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02/19/2022 11:00 PMGirls’ Basketball
The North Branford girls’ basketball team took a defeat against in East Hampton in its regular-season finale, but came back to grab a victory over Coginchaug in the first round of the Shoreline Conference Tournament last week. The Thunderbirds, who have an overall record of 15-6, are playing East Hampton again in the Shoreline semifinals this week.
North Branford took a 47-45 road loss to East Hampton in its regular-season finale on Feb. 14. The T-Birds held a 25-17 lead over the Bellringers at halftime. However, East Hampton outscored North Branford 11-8 in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 33-28 entering the fourth, where the Bellringers had a 19-12 advantage to win the game by two.
Sophomore Callie Holzer scored 15 points for North Branford, while fellow sophomore Keana Criscuolo had 13 points in the game. Senior Braedan LeBeau netted 12 points for the T-Birds. Senior Delaney Norman added 5 points on the night.
On Feb. 19, 4th-seeded North Branford tipped off the Shoreline Conference Tournament by hosting No. 5 Coginchaug and claimed a 62-46 victory to advance to the semifinal round. Criscuolo scored 26 points for the T-Birds in the victory. LeBeau had 22 points with 10 rebounds and 6 blocks in the win. Norman scored 10 points to help North Branford prevail.
The Thunderbirds played top-seeded East Hampton in the conference semis on Feb. 23 (after press time). With a win, North Branford would take on the winner of No. 2 seed Cromwell and No. 3 Valley Regional for the title on Friday, Feb. 25. After Shorelines, North Branford will compete in the Class M State Tournament.
Boys’ Basketball
The North Branford boys’ basketball team finished its regular season by playing a pair of matchups last week. The T-Birds took a close loss to East Hampton and then defeated Platt Tech to finish with a record of 3-17.
On Feb. 14, North Branford hosted East Hampton and was edged out by the Bellringers by the score of 50-48. Then on Feb. 18, the T-Birds faced Platt Tech on the road for their regular-season finale and won the contest by the score of 35-29.
North Branford was up 11-5 after the first quarter, but the Panthers had a 9-5 advantage in the second to cut the gap to 16-14 at halftime. The Thunderbirds outscored Platt Tech 7-4 during the third quarter to make it 23-18 heading into the fourth, where North Branford had a 12-11 edge to secure the six-point victory.
Sophomore Jordan DeJesus and freshman Kyle Stegina both scored 10 points for the T-Birds in the win. Junior John Onofrio added 7 points for North Branford.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
The North Branford boys’ ice hockey squad gained a sweep of two recent games to improve to 7-11 with two contests left in the regular season. The T-Birds earned wins versus the Eastern CT Eagles and McMahon-Norwalk in last week’s matchups.
On Feb. 16, North Branford hosted the Eastern CT Eagles and claimed a 4-1 victory at Northford Ice Pavilion. Senior captain Dakota Cooper scored on assists from sophomores Jack Maley and Michael Matteo to put North Branford up 1-0 midway through the first period. Matteo made it 2-0 by netting a goal from sophomore Connor Stoner and senior captain Joey Marra later in the frame. Cooper netted his second goal of the period from senior captain Ryan Michonski and Maley to give the Thunderbirds a 3-0 lead after the first period.
The Eagles cut the deficit to 3-1 with a goal at midway through the second period. However, North Branford countered when Maley scored a shorthanded goal from Matteo just eight seconds later to make it 4-1, which held up as the final score.
Three days later, North Branford hit the road to face McMahon-Norwalk and posted an 8-0 shutout at the Sono Ice House. Geist made 23 saves to get the first shutout of his career with the Thunderbirds. North Branford scored three goals in the first period and then lit the lamp five times in the second stanza on its way to the rout.
In the first period, North Branford received 2 goals from sophomore CJ Sherwood and another goal by Cooper. Michonski, Stoner, Maley, and sophomore Jake Pedersen each had 1 assist.
During the second period, the T-Birds were bolstered by two goals from Marra, the first high school goal from sophomore Nick Cassella, along with goals by Matteo and Maley. Cassella also had a pair of assists in the period for the Thunderbirds, who also received 1 helper apiece from Cooper, Sherwood, sophomore Lucas Vollano, and junior Jake Rispoli, who recorded the first point of his high school career.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
The Hand/H-K/Valley/Branford/Coginchaug/Old Lyme (H/H-K/V/B/C/OL) co-op girls’ ice hockey squad notched two victories and then took a loss last week to improve its record to 3-12 on the season.
On Feb. 16, H/H-K/V/B/C/OL claimed a 2-1 road win versus Amity-Cheshire-North Haven at Lou Astorino Ice Arena. The following day, the team faced the Masuk co-op squad on the road and triumphed by a 3-2 score in overtime at the Sports Center of Connecticut. Then on Feb. 19, the Tigers hosted the Hamden co-op and took a 3-0 defeat at Northford Ice Pavilion.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
The Greater New Haven (GNH) Warriors boys’ swimming and diving team traveled to Fairfield University to take on Fairfield Prep for its regular-season finale on Feb. 15. The Warriors battled Prep to a 93-93 tie in a battle of SCC heavyweights to finish the regular season with an overall record of 8-2-1. GNH will be competing in the SCC Championship this week.