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02/02/2019 11:00 PMGirls’ Basketball
The Branford girls’ basketball team qualified for the Class L State Tournament by earning a 67-57 home victory versus Law on Feb. 1. The Hornets also took a loss against Foran last week and have an overall record of 8-8 on the year.
Branford hosted Law for an SCC Hammonasset Division game and came away with the 10-point win to punch its ticket to states, while improving to 2-3 in the division. The Hornets stormed out to a 17-9 lead after the first quarter and were up 29-18 at halftime. Branford outscored Law by a 16-11 margin in the third quarter to extend the lead to 16 points entering the final frame. Branford shot 54.5 from the field and went 75 percent from the free throw line in the victory.
Senior Sophia Araneo had a huge game for the Hornets by scoring 30 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Junior Karly King scored 13 points and had 10 deflections, while sophomore Gabriella Lucertini had nine points and seven boards. Junior Mikayla Brown had six points with five rebounds, and fellow junior Issy Mannle scored three points to go with four assists and seven deflections. Junior Lily-Moore Markey added six points and two steals for Head Coach Rob Manghnani’s squad.
Previously, Branford took a 53-44 home loss versus Foran on Jan. 28. Araneo scored 23 points for the Hornets. King had seven points, while Lucertini and freshman Nicole Pagliaro both scored six points.
Boys’ Basketball
Branford lost road games against Guilford and Sheehan last week.
Branford squared off with Guilford in an SCC Quinnipiac contest on Jan. 28 and dropped a 68-58 decision. Guilford held a 14-13 lead after the first quarter and then outscored the Hornets during both the second (18-13) and third (20-12) quarters. Junior Kevin Baxter netted 30 points for Branford, including seven 3-pointers. Junior Aidan Jacobson and sophomore Justin Elpi both scored eight points, while sophomores Kamryn Holmes and Dominic Bonanno added five points apiece.
On Feb. 1, the Hornets took an 80-45 road loss versus Sheehan to move to 1-13 on the season. Elpi scored 16 points, and Baxter had 10 points for Branford. Senior Anuj Khadka and sophomore Tucker Jacobson each added six points on the night.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
The Hornets split a pair of recent non-conference contests to move to 8-3-3 on the year. Branford notched a home win over Westhersfield-Middletown-Rocky Hill-Plainville (W-M-R-P) and then took a 3-0 road loss versus Conard later in the week.
The Hornets started off the week by defeating W-M-R-P by a 4-0 score at Northford Ice Pavilion on Jan. 28. Junior Spencer Engstrom had two goals with two assists, while senior goalkeeper Greg Lucente made 23 saves to post the shutout. Engstrom scored an unassisted goal to give Branford a 1-0 lead with 2:17 left in the first period. Engstrom later had the assist on a goal by fellow junior Jack Manware for a 2-0 lead with 8:34 to play in the second. The Hornets held their two-goal edge until Engstrom scored from junior Jake Rivera and Engstrom to make it 3-0 with 9:26 remaining in the third period. Later in the frame, junior Blake Kustra scored on assists by Manware and Engstrom to put the cap on a 4-0 win.
On Feb. 1, Branford ventured to West Hartford for a clash against Conard and lost a 3-0 decision to the Chieftains at Veterans Memorial Ice Rink.
During the previous week’s action, Branford earned a 9-3 victory against North Branford on Jan. 23. Branford was down 2-1 after the first period, but outscored the Thunderbirds 3-1 in the second, and then broke loose for five goals in the final period to run away with the victory. Manware had four goals and one assist, Engstrom had three goals with one assist, and senior Max Bunton scored a goal to go with three assists.
Manware scored from seniors Max Bunton and Robbie Lionetti to give Branford a 1-0 lead in the opening period. Trailing 2-1 early in the second, Engstrom scored from Bunton to tie the game at 2. After North Branford went up 3-2, Manware scored on a Kustra assist to make it 3-3 with 4:36 to go in the frame. Then with 1:54 left, Engstrom scored on an assist by junior Chris Donadio to put the Hornets up 4-3. In the third period, Manware scored from Kustra, and then Bunton scored on assists from Manware and Engstrom to give Branford a 6-3 advantage five minutes into the stanza. The Hornets kept rolling as Engstrom scored from junior Max Manware, then Jack Manware scored an unassisted goal, after which Kustra netted Branford’s ninth goal of the night on assists from senior Theo Kirby and Bunton. Sophomore goalie Jared Yakimoff had 23 saves for the Hornets.
Wrestling
The Branford wrestling team had a busy stretch that saw the Hornets notch a win versus Amity, earn a first-place finish at the Shoreline Scuffle tournament, and then post five more victories by sweeping a pair of meets. Branford now stands with an overall record of 18-10, tying for the second-most wins in program history.
