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Boys' Hoops Sweeps Week to Make States

After dropping eight of its first 11 games, North Haven boys' basketball had a huge hill to climb in order to qualify for the Class L State Tournament. But behind a recent tear that's seen Pete Civitello's squad prevail in six of its last eight contests, the Indians have scaled that mountain and sealed their spot in states with a 66-56 win at Platt on Feb. 20. Then for good measure, North Haven capped off its undefeated week by notching a 60-54 Senior Night triumph against Foran.

"This team really has a special place in my heart. I don't think I've ever had a team learn more and play harder in a season than this one," said Civitello, whose squad stands at 9-10. "Even with our rough start, the kids kept things in perspective and we had close losses to Cross and Career that gave us confidence we could do something if played that way the rest of the way. Then we had that week were we beat Law, East Haven, and Branford and that put us in a good position to make states this week."

The week began with a 38-34 victory at Foran, a team the Indians lost to early in the campaign when senior captain guard Chandler Andrewsen was out with an injury. However, the Indians were fully healthy for the rematch and used a 14-6 third quarter advantage to take a lead into the final frame. Andrewsen (9 points) and junior shooting guard Josh Lopez (10 points) each hit key three-pointers in the third, after which Civitello's club used clutch free throw shooting to ice it down the stretch.

"The story of this game was our defense as [senior center] John DeMarco and [junior forward] Patrick Mikos did a great job inside of defending Foran's 6-foot-7 Austin Woods, holding him to six points," Civitello said. "They denied the big guy the ball and that was a key to the victory."

Beating Foran put the Indians in the driver's seat to make states with a win against a Platt team North Haven had never faced in Civitello's six-season tenure. The Indians led 16-8 after one, 27-22 at halftime, and 43-39 following the third quarter and so it was anyone's game entering the fourth. In that decisive quarter, junior guard Matt Defrancesco scored 10 of his 21 points with his team making 9-of-12 free throws to separate North Haven from the Panthers. Andrewsen scored 21 and Lopez added 11 for the Indians, who saw seven athletes score in the contest.

"Even though Platt didn't make states, they've played everyone tough this year and so it was huge for us to win up there and get that eighth win we needed to get into the state tournament," said Civitello, whose team has made states in four of his six campaigns. "A lot of people probably thought we wouldn't make it this year, but it's always our goal and it's really a credit to the kids that we did."

But the Indians didn't have much time to relish the moment as they came right back to host Shelton on Senior Night, an evening that honored the team's quartet of seniors in captains Andrewsen and forward Will Reaves, as well as DeMarco and guard Zach Barger. Reaves led the way by netting 22 points with Andrewsen scoring 11 and Lopez 13. North Haven was up 27-17 at the half before Shelton outscored the Indians 24-14 in the third, setting up another dramatic fourth quarter. The Gaels actually led the game 54-52 in the final minute, but Reaves drove to the hoop for a basket, was fouled, and hit to free throw to put his squad up by a point with 27 seconds to play. After a defensive stop, Reaves was fouled again and hit both free throws, followed by another stop on defense then a free throw from Lopez and a steal by Defrancesco to seal it the waning seconds. This win marked another revenge victory as the Indians had lost to Shelton earlier in the season, exemplifying just how much Civitello's team has progressed since December.

"This is a team that didn't have many kids returning with varsity experience and so we were looking for guys, especially our seniors, to fill those roles," Civitello said. "The kids have grown with the program, were ready to step up this year, and now we're on a great run down the stretch."