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SCC Tournament roundup: Hand, East Haven win big; Hamden knocks off Sheehan; Shelton survives

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WALLINGFORD — Losing key players from the past two campaigns in which East Haven had successful postseason runs, including a state title, the talk was maybe the Yellowjackets would be down in terms of wins this year or even postseason opportunities. Don’t for a minute think the Yellowjackets are not using this as motivation.

Despite not playing its best basketball, fourth-seeded East Haven trailed just once in the opening quarter, and pulled away for a less than dramatic 48-27 victory over 12th-seeded Lyman Hall in the second Southern Connecticut Conference quarterfinal contest of the day at Sheehan High School.

SCC GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET

“There has been a lot of doubt about us for a few months,” junior Taylor Salato said after finishing with 20 points. “At the beginning of the season, we were hearing we lost too much. But, I think it has made us work together as we need contributions from everyone to win. It has been motivation for us.”

East Haven will look to advance to its third straight conference final when it plays top-seeded Hand, a 58-42 winner over North Haven, Monday at 7:45 p.m. at Jonathan Law.

Hamden pulled off an upset over host Sheehan in the nightcap, while Shelton fended off a similar bid from Amity.

Shelton, making its first league semifinal appearance since 2011, and Hamden will meet in the semis on Monday at 6 p.m. at Law in Milford.

“It is a great feeling to be going back (semifinals),” East Haven coach Anthony Russell said of his team’s game. “In the beginning of the year, we kept hearing about all the people we lost and we were going to take a step back. I kept saying I think we are going to surprise some people. We have a lot of good people here. We are a tough team to beat when we are playing well.”

Salato and senior Alexis Pendziwater made sure the run to the semifinals continued as the pair combined for 33 points, with Pendziwater (13 points) draining three clutch 3-pointers.

Pendziwater’s biggest 3-pointer came in the third quarter with East Haven up seven and Lyman Hall struggling to stick around. It gave East Haven a 26-16 advantage and the Yellowjackets never looked back.

STATE GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKETS

“We knew we had to step on the gas,” Salato said. “We had a lot of people contributing. Our guards were doing a good job. Everyone played a part, and our bench gave us good energy.”

For Lyman Hall, it was a case of not being able to get on track offensively. The Yellowjackets held Hailey Bruneau to just five points, and the Trojans combined to score just 13 first-half points, and followed with just four points in the fourth quarter.

“They played a good man-to-man on Bruneau,” Lyman Hall coach Tom Lipka said of East Haven. “We were cold from the outside. We could not get that shot to drop. We are a 3-point shooting team and we could not get the three’s to drop.”

The Trojans got within 34-23 to close the third, but East Haven used a 14-4 run to close the contest. East Haven’s Isabella Ragaini drained three of four free throws to increase the lead to 16 and end any hopes of a Lyman Hall comeback in the final eight minutes.

Erin Curran and Angelina Munoz each finished with six points for East Haven. Julia Capello led Lyman Hall with 10 points.

–MIKE MADERA

EAST HAVEN 48, LYMAN HALL 27

LYMAN HALL 
Grace Gagliardi  0 1 0-0 3 Julia Capello  2 2 0-0 10 Hailey Bruneau 2 0 1-2 5 Natalie Panagrosso 0 0 1-4 1 Brianna Mik 2 0 2-2 4 Macenzie Regan 2 0 0-0 4 Totals 8 3 4-9 27
EAST HAVEN
Isabella Ragaini  0 0 3-5 3 Alexis Pendziwater 2 3 0-0 13 Erin Curran 0 2 0-0 6 Taylor Salato 8 0 4-7 20 Angelina Munoz 0 0 4-6 6 Gabriella Gaetano 1 0  0-1 2 Totals 11 5 10-22 48
LYMAN HALL – 7 6 10 4 – 27
EAST HAVEN – 9 11 14  14 – 48
3-pointers: LH–Capello 2, Gagliardi; EH–Pendziwater 3, Curran 2.

Wohlgemuth, Hand bolt to big lead, advance past North Haven

In the opener, it was the Hand defense that set the tone early, before the offense got going against North Haven. The top-seeded Tigers held the eighth-seeded Indians to just three first quarters points and took a 32-14 lead to the half before posting a 58-42 victory.

“This team has been battle-tested all year,” Hand coach Tim Tredwell said. “We have played every possible game that we could. We did a decent job in man. But, (Okwuosa) hurt us. She gave us a tough time. I was very impressed with her.”

The Tigers (18-3) were able to pull away in the second quarter thanks in part to five 3-pointers, two apiece from Brooke Salutari and Summer Adams, and one from Hadley Houghton.

The Indians (13-9) rallied in the second half and got within 11, 47-36, on a bucket from Olivia Stefanik, but North Haven never got closer.

“We had that mentality everything was going to be okay,” Hand senior Sara Wohlgemuth said. “We knew they had a run in them. They are a tough team. We just wanted to keep calm and keep our focus.”

Wohlgemuth led the Hand offense with 20 points, while Salutari had 18. Eveani Okwuosa led the Indians with 20 points and Sarah Puzone added seven in the loss.

Hand is looking to return to the SCC finals for the first time since 2017.

“This feels fantastic,” Wohlgemuth said. “This is everything we have worked hard all year for. We just want to keep playing and keep moving on.”

