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03/05/2022 11:00 PMEntering his first year as head coach of the East Haven girls’ hoops, Mike Archambault wanted to instill an attitude that if the Yellowjackets were to be successful, they would need to succeed as a team. Archambault saw the Easties grow on and off the court all season long, ultimately helping them advance to the second round of the Class MM State Tournament last week.
East Haven claimed a 37-30 victory at Jonathan Law in the first round of the Class MM bracket, after which the Yellowjackets took a 53-25 defeat at Hand in a second-round contest. East Haven finished its season with an overall record of 12-11.
Following an 11-win regular season, East Haven entered the Class MM State Tournament as the No. 19 seed. After the Easties missed out on states last year, Coach Archambault’s squad was excited to get on the court and demonstrate just how hard they worked throughout the 2022 campaign.
“They were excited to do something they weren’t able to do” lasy year, Archambault said. “We had a lot of players that were new to this. They were excited knowing that this was what they worked for all season.”
In the first round of states, East Haven played an away game against No. 14 seed Jonathan Law on Feb. 28. The Yellowjackets found themselves trailing the Eagles 19-12 at halftime, but were energized when they came out for the second half. With a spark on offense and a defense that allowed just 11 points after intermission, the Easties won the matchup 37-30.
Sophomore Juliana Iovino led the way with 15 points for East Haven in the victory. Junior Gabby Gaetano scored 10 points, and senior captain Kate Pycela had 6 points on the night. Junior Alice Stettinger scored 3 points, sophomore Gianna Castellano had 2 points, and junior Arielle Dupree scored 1 point for the Easties.
“Law is similar to us in both skill level and how they play the game. It was pretty even in the beginning of the game. They went on a run just before halftime,” said Archambault. “We told them, ‘This is your season on the line.’ We needed to turn it around. They came out with more energy than I saw in the first half defensively. We relied on our transition offense.”
On March 3, East Haven played a second-round road game versus No. 3 seed Hand and took a 53-25 loss to the Tigers. The Yellowjackets were in the game facing a 21-12 deficit at halftime, but Hand outscored East Haven in the third (16-4) and fourth (16-9) quarters to pull away for the win.
“We came in with a mentality that we had to play at the top of our game to compete with them. In the first half, we played hard,” Coach Archambault said. “We never truly got into an offensive rhyme. They’re tall and long. In the second half, they got hot, and their defensive pressure gave us trouble.”
Whether it was the regular season or the playoffs, Coach Archambault said that the Yellowjackets never gave up on the court this year. In both wins and losses, Archambault saw his team compete its hardest from the opening tip through the final buzzer on a game-in, game-out basis.
“They never gave up. Coming back down seven against Jonathan Law, that was like the story of our season,” said Archambault. “There were droughts, but when we were down, there was always a push to do better. They never gave up. They played hard until the end of the Daniel Hand game.”
While several of the team’s athletes had previously competed for Archambault at Joseph Melillo Middle School, East Haven’s players still had to get used to a different system with their new coach this winter. Archambault said that everyone on the roster bought in and believed in what the coaching staff told them. By the end of the season, the Yellowjackets’ opponents knew that they were going to be in for a battle whenever they squared off against the Easties.
“They had a new coach coming in. We had a new system put in. They bought in. There wasn’t pushback. The girls had a complete buy-in to our system and trusted that we were putting them in the right direction,” Archambault said. “Whoever was out there, they were going to give everything they had, offensively and defensively. They were going to be in it until the end.”
Kate Pycela led East Haven as the team’s senior captain this year. Coach Archambault said that Pycela was a true leader on both ends of the floor. Whenever the Yellowjackets needed a scorer, Pycela was there. When they needed some to defend the opposing team’s best player, Pycela’s number was often called.
The only other senior on this year’s team was Pycela’s sister, Emily Pycela, who was in her first season with the Yellowjackets after having played for Archambault in middle school. Archambault called Emily Pycela one of the most selfless players that he’s ever coached, saying that she always worked hard on the court, in addition to getting everyone hyped up on the bench.
East Haven will be bringing back four starters on an experienced team for next season. As his program looks to continue climbing the SCC ladder, Coach Archambault feels confident that the Yellowjackets are ready to keep working hard and prove that they can be one of the top teams in the conference.
“We’re returning four starters and seven or eight players with valuable varsity experience. I want them to take the experience they have and continue to work on their different skill sets,” said Archambault. “Going into next year, the expectations are even higher. We put ourselves in a position that we can make another run next year.”
The East Haven girls’ basketball team’s roster for the Class MM State Tournament featured senior captain Kate Pycela; senior Emily Pycela; juniors Arielle Dupree, Gabby Gaetano, Gabriella Milici, and Alice Stettinger; sophomores Juliana Iovino, Kelsey Murray, Gianna Castellano, Ivonne Vera, Seralyn Lendroth, Olivia Martin, Mya Fenn, and Mikaela Pacheco; and freshman Gianalisse Urbaez.