Printer Friendly Version - North Haven Wins SCC Opener, Loses in Quarterfinals

Sophomore Eveani Okwuosa and the North Haven girls’ basketball team defeated Law in the first round of the SCC Tournament before losing to Hand in the quarterfinals last week. The Indians are competing in the Class L State Tournament beginning this week. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

After finishing the regular season with two narrow defeats, the North Haven girls’ basketball team kicked off postseason play by earning a big victory versus Law in the first round of the SCC Tournament last week. On Feb. 20, 8th-seeded North Haven hosted No. 9 Law for its SCC opener and triumphed in convincing fashion, winning by the final score of 52-30.

The Indians went on to take a loss against top-seeded Hand in the quarterfinal round on Feb. 22. North Haven has an overall record of 13-9 as it gets ready to compete in the Class L State Tournament this week.

The Indians had lost to Law in their regular-season finale just two days before the teams squared off in the first round of SCCs. In the rematch, North Haven jumped out to an early lead by outscoring Law 14-4 during the first quarter and then had a 14-6 advantage in the second quarter for a 28-12 command at halftime. The Indians started to run away with the game by winning the third quarter 13-8 to make it 41-18 through three. North Haven went on to get the 52-30 victory to advance to the quarterfinal round.

Sophomore Eveani Okwuosa scored 16 points to go with seven rebounds and four steals for North Haven. Junior Sarah Puzone scored 12 points and also had seven boards with four steals. Senior Laura Petrafesa netted 11 points, including three 3-pointers, to go with two steals in the victory.

Senior Colleen Lucey handed out five assists and had four rebounds for the Indians. Junior Carly Fresher grabbed five rebounds, and senior Giuliana Ciarleglio had three assists.

Two nights later, North Haven went up against No. 1 seed Hand in the SCC quarterfinals and dropped a 58-42 decision at Sheehan High School. Hand grabbed a 9-3 lead after the first quarter and then outscored North Haven 23-11 during the second quarter to take a 32-14 lead into halftime. The Indians outscored Hand 28-26 in the second half, but were unable to make up the deficit.

Okwuosa scored 20 points for the Indians. Puzone had seven points, and Petrafesa scored five points in the game.

Prior to playing in SCCs, North Haven completed its regular season by losing close road games versus Cheshire and Law. The Indians started the week by dropping a 47-42 overtime decision to Cheshire on Feb. 17.

The Rams had 11-5 lead after the first quarter, but North Haven turned the tables with an 11-4 advantage in the second to take a 16-15 edge into the break. Following a back-and-forth second half, the game went to overtime, where Cheshire outscored North Haven by a 10-5 margin to get the win.

Puzone had 13 points and six steals, while Okwuosa scored 10 points to go with eight rebounds and five steals for North Haven. Petrafesa and Fresher both scored six points with Petrafesa adding a pair of steals. Junior Olivia Stefanik collected six rebounds in the contest.

The following night, the Indians traveled to Milford to face divisional opponent Law in their last game of the regular season. North Haven took a 50-45 defeat to finish with an overall record of 12-8 and a mark of 3-5 in the SCC Hammonasset Division for regular-season play this year.

Next up for North Haven is the Class L State Tournament that gets underway this week.