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02/26/2015 11:00 PMNorth Haven boys’ basketball didn’t have the season it hoped for this winter, although Head Coach Pete Civitello still felt pleased with how the team kept up its energy and effort while collectively progressing through the course of the campaign. Civitello wanted his Indians to show everyone how much they’d grown by closing the year with a Senior Night win versus Foran and North Haven fulfilled that request with a 56-46 victory that sent out Corey Frost and Tyler Geremia in triumphant fashion.
“It was definitely a positive. We wanted Corey and Tyler to leave with a good memory and so a home win was great for them,” Civitello said. “We started to play better as a team throughout the year and needed a win against a team we felt we were comparable with. We did that and I felt like it was a nice finishing touch to end the season on a high note.”
Shooting guard Frost capped his North Haven career on the upswing by scoring 21 points—including a 5-for-10 clip from downtown—to lead the team’s offense. He also grabbed a pair of steals. Meanwhile, Geremia, a small forward, scored four points to go with five rebounds, two steals, two assists, and a block.
Coach Civitello talked about how Frost and Geremia both made a positive all-around contribution to the program and helped North Haven complete its season sweep of the Lions.
“Corey had a great Senior Night and scored 21 points that led us to the win. We knew we had a good player in Corey, but asked him to change his game to be more of a distributor of the ball than a scorer because we felt like we needed other guys to grow and get better and he did that,” said Civitello. “I respect the heck of Tyler. He came out for the team this year and we didn’t know what to expect, but he played hard all year long and did everything we asked him to do. He started the last two games because we felt he deserved to and we couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Frost and Geremia were joined on the scoring sheet by David Mikos with 11 points and fellow junior power forward Emadi Okwuosa with seven, in addition to sophomore forward Jack Steinman (6), sophomore Mike Gagliardi (4), and sophomore shooting guard Billy Sgro (3). Steinman also had 10 boards with eight steals, six assists, and a block and Gagliardi pulled down five rebounds for the Indians (4-16).
North Haven jumped out to a 9-2 lead while hosting Foran on Feb. 23, but then went scoreless through the rest of the opening period and led by three after one.
The Lions then won the second quarter by the margin of 12-9 and the game went to halftime with the teams deadlocked at 18.
“We started off good and were shooting really well and beating them up and down the court, but once we got into our half-court offense, we kind of stalled and they wound up coming back,” Coach Civitello said.
The Indians emerged from the locker room looking to push the pace once again and that faster tempo, along with a few three balls from Frost, resulted in a 21-point quarter and a 39-33 advantage entering the fourth.
North Haven maintained that lead for the duration on its way to the win. With the Lions down six, they were whistled for a technical foul and Frost promptly made both from the stripe. Mikos followed with a bucket that padded the cushion to 10 and Foran never regained its footing after that sequence.
“We got some energy and confidence in the third quarter that we carried into the fourth and then sustained our double-digit lead,” said Civitello
Prior to the Foran game, North Haven took consecutive road defeats, yet hung tough in both games against a pair of playoff squads in Sheehan and Hamden.
On Feb. 17, the Indians lost at Sheehan 75-62. North Haven was down 39-27 at intermission, but then outscored the Titans 18-13 in the third to trail by just seven heading to the fourth before Sheehan put the game away. Four Indians scored in double figures in Gagliardi (16), Frost (14), Steinman (13), and Mikos (11). Gagiliardi added 10 rebounds with two steals and Steinman had three steals for North Haven.
In the team’s 57-46 defeat at Hamden on Feb. 20, Civitello and company fell behind 40-23 at the break, but then outscored the Green Dragