This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
01/04/2020 11:00 PMThe North Haven boys’ basketball team is off to a hot start in the 2019-’20 winter season. The Indians are sporting a record of 5-0 following their first five games of the campaign and also took the title at the Fred Kelly Memorial Holiday Tournament. Justin Falcon enters his fifth season as North Haven’s head coach this winter.
North Haven started off its season by rallying for a 50-47 road victory against Hand on Dec. 19. With the game tied 8-8 after the first quarter, the Indians outscored Hand 18-9 in the second to take a 26-17 lead into halftime. The Tigers dominated the third quarter by outscoring North Haven 22-4 during the frame and were up 39-30 entering the fourth. However, North Haven won the fourth quarter by a 20-8 margin to walk off the floor with the three-point win.
Senior Dave Christoforo scored 17 points, and fellow senior RJ Hager had 15 points in the victory. Senior Joe Vitale scored seven points, senior Bryce Charney had five points, and senior Jaden Watson added four points for the Indians.
Two days later, North Haven squared off with Stratford in a home game and defeated the Red Devils by the final score of 76-66.
On Dec. 27, the Indians hosted Lyman Hall in the semifinals of the Fred Kelly Memorial Holiday Tournament at North Haven High School. North Haven claimed a 70-57 win versus the Trojans to advance to the final.
The next day, the Indians went up against Platt in the championship game and posted an 82-74 victory to win the tournament for the third year in a row. North Haven grabbed a 17-8 advantage over Platt after the first quarter. The Panthers won the second quarter by a 26-23 margin to cut the deficit to 40-34 at halftime. The Indians outscored Platt 17-14 in the third quarter to take a 57-48 lead into the fourth. North Haven held off the Panthers’ comeback bid in an even fourth quarter to walk off the court with the tourney title.
Hager turned in a huge performance with 26 points, while Christoforo had a fine game in his own right by scoring 21 points for North Haven. Vitale scored 16 points in the victory. Senior Justin Watson scored seven points, Charney had six points, and sophomore Chris Hager scored four points on the night.
Then on Jan. 3, North Haven edged out Branford by a 61-60 final in a road game. It was a close contest throughout that saw the Indians outscore the Hornets 12-11 during the fourth quarter to win the game. Hager scored 21 points, Christoforo had 18 points, Charney scored 11 points, Vitale had seven points, and Watson chipped in with four points for North Haven.
The Indians are playing a pair of home games this week. North Haven is hosting Sheehan on Thursday, Jan. 9 and will host Cheshire on Monday, Jan. 13. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.