This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
02/16/2019 11:00 PMBoys’ Ice Hockey
The North Branford boys’ ice hockey team split a pair of games last week to move to 5-10-1 on the season. The T-Birds took a home loss against North Haven on Feb. 10, but bounced back by earning an overtime victory versus Amity on the road on Feb. 13.
North Branford started off the week by losing a 2-1 game to North Haven. Senior captain Sean McKee scored the lone goal for the T-Birds on assists from fellow senior captains Nick Mancini and Nick Barrett. Sophomore Tyler DiNapoli made 24 saves in goal for North Branford.
A few nights later, McKee scored the game-winning goal in overtime to push North Branford to a 6-5 win against Amity. Mancini netted a pair of goals, while junior Joe Carbone, sophomore Nick Poulin, and junior Nick Vecchio also scored goals for North Branford. Senior Brendan Stoner dished out two assists, including a helper on McKee’s game-winner. DiNapoli made 35 saves to get the win in net.
Girls’ Basketball
The T-Birds took a loss at Coginchaug in their regular season finale and then lost against East Hampton in the quarterfinals of the Shoreline Conference Tournament last week. North Branford finished its season with an overall record of 7-14.
On Feb. 11, North Branford took a 53-31 loss at Coginchaug in a game that the T-Birds needed to win in order to qualify for the Class M State Tournament. Coginchaug jumped out to a 13-3 first quarter advantage and led the rest of the way en route to 22-point victory. Freshman Braeden LeBeau scored 12 points, while senior captain Jessie Kilburn added eight points for the T-Birds, who went 7-13 for the regular season.
Despite the loss, North Branford qualified for the Shoreline Conference Tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Thunderbirds played at No. 2 seed East Hampton on Feb. 16 and dropped a 43-32 decision to close out the year. North Branford took a 22-21 deficit into halftime, but East Hampton started the third quarter with a 12-1 run and then went on to get the win. Kilburn scored 11 points and had eight rebounds, while junior Julia Ricardo added 11 points. LeBeau had nine rebounds and three blocks for the T-Birds.
Boys’ Basketball
North Branford took two defeats last week to move to 1-17 with two games to go in the season.
The Thunderbirds opened last week’s action by taking a 64-48 home defeat versus Coginchaug on Feb. 13. Coginchaug built a 17-6 lead in the first quarter, but North Branford hung around and stayed in the game the rest of the way. Junior Mike Sitro scored a team-high 15 points for North Branford. Senior captain Gary Robinson added 10 points for Head Coach Cliff Yerkes’s squad.
“They were able to come out hot and get easy buckets, and we’re just not built to come from behind,” said Yerkes. “We played them even after that if you look at the second, third, and fourth quarters. So, we were right there, but we got down big early.”
Two nights later, North Branford hit the road and lost a 66-57 contest at Haddam-Killingworth. Sitro had a big game for the T-Birds by recording 26 points, 15 rebounds, three steals, three blocked shots, and two assists. Junior Brett Fee added nine points in the loss.
Girls’ Indoor Track
Junior Mackenzie Glenn competed in the long jump for North Branford at the State Open Championship at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 16.
Glenn took ninth place with a leap of 16 feet-10.75 inches in the long jump at the Open. Glenn’s distance was even better than her performances from when she won the long jump at the Shoreline Conference Championship (15-9.25) and then finished in third place at Class S State Championship (16-4.75).