Branford posted a 55-22 road victory over Amity on Jan. 23. Sophomore Luke Volpe won his bout in the 126-pound weight class, while fellow sophomore Peyton Tracy prevailed by pin in the 138-pound division. Sophomores AJ Robinson and Anthony LaFogg won their matches in the 152- and 160-pound divisions, respectively. Sophomore Justin Osler earned a 6-0 victory on a decision in the 182 weight class. Sophomore Marcus Indeck bumped up to 195 and pinned his opponent. Junior captain Cody McHenry moved up to 220 and also won via pinfall. Junior captain Minsok Lee went up to 285 and dispatched his adversary on a pin. Freshman Patrick Zdunek won by pin in the 113-pound bout, while fellow freshman Jace Korab earned a pinfall victory at 120.
On Jan. 26, the Hornets hosted the fourth annual Shoreline Scuffle and won the tournament by finishing first among the nine-team field at Branford High School. Fifteen wrestlers earned medals by placing in the top four of their respective weight classes for the Hornets.
Branford crowned three champions en route to finishing first at the Scuffle. Zdunek took the title at 113 pounds, Osler won first prize in the 182-pound division, and McHenry captured the championship of the 195-pound bracket. Earning runner-up honors were Korab (120), senior Brendan Shamas (132), Tracy (138), Robinson (152), Indeck (182), and Lee (220). Inderpreet Behal (120), LaFogg (160), and sophomore Spencer Lyon (170) finished in third place. Freshman Josh Berdon finished fourth at 113, and Volpe came in fourth place for the 126-pound division.
Then on Jan. 31, Branford swept a tri-meet by earning wins versus Morgan (60-18) and Cheshire (79-0). The following day, the Hornets notched victories against Pomperaug (57-21), Maloney (63-12), and Farmington (72-12).
Cheerleading
The Branford cheerleading team competed in the SCC Championship that was held at North Haven High School on Feb. 2. The Hornets totaled a score of 77.55 points to finish in fourth place in the All-Girl Division. North Haven won the title by posting a score of 87.05 at the meet. Hand finished first for the Co-ed Division with an 85.95.
Boys’ Indoor Track
Senior Marzio Mastroianni paced his way to a second-place performance in the 3,200-meter run for the Branford boys’ indoor track team at the SCC Championship on Feb. 1. The Hornets scored 13 points and finished in 12th place at Floyd Little Athletic Center.
One week after winning the 1,000 at the SCC West Sectional Championship, Mastroianni ran a time of 4:27.47 to take second place in the 1,600 and score eight points for Branford at the conference meet. Travis Martin of Wilbur Cross won the 1,600 with a time of 4:21.35.
Branford’s 4x800 relay of junior Andrew Betzig, senior Nolan Scott, freshman Wyatt Reynolds, and freshman Cheng Wu recorded a time of 8:46.78 to take fourth place and score four points. The Hornets’ other point came from senior Matt Daley, who finished sixth in the 600 with a time of 1:27.46.
Branford saw its three other relays each finish in seventh place at the SCC Championship. The Hornets’ 4x200 relay of senior Matt Alexander, senior Brandon Perez, junior Andrew Wirtz, and senior Carlos McCaay ran a time of 1:41.38; the 4x400 of Scott, Daley, Wu, and Mastroianni finished in a time of 3:38.10; and the 1,600 sprint medley relay featuring freshman Wyatt Reynolds, Scott, Daley, and Betzig took seventh place by timing in at 3:57.11.
Perez cleared 5 feet-6 inches to place 10th in the high jump, along with a 14th-place showing in the long jump behind a leap of 18-3.5. In the pole vault, senior Justin Dombrowski eclipsed a height of 10 feet to take ninth place. Junior Sean Jansen also cleared 10 feet and finished 12th on a tiebreaker. Wirtz placed 15th by clearing 9 feet. Sophomore Ryan Hanniford ran a time of 9.51 seconds to finish 18th for the preliminaries of the 55-meter hurdles.
Girls’ Indoor Track
Senior Liante Claude took sixth place in the 300-meter dash for the Hornets at the SCC Championship last week. Claude finished with a time of 43.79 seconds to place sixth and score a point for Branford that put the team in a tie for 17th place at the meet.
Junior Rose Lockery finished 14th in the 300 with a time of 46.04 at SCCs. Freshman Bella Finta ran a time of 6:04.42 in the 1,600 to take 16th place.
Branford’s 4x200 relay of Lockery, freshman Katie Laska, freshman Julia Duffy, and Claude finished eighth by recording a time of 1:54.97. In the 4x800 relay, the Hornets’ quartet of sophomore Stephanie Tostie, freshman Alayna Boileau, sophomore Nami Bolat, and junior Maya Kyriakides came in 11th place with a time of 12:02.32.