Printer Friendly Version - East Haven’s Track Teams Represent at Sectionals; Boys’ Hoops Picks Up Two Big Victories

Senior Ron Calderon hit a shot at the buzzer to lift the Yellowjackets to a 52-50 victory versus Jonathan Law last week. East Haven went on to defeat Sheehan to improve to 9-4 on the year. File photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier

The East Haven girls’ indoor track team competed at the SCC West Sectional Championship at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Jan. 27. Led by a victory from senior Morgan D’Auria in the long jump, East Haven scored 27 points as a team and finished in seventh place at sectionals.

D’Auria reached a distance of 15 feet-8.5 inches on her way to placing first in the long jump. Fellow senior Emily Mazzucco took second place in the long jump with a distance of 15-6.5.

Junior Jessica Urban finished fourth in the high jump (4-8) for the Yellowjackets at West Sectionals. D’Auria finished sixth (4-8) for the high jump, while Mazzucco placed 10th (4-6) in the event. Urban also finished fifth in the 55-meter hurdles finals with a time of 10.90 seconds after advancing with a fifth-place finish in the prelims behind a time of 10.89.

Sophomore Aniya Franklin claimed fifth place in the shot put (29.7.75) for the Yellowjackets. Senior Princess Aggrey finished eighth (27-4.75) in the shot put, and freshman Mercilyn Ackom-Brew finished in 13th place (25-2.5). East Haven’s 4x200 relay of Mazzucco, D’Auria, sophomore Erica Canfield, and Urban finished in eighth place (2:00.95).

Canfield also finished 12th in the 300 (48.15) and was 13th for the prelims of the 55-meter dash (8.22). Senior Juliana Espionza finished in 19th place in the 600 (2:07.47) for East Haven.

The East Haven boys’ indoor track team was represented by several athletes at last week’s SCC West Sectional Championship meet. The Yellowjackets finished in ninth place with 4 points scored at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Jan. 27.

Freshman Dante Rodriguez took fourth place in the high jump with a height of 5-6 for East Haven at the sectional meet. Rodriguez also finished ninth in the preliminaries of the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 10.13 seconds.

Junior Ronald Koye placed 14th in the preliminaries of the 55 hurdles (10.90) for the Yellowjackets. Sophomore Paul Carangelo finished 16th in the 300 (41.36) and placed 20th for the prelims of the 55-meter dash (7.17). Senior Justin Hernandez took 19th place in shot put (30-5.5) for East Haven.

The East Haven boys’ basketball team improved its record to 9-4 on the season by winning both its matchups last week. The Yellowjackets posted recent wins over Jonathan Law and Sheehan and have now won their last four games.

East Haven kicked off its week by claiming a 52-50 victory versus Jonathan Law in a home game on Jan. 25. Senior Ron Calderon sank the game-winning layup at the buzzer to lift the Easties to the victory. Calderon posted a double-double by scoring 18 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for the Yellowjackets, who qualified for the Division III State Tournament with the win. Senior Kyle Cusano scored 12 points, and fellow senior Tim Case had 10 points.

Two days later, the Yellowjackets hosted Sheehan and defeated the Titans by the final score of 69-58. Cusano hit six 3-pointers on his way to netting 20 points for the Yellowjackets. Case scored 17 points, while Calderon had 16 points in the victory. Junior Theo Rawls scored 11 points, and senior Shea Carasone added 5 points on the night.

The East Haven girls’ basketball team won one of its three games last week to put its record at 8-6 for the season. The Yellowjackets defeated Lyman Hall and also took losses against Sheehan and West Haven in recent action.

On Jan. 25, East Haven took a 55-43 defeat versus Sheehan in a road game. Junior Alice Stettinger and sophomore Olivia Martin both scored 10 points for the Yellowjackets in the loss. Senior Kate Pycela scored 8 points, junior Gabby Gaetano had 7 points, and junior Gabriella Milici added 5 points.

The next day, the Easties hosted Lyman Hall and won the contest by the score of 57-38. East Haven held a 12-5 lead after the first quarter and was up 24-21 at halftime. The Yellowjackets took control of the game by outscoring Lyman Hall 21-8 in the third quarter and then won the fourth quarter 12-9 to finish off the 19-point victory.

Martin scored 15 points for East Haven in the win. Gaetano scored 11 points, while sophomore Gianna Castellano had 10 points on the night. Pycela had 9 points, and Stettinger scored 7 points for the Easties.

Then on Jan. 28, the Yellowjackets faced West Haven at home and took a 68-44 loss against the Blue Devils.

The Greater New Haven (GNH) Warriors boys’ swimming and diving team hosted Amity for a contest at Walter Gawrych Community Pool on Jan. 28. The Warriors claimed a 96-85 win against the Spartans to improve to 5-1 for the season.

East Haven junior Brendan Conners took first place in the 200 individual medley (2:03.34) and the 100 backstroke (54.15) for GNH in the victory. East Haven senior Hethon Foster won the 100 butterfly (54.65), while North Haven junior Christian Butler finished first in the 1-meter diving (233.50). Guiilford senior Finn Henry finished first in the 200 freestyle (1:50.30) and the 500 freestyle (4:50.91).

The Warriors’ 200 medley relay of Conners, Henry, Foster, and Guilford junior Aiden Cohen claimed first place (1:42.70). GNH’s 200 freestyle relay of Conners, Cohen, Foster, and Henry also earned a first-place finish (1:31.40).

The Hamden-East Haven-North Branford girls’ ice hockey team had one game on its schedule last week. The Green Dragons hosted the Masuk co-op squad on Jan. 26 and claimed a 3-1 victory in the game. With the win, the team improved its record to 4-9 on the season.

The East Haven co-op boys’ ice hockey hosted Amity for a contest at Northford Ice Pavilion on Jan. 24. The Yellowjackets dropped a 6-3 decision to the Spartans to move to 9-2 on the season.

The Yellowjackets fell behind 1-0 and then tied the game when East Haven freshman Gennaro Pomparo scored from senior captain Parker Sprankle of Old Lyme and East Haven sophomore Michael Savo for a 1-1 score after the first period. Amity scored two goals in the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the third.

The Spartans scored early in the third period, but the Yellowjackets responded with two goals to cut the deficit to 4-3. East Hampton senior Josh Berg scored from Pompano and Morgan junior Tyler Weinzimmer for the first goal, after which Sprankle netted an unassisted goal to cut the deficit to one with 8:38 left in the game. Amity scored a goal to go up 5-3 with 5:42 to play and then added an empty-netter with 55 seconds left to finish off the 6-3 victory.