Printer Friendly Version - North Haven Girls’ Hoops Wins States Opener, Loses to Hand; Blades Take First-Round Defeat

Sophomore Sarah Puzone dropped in 13 points to help the North Haven girls’ basketball team earn a 45-34 victory at Bullard-Havens in the first round of the Class L State Tournament on Feb. 25. Puzone went on to score 14 points when the Indians lost to Hand in a second-round contest three days later. Photo by Catherine Avalone/The Courier

The North Haven girls’ basketball team posted a victory over Bullard-Havens in the first round of the Class L State Tournament, before taking a second-round defeat against Hand last week. The Indians finished their season with an overall record of 8-14, having qualified for states for the first time since 2015.

North Haven entered the Class L bracket as the No. 30 seed and notched a 45-34 win at Bullard-Havens in first-round action on Feb. 25. The Indians jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first quarter and were up 19-13 at halftime. North Haven brought a 35-30 into the fourth quarter and then solidified the victory by outscoring the Tigers 10-4 during the final frame.

Sophomore Sarah Puzone scored 13 points for North Haven in the win. Junior Laura Petrafesa scored 11 points, while freshman Evani Okwuosa had eight points. Senior Leah Zeisner and sophomore Julia Bogan both scored four points for the Indians. Junior Giuliana Ciarlegio and sophomore Olivia Stefanik added two points apiece.

Then on Feb. 28, North Haven traveled to Madison to take on Hand for a second-round contest and lost to the 19th-seeded Tigers by the final score of 68-38. Hand was up 23-12 after the first quarter and increased its lead to 39-20 at halftime. The Tigers outscored North Haven in the third (14-11) and fourth (15-7) quarters to pull away for the win and advance to the quarterfinals. Zeisner scored 15 points for the Indians, while Puzone had 14 points on the night.

The Amity-North Haven-Cheshire girls’ ice hockey (A-NH-C) team saw its season come to a close when the Blades took a 3-2 defeat versus Simsbury in the first round of the State Tournament on Feb. 26. The Blades, who were the No. 12 seed in the tournament, finished their year with an overall record of 12-11-1 after losing to 5th-seeded Simsbury at the International Skating Center of Connecticut. Following an 0-7 start to the season, A-NH-C won 12 of its final 17 games and also claimed its second Southern Connecticut Conference title in program history this winter.

A-NH-C and Simsbury skated to a scoreless tie in the first period of their states game. In the second period, Simsbury scored three straight goals to take a 3-0 lead over the Blades. Senior captain Shannon Reilly got the Blades on the board when she scored a goal on assists from sophomore Caroline Cadelina and junior Haley Cable. Reilly’s goal cut the lead to 3-1 heading into the third period.

In the third, junior Tess Csejka scored from junior Sara Cable and senior captain Meaghan Hogan to make it a 3-2 game. However, Simsbury was able to prevent the Blades from netting the tying goal and hung on for the one-goal victory. Senior Caitlin Ranciato played goal for the Blades, completing an excellent season in her first year in net for Head Coach John Peschell’s squad.

North Haven took a 6-3 home loss against Guilford in its final game of the year on Feb. 25. The Indians finished with an overall record of 4-14-2 in their first campaign with Head Coach Chris Avena, recording three of those victories during their last six games of the season.

The Indians hosted the state’s JV Tournament at North Haven High School on Feb. 23. North Haven saw 14 athletes compete at the meet with four of those earning a medal by virtue of placing in the top eight of their respective disciplines.

Sophomore My-Ting Cuevas-Lo claimed a gold medal for North Haven in the girls’ sabre competition by taking first place in the 16-person tournament. In the girls’ épée tournament, juniors Gina Barron and Jenna Noce earned medals by finishing in fourth and eighth place, respectively, in the 26-fencer field. Freshman Ryan DeVaux took fifth place among 50 fencers in the boys’ foil competition to grab a medal for the Indians.

Scott Bernier finished in 10th place in the boys’ sabre tournament at the meet. Junior Mitchel Pierpont took 10th place in the boys’ épée tournament, while junior Elliot Rastkane finished 21st, fellow junior Dev Patel finished 34th, and senior Sherwin Tsang came in 44th place for North Haven.

Senior Miles Houston finished in a tie for 23rd place in the boys’ foil competition. For girls’ foil, junior Rahi Patel finished 27th, junior Claire Looney finished tied for 33rd, sophomore Jennifer Yang placed 35th, and sophomore Eva Redman finished in 41st for the Indians.

Senior captain Leah Zeisner and the Indians made states for the first time since 2015 this winter. After helping North Haven win its first-round game, Zeisner scored 15 points during the squad’s second-round loss versus Hand. Photo by Catherine Avalone/The Courier