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03/06/2021 11:00 PMGirls’ Basketball
The Hand girls’ basketball team boosted its record to 7-1 after notching a pair of dominating victories last week. The Tigers routed both Cheshire and Branford in last week’s contests.
In its first game of the week, Hand defeated Cheshire by a 61-26 final in a home game on March 2. The Tigers were up 27-14 at halftime and then put the game away by outscoring the Rams in both the third (17-4) and fourth (17-8) quarters.
Freshman Sophia Coppola scored 16 points for Hand in the victory. Senior Hadley Houghton had 11 points, while junior Brooke Salutari scored 10 points. Sophomores Coco Rourke and Natalie Lucas added six points apiece for the Tigers, who had 20 steals and held Cheshire to just 31 percent shooting from the floor.
Then on March 5, Hand hosted Branford and claimed a 76-23 win over the Hornets. The Tigers stormed out to an 18-7 first quarter lead and were up 26-17 at halftime. Hand went on to win both the third (24-10) and fourth (26-6) quarters decisively to pull away for the 53-point victory.
Coppola turned in another stellar performance by netting 18 points for the Tigers, and Lucas was right behind her with 17 points. Senior Maddie Thomas scored 10 points, sophomore Carson Miller scored nine points, Salutari had seven points, and sophomores Aubrey Canth and Maya Blomberg contributed six points apiece. Hand forced 18 turnovers and held Branford to 24 percent shooting from the floor in the win.
Boys’ Basketball
After spending a few weeks in quarantine due to potential COVID-19 exposure, the Hand boys’ basketball team stepped back on the court to play Cheshire on March 7. The Tigers took a 59-56 double overtime loss at Cheshire to put their record at 2-3 this season.
Junior Tyler Favre scored 18 points for Hand in the game. Freshman Kyle Hoffman had 10 points on the night.
Gymnastics
The Hand gymnastics team earned a win versus Hamden in its lone meet of the week. On March 6, the Tigers had a road meet against Hamden and prevailed by the final score of 127.2-91.5 at New Era Gymnastics.
Junior Paige Dean took first place on the vault with a score of 9.1 for Hand at the meet. With the win, the Tigers improved their record to 2-0 on the season.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
The Hand boys’ swimming and diving team competed against the Greater New Haven Warriors in a virtual meet last week. The Tigers lost to the Warriors by the final score of 95-76 after turning in their performances at the Madison Racquet & Swim Club on March 5.
Freshman Elliot Lee claimed first place in the 200 individual medley (1:56.35) and the 100 backstroke for the Tigers (54.73). Sophomore Jonah Kehew earned top honors for the 100 breaststroke (1:14.50).
Hand’s 200 medley relay of Kehew, Lee, junior Joseph Starkey, and senior John Beiner finished in first place with a time of 1:45.20. The 400 freestyle relay featuring Beiner, junior Jack Signorello, Lee, and Starkey took first place at 3:32.07.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
The Hand/Coginchaug/Valley Regional/Haddam-Killingworth girls’ ice hockey team moved to 2-6 on the year after losing a pair of games last week.
On March 4, the Tigers hosted West Haven-Sacred Heart Academy and took a 4-0 loss at Northford Ice Pavilion. Junior goalie Megan Hart made 36 saves on 40 shots in the game.
Two days later, the team dropped a 3-1 decision against Hamden-Wilbur Cross-Lyman Hall-O’Brien Tech at Northford Ice Pavilion. Sophomore Brooklyn Jepson scored the Tigers’ goal on an assist by fellow sophomore Brynn McKeown.