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02/09/2020 11:00 PMBoys’ Basketball
The Valley Regional boys’ basketball team had a pair of games on last week’s schedule and they won them both to mark a dozen straight victories. The wins improve the Warriors record to 13-3 on the year.
On Feb. 4, the Warriors head to North Branford where they doubled up the Thunderbirds to the tune of a 62-31 home win. Valley came out blistering with a 15-5 first quarter and grew the lead slightly by halftime to take a 28-15 advantage into the intermission. With an big lead, the Warriors out scored North Branford by a 34-16 margin in the second half, leading to the big win.
Gavin Grabowski had a strong showing with 17 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Chris Sparaco supplied a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jake Grow also hit double digits in points with 10. Jeremy Arnum hauled in 10 rebounds to go with two steals and two assists. Cade Ensinger scored six points to go with nine assists and three steals. Macklin Miezejeski added six points and eight rebounds.
Three days later, Valley mounted another impressive attack against a Shoreline Conference foe in Haddam-Killingworth. The Warriors hosted the Cougars and beat them by a score of 63-49.
In the first quarter, Valley outscored H-K 20-8, and it was more of the same in the second with an 18-7 effort in the second. Heading into the third, Valley led the Cougars 37-16, but in the third, H-K came alive and outscored Valley 26-16. Still the early advantage was too much to overcome and the Warriors won handily.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
The East Haven-Old Lyme-Old Saybrook-Morgan-Valley Regional-East Hampton (EH-OL-OS-M-VR-EH) boys’ ice hockey squad improved to 7-5 on the season by earning a pair of victories against SCC/SWC Division II opponents last week. The Yellowjackets defeated Amity and North Branford last week and have now won their last four games in a row.
On Feb. 1, EH-OL-OS-M-VR-EH hosted Amity and netted a 4-1 win versus the Spartans at Patsy DiLungo Ice Rink. Junior Dave Amatruda had a hat trick by scoring three goals in the victory. Amatruda scored an unassisted goal to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead with 7:59 left in the first period. Amity tied the game by scoring a goal 31 seconds later, but just one minute after that, EH-OL-OS-M-VR-EH took the lead for good when Amatruda netted another unassisted goal with 6:29 to play in the frame.
Sophomore Duncan Rider scored from fellow sophomore Mike Robert for a 3-1 lead with 12:38 remaining in the second period. With 1:35 left in the period, Amatruda secured his hat trick by scoring his third unassisted goal of the game for a 4-1 advantage. Senior goalie Logan Hamilton made 30 saves in net.
Then on Feb. 5, the Yellowjackets claimed a 5-1 road victory over divisional opponent North Branford to move to 4-1 in SWC/SWC Division II action. EH-OL-OS-M-VR-EH scored three goals during the first period to take a 3-0 lead. Sophomore Josh Berg scored an unassisted goal with 9:44 left in the period, junior Chad Feola scored from junior Cory Benni and Robert just 32 seconds later, and then junior Rocco Plano scored a goal with 3:06 to go in the first.
With 1:37 remaining in the second period, Amatrauda scored from Plano and sophomore Parker Sprankle to make it 4-0 through two. After North Branford scored early in the third, East Haven put the victory on ice when freshman Nic Ruggiero scored from Amatruda and Feola with 8:42 left in the game. Hamilton turned aside 32 shots to get another win in goal.
Girls’ Indoor Track
Valley claimed fourth place as a team at the Shoreline Conference Championship Meet at the Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 8. The Warriors scored 54 points to earn their position.
Several competitors turned in strong times and distances for Valley.
In the high jump, Madeline Costello earned second place with a height of 4 feet-10 inches. Audrey Lenda earned second place in the long jump with a distance of 15 feet-6.5 inches. To round out the silver medal winners, Margaret Jacaruso snagged second place in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:51.84.
Also competing in the high jump were Caroline Hutchinson, who earned fifth place with a height of 4-6, and Loretta Cecchini earned seventh place with her leap of 4-4.
In the 55-meter dash, Lexi Ross took fifth place with a time of 7.82, while teammate Hanna Babek placed eighth with a time of 8.04 seconds.
Madeline Jacaruso also finished sixth in the 600 with a time of 1:51.84, and Lacey Hall finished eighth at 2:00.71.
Valley’s Relay squads also put in some nice work at the meet. The 4x400 team of Margaret Jacaruso, Haskins, Lacey Hall, and Costello came in fifth place with a time of 4:50.70. The 4x200 team of Babek, Madeline Jacaruso, Audrey Lenda, and Lexi Ross took ninth place with a time of 2:01.88.
Boys’ Indoor Track
Valley sent a pair of athletes to compete at the Shoreline Conference Championship Meet at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 8. The Warriors saw strong finishes from Andrew Fergusen and Ryan Shasha.
Fergusen took second place in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.93 seconds. Shasha claimed third place in the high jump after he cleared the bar at 5 feet-8 inches.
Girls’ Basketball
Valley had four games recently and came away with one win out of the four contests. With these results, the Warriors record moved to 7-10 on the year.
On Feb. 1, Valley hosted Lewis Mills and lost a 41-37 home contest.
Two days later, the Warriors defeated North Branford in a 47-22 home game. Valley hit the ground running with a 14-4 first quarter over the Thunderbirds and followed that up with a 16-2 second frame. The halftime score was 30-6 in Valley’s favor, and the Warriors outscored the Thunderbirds 17-16 in the second half.
Addi Marchese and Alena Crosby led the scoring attack for the Warriors with 11 points each, while Salmi Miller, Bitzy Klomp, and Lily Grow all had six points each.
On Feb. 6, Valley lost a 48-41 road match at Haddam-Killingworth. The Cougars led 18-13 by halftime, and then outscored the Warriors 30-28 in the second half to claim the win.
Alena Crosby scored 15 in the loss, while Ava Cunningham put up 11 points. Reagan Brenneman scored five points.
On Feb. 8, the dropped a 60-47 road contest against Stonington. The Bears got out to a 30-22 lead in the first half, and continued to build their lead in the second half.