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01/04/2020 11:00 PMGirls’ Basketball
The T-Birds’ girls’ basketball team moved to 2-2 on the season after winning one of its three games in recent action. North Branford sandwiched a home victory over Westbrook between a pair of road losses to East Hampton and Coginchaug last week.
On Dec. 20, North Branford dropped a 47-24 contest against East Hampton in a Shoreline Conference game. Sophomore Hanna Senerchia hit 3-pointers to score nine points, while fellow sophomore Braeden LeBeau had seven points, seven rebounds, and two blocks for North Branford. Junior Erica Piercey dished out six assists in the contest.
After a long break, North Branford returned to the floor on Dec. 30 and topped Westbrook by a 45-20 score. LeBeau scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Thunderbirds. Senior Lily Blomster and sophomore Marissa Ricardo added seven points apiece. Piercey and senior Briana Dautaj each had seven rebounds, while Senerchia added six points and six boards in the win.
The T-Birds closed out last week by taking a 49-35 loss at Coginchaug on Jan. 3. Coginchaug held a 24-16 lead at halftime and was up 39-20 after three quarters. North Branford made it a 10-point game during the fourth quarter, but the Blue Devils were able to hang on for the victory.
LeBeau scored 12 of her 15 points in the final frame to go with 11 rebounds and three blocked shots on the night. Piercey scored a career-high 13 points for North Branford.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
North Branford took a pair of road losses last week and is 0-3 to start the year.
On Dec. 21, the Thunderbirds played a road game against Watertown-Pomperaug and lost by a 3-1 final. Junior Shawn D’Aversa scored North Branford’s lone goal of the game on assists from junior Luciano Palma and sophomore Dakota Cooper. Junior captain Tyler DiNapoli recorded 52 saves in net for the Thunderbirds.
Two days later, North Branford was back on the road to face Guilford and took a 5-2 defeat to the Indians.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
The Greater New Haven Warriors (GNH) boys’ swimming and diving squad is 1-1 to start the season after defeating Hand and losing to Fairfield Prep in its first two meets.
The Warriors opened their season by earning a 94-90 home win against Hand at Walter Gawrych Community Pool on Dec. 19. Then on Jan. 2, GNH hosted Fairfield Prep and took a defeat by the score of 96-85.
GNH saw a few swimmers record lifetime-best times during their two meets last week. Sophomore Kyle Borrelli swam lifetime-best marks in both the 100 breaststroke (1:18.64) and the 50 freestyle (25.64) for the Warriors. Junior Cameron Cargan swam a lifetime best in the 200 freestyle (2:00.98), while senior Steven Borrelli did so in the 100 butterfly (1:08.79). Freshman Patrick Cucchiarelli posted a lifetime-best time of 1:00.31 in the 100 freestyle.
Several athletes recorded season-best times between the two meets. Freshman Aiden Cohen swam season bests in the 200 freestyle (2:00.08), the 100 freestyle (54.39), and the 100 butterfly, (1:02.93), while fellow freshmen Spencer Carroll went season bests in the 200 individual medley (2:22.75), the 100 butterfly (1:05.45), and the 100 breaststroke (1:12.73).
Also turning season-best times were sophomore Finn Henry in the 200 freestyle (1:45.94) and 500 freestyle (4:51.05), Cargan in the 50 freestyle (23.69), junior Daniel Kamen in the 200 freestyle (1:58.10) and 500 freestyle (5:27.06), Evan Laughlin in the 50 freestyle (25.05) and 100 freestyle (58.15), freshman Lucas Espinosa for the 100 backstroke (1:06.58), and sophomore Hethon Foster in the 200 IM (2:06.14), the 100 butterfly (54.18), and the 100 backstroke (1:00.46).
The following athletes also posted season-best marks for GNH: junior Connor Coyne in the 200 IM (2:07.13) and 100 breaststroke (1:05.38), junior David Zhang for the 200 IM (2:18.22) and 100 backstroke (1:00.47), senior Aidan Henry in the 50 freestyle (22.51) and the 100 freestyle (48.77), junior Tanner Powell in the 50 freestyle (25.01), and freshman Joey Gould for the 100 butterfly (1:09.20), 100 backstroke (1:08.07), and the 100 freestyle (58.51).