Mara Lavitt —New Haven Register
Guilford’s Kayley McLaughlin and East Haven’s Dana Ross try to get the loose ball during Guilford’s win Friday..
GUILFORD >> Guilford senior guard Presley Altieri said she thought the Indians were better than their losing record indicated. After getting blown out by Amity in its previous game, she said the team wanted to prove they were better than that in a Southern Connecticut Conference interdivisional tilt against East Haven Friday.
“I think that we just didn’t have one of our best games against Amity,” she said. “That loss helped us to push forward and get ready for East Haven.”
Guilford tops East Haven in pictures
A motivated Indians team routed the Yellow Jackets 55-35 at home to wipe away their early season losing record and move to .500 at 2-2. While the Indians are glad to get to .500, East Haven is still searching for its first win of the season, at 0-4. Coach Anthony Russell said the Yellow Jackets have some work to do.
Mara Lavitt — New Haven Register
Guilford’s Meredith Shank, left, and East Haven’s Jessica Benevento fight to get to the loose ball during Guilford’s win Friday..
“We have to get fundamentally sound,” he said. “There’s a lot of aspects of our game that just aren’t fundamentally sound.”
Guilford made that difficult early, thanks to an 18-3 outburst in the first quarter, punctuated with an Altieri buzzer beating triple.
“Having a 15-point first quarter lead gave us a nice buffer,” she said. “We were more relaxed going into the second quarter and the rest of the game.”
Altieri went on to finish with nine points, Tori Loukakes, Meredith Shank and Sam Shank each contributed seven points apiece.
“Loukakes did a great job,” Guilford coach Bob Welsh said. “I can’t say enough about her.”
Meanwhile, East Haven was led by Jessica Benevento with a game-high 10 points and Cailey Korwek added nine points. Miranda Gladwin contributed seven points.
The Yellow Jackets’ production would not be enough however, and Guilford outscored East Haven 32-16 in the first half. Guilford kept it going in the second half, leading by double-digits throughout.
With the losing record a thing of the past, the Indians are hoping to string together a win streak. Guilford plays at Rocky Hill on Dec. 27.
“I think we have a lot of momentum,” Altieri said. “I’m really positive. I think we all know what we can do now.”
GUILFORD 55, EAST HAVEN 35
(at Guilford)
East Haven 3 13 10 9 – 35
Guilford 18 14 11 12 – 55
EAST HAVEN (35)
Tori Carlson 1 1-1 3, Jessica Benevento 4 2-8 10, Miranda Gladwin 2 3-4 7, Jillian Korwek 0 2-2 2, Jenna Gaudioso 1 1-4 3, Briana Wiel 0 1-4 1, Cailey Korwek 2 3-3 9. Totals: 10 13-26 35
GUILFORD (55)
Presley Altieri 4 0-0 9, Nikki Basilicato 2 1-1 5, Tori Loukakes 3 1-1 7, Caroline Miller 2 0-2 4, Meredith Shank 3 1-2 7, Kylie Craig 1 2-2 4, Sam Shank 3 0-0 7, Amy Puchini 3 0-0 6, Isabel Risse 1 0-2 2, Morgan King 1 2-3 4, Kayley McLaughlin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 7-13 55
3-point goals: East Haven 2 (Korwek 2); Guilford 2 (Altieri 1, Shank 1);
