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03/14/2022 12:00 AMEntering his first year as head coach of the East Haven boys’ basketball team, Frank Lyon wanted to gain the trust of his players while helping the Yellowjackets reach their highest potential. As the year went on, Lyon saw his team begin to buy into the system, and that mutual trust helped the Easties put together a solid season that featured 11 victories and a pair of playoff bids.
East Haven qualified for both the SCC Tournament and the Division III State Tournament with its regular-season record of 11-9. Last week, East Haven opened up states as the No. 13 seed and played a first-round road game versus No. 20 seed Guilford, taking a 64-38 defeat to the Grizzlies on March 8.
East Haven and Guilford had split their two regular-season matchups with the Yellowjackets handing the Grizzlies their first loss of the year back in January. Heading into the contest in states, Coach Lyon felt that the Yellowjackets were confident and ready to compete.
“We had a pretty good attitude. We were going against Guilford, who we split with,” Coach Lyon said. “We were optimistic going into the game. We gave them their first defeat when they were 9-0. We were confident going into the tournament that we could compete.”
East Haven started strong and took an early 10-2 lead, but Guilford battled back to grab a 15-13 advantage after the first quarter. After trailing by nine in the first half, the Yellowjackets struggled during the second half. The Grizzlies outscored East Haven 29-12 throughout the final two quarters to pull away for the 64-38 victory. East Haven finished its season with an overall record of 11-11.
“We started off extremely hot. We jumped out to a 10-2 lead. We were down 15-13 after one, and we were down nine at half,” said Lyon. “Things started to get away from us. We started to miss a bunch of shots. Guilford got real hot. It got away from us in the second half.”
Junior Theo Rawls scored 13 points for East Haven versus Guilford. Senior Kyle Cusano and fellow senior Ron Calderon both scored 9 points in the contest. Senior captain Shea Carasone had 4 points, senior Hassan Ali scored 3 points, and senior captain Mike Capozzo had 2 points.
East Haven was led by a senior class that features eight athletes. The Yellowjackets’ seniors are captains Carasone, Capozzo, and Chris Bagnoli, along with Case, Calderon, Cusano, Ali, and Joe Verderame. Calderon was named to the All-SCC Second Team for his performance on the court this season.
Coach Lyon said that East Haven’s seniors brought great leadership to the team and set a great example for the returning Yellowjackets.
“We had some incredible leadership at the top. Six out of the eight guys were with East Haven for four years. They’ve played through the youth league and middle school. They bleed blue and gold,” Lyon said. “For the underclassmen to see them compete every day and put their best foot forward will go far. It’s a great stepping stone going into next year.”
While the Easties are losing a solid cast of seniors, Coach Lyon still feels confident about his team’s prospects for the future seasons. Lyon said that East Haven’s junior class, which includes Rawls, Angelo D’Amato, and Rocco Lombardi, is poised to step up both on the court and as leaders next year. Lyon added that he’s been impressed with the play of sophomore Brian Velez and freshmen London Garcia, Billy Barthel, and Rocco D’Amato.
From the seniors to the underclassmen, Lyon said the Easties’ biggest area of growth this year was their belief in themselves. As the Yellowjackets began to trust each other, they started to play more cohesively on the court. Coach Lyon said he’s hoping that trust will become a constant in his program.
“Things really started to come together as the year went on. They started to buy in,” said Lyon. “Obviously, it was an adjustment for them. The seniors had been playing for the previous regime their entire careers. We came in with a new staff, and we had to earn each other’s trust. By the end of the year, we did that. Hopefully, we can build off of it.”
In his first year as head coach, Lyon was pleased about how many alumni and staff were involved in the program. He saw how passionate East Haven is about basketball and felt the excitement in the gym. As his team moves forward, Lyon will be looking for the Yellowjackets to strive for more success and stay hungry to improve every day.
“Show up every day trying to improve and get better. Don’t get complacent. If we win a game or lose a game, we have to show up the next day and put it behind you,” Lyon said. “We have to continuously show up and look to get better every day. I’m excited to see what we could do and what the future holds for this program.”