Caitlin Ranciato earned the win in goal for the Blades.

Three days later, Amity-North Haven-Cheshire prevailed by a 7-2 final over Guilford in a home game at Lou Astorino Ice Arena. Junior Tess Csjeka scored three straight goals in the first period for a natural hat trick and a 3-0 Blades’ lead after one. Freshman Mia Dow, DelVecchio, and junior Haley Cable scored goals during the second period as the Blades held a 6-1 advantage through two. In the third period, Reilly scored on assists from Cable and DelVecchio to put a bow on the 7-2 victory. Ranciato stopped nine shots in net to get the win.

On Jan. 21, North Haven lost a 4-1 decision to Wethersfield-Middletown-Rocky Hill-Plainville in a non-conference game at Newington Ice Arena. Then on Jan. 26, the Indians dropped a 1-0 contest against Cheshire in a Southern Connecticut Conference/South-West Conference Division II home game at Northford Ice Pavilion.

North Haven moved to 1-5 on the year after taking defeats against the Branford-Guilford co-op team and Fairfield Prep last week.

On Jan. 22, North Haven dropped an 88-87 road decision to Branford-Guilford at the Walsh Intermediate School. Then on Jan. 25 the Indians took a 95-74 home loss versus Fairfield Prep at Gawrych Town Pool.

Despite the two defeats, North Haven saw several swimmers record season-best and lifetime-best marks during its two meets last week. Junior Ray Lewis swam a lifetime-best time of 1:12.88 in the 100 freestyle, sophomore Amhed Anwar recorded lifetime bests in both the 50 freestyle (40.35) and the 100 breaststroke (1:42.71), and senior Kevin Powers turned in lifetime bests for the 100 butterfly (1:00.45) and the 100 breaststroke (1:15.54). Senior Tim Chin swam a lifetime best of 1:25.78 in the 100 freestyle, while sophomore Marco Criscola finished with lifetime-best times for the 500 freestyle (6:34.06) and the 100 breaststroke (1:22.69).

The following swimmers recorded season-best times for the Indians last week: senior Will McCleery in the 50 freestyle (22.83) and the 100 backstroke (1:00.52), sophomore Tanner Powell in the 50 freestyle (25.05) and the 100 breaststroke (1:16.29), senior Tommy O’Connor in the 50 freestyle (26.56) and the 500 freestyle (6:42.83), and senior JP Stoeffler in the 50 freestyle (22.74). Stoeffler also won the 100 freestyle in the Fairfield Prep meet with a time of 50.88 seconds. Also last week, sophomore Joe O’Connor posted a season-best total of 149.25 points for the 1-meter diving competition.

Sophomore Carly Fresher scored 18 points to go with four steals and four assists when the Indians rallied for a 52-50 victory at divisional opponent Guilford on Jan. 22. Photo by Catherine Avalone/The Courier