–MIKE MADERA

HAND 58, NORTH HAVEN 42

NORTH HAVEN
Eveani Okwuosa 8 0 4-5 20 Sarah Puzone 2 0 3-8 7 Olivia Stefanik 2 0-0 4 Laura Petrafesa 1 1 0-0 5 Colleen Lucey 1 0 0-0 2 Carly Fresher 1 0 2-2 4 Totals 15 1 9-19 42
HAND
Sara Wohlgemuth 5 0 10-15 20 Hadley Houghton 0 1 0-0 3 Brooke Salutari 3 3 3-5 18 Summer Adams 0 2 0-0 6 Maddison Thomas 0 0 3-4 3 Julia Kuhn 2 0 0-0 4 Sophia Coppola 2 0 0-1 4 Totals 12 6 16-25 58
NORTH HAVEN – 3 11 11 17 – 42
HAND      – 9 23 11 15 – 58
3-pointers: NH–Petrafesa; H–Salutari 3, Adams 2, Houghton

Defending champion Hamden knocks off Sheehan

Hamden, the defending champion and seeded seventh, closed out second-seeded Sheehan with a 10-2 run over the final 2 minutes, 16 seconds, in coasting to a 52-44 win.

“It’s one thing to have a game plan and it’s another thing for the kids to buy into it and execute,” Hamden coach Amanda Forcucci said. “No one is perfect, but, man, it sure was close in terms of what we wanted to do on defense and offense.”

Asya Brandon powered Hamden past Sheehan with 21 points, while Rebecca Oberman-Levin chipped in with 15. The senior duo combined for a pair of big plays down the stretch.

Brandon’s layup with 1:38 left and Oberman-Levin’s basket, off of a Brandon assist, at the 58-second mark helped to seal the Green Dragon victory.

“It’s a good spot to be up late because you’re in a position where all you have to do is take care of the basketball and make your free throws,” Forcucci said. “All year we struggled to take care of the basketball and close out games.

“When it counted, they showed a lot of maturity tonight, which I’m very proud of.”

Hamden (13-9) trailed just once, 8-6 early on, but Sheehan (18-4) battled back to tie the game at 38 with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter.

“We tied it at 38,” Sheehan coach Michael Busillo said. “We couldn’t get a stop and they went on a little run… We had defensive breakdowns and we turned the ball over way too many times… We got what we deserved.”

Maddie Larkin’s free throws forged another deadlock at 42-42 with 2:16 left, but Hamden dominated down the stretch. Sheehan’s only points in that span came via foul shots from Caitlyn Hunt, who scored 21 points.

“They (the Green Dragons) were better,” Busillo said. “There’s no secrets. If the other team plays better over the 32 minutes, they usually win.

“That’s what happened tonight. Hamden deserved to win the game, no doubt about it. When you don’t play your best, that’s what happens in a tournament situation.”

–MIKE SUPPE

HAMDEN 52, SHEEHAN 44

HAMDEN
Asya Brandon 6 7-13 21 Rebecca Oberman-Levin 4 6-8 15 Montsho Canton 3 0-2 6 Diamond White 2 4-4 8 Gianna Robert 1 0-1 2 16 17-28 52
SHEEHAN
Hayleigh Lagase 2 0-0 5 Caitlyn Hunt 8 5-6 21 Maddie Larkin 0 9-10 9 Caitlyn Velez 0 2-2 2 Caroline Dighello 1 0-0 3 Dempsey Lajoie 1 0-0 2 Madison DiPasquale 0 2-2 2 12 19-20 44
HAMDEN    8 14 7 23 — 52
SHEEHAN  8 7 12 17 — 44
Record: Hamden 13-9, Sheehan 18-4.

Vohra, Askew help Shelton stave off Amity 

Leya Vohra scored a game-high 19 points as Shelton held off Amity in the third semifinal.

The senior point guard converted consecutive one-and-ones over the final 30 seconds, after teammate Ashia Askew’s steal and layup gave Shelton the lead for good, 45-44 with 1:29 left to play.

“We made the big plays,” Shelton coach Joe Cavallaro said. “And Leya was clutch. She made the big free throws.”

With Shelton trailing by a point, Askew stepped in front of a pass at halfcourt and took it in for the go-ahead basket.

“I just wanted the ball. I just hustled,” Askew said. “I just looked at the ball, saw it and tipped it.”

After a pair of misses from the foul line with 36.4 seconds left, Vohra countered with two foul shots to extend the Gaelette edge to 47-44.

A quick layup by Sarah Granados narrowed the Spartan gap to one, before an offensive foul on Shelton gave Amity (11-11) a chance to take the lead.

The Gaelettes came up with the stop thoug with 18.5 seconds left.

“I thought we played pretty good defense,” Cavallaro said. “The last few minutes, they started to hold the ball a little bit… We made her (Jill Martin) work. She’s a great player, but we made her work. Especially in the second half.”

Vohra was fouled and made both free throws at the 9.8-second mark and Amity managed just one more free throw to provide the final score.

“They’re a very good team,” Amity coach Michelle Shoop said of Shelton. “They have a lot of threats. My girls played hard, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to put the ball in the hoop more than the other team.”

–MIKE SUPPE

SHELTON 49, AMITY 47

AMITY
Jill Martin 5 9-10 21 Catherine Thomas 0 1-2 1 Abigail Eschweiler 1 0-2 2 Meghan Smith 1 0-0 2 Jayne Whitman 5 1-2 14 Sarah Granados 2 2-2 7 16 13-16 47
SHELTON
Leya Vohra 6 7-7 19 Keira O’Conner 4 0-0 9 Ashia Askew 4 3-5 11 Clarissa Pierre 1 4-6 6 Devan Wildman 2 0-0 4 17 14-18 49
AMITY      14 13 10 10 — 47
SHELTON  12 9 16 12 — 49
Records: Amity 11-11, Shelton 17-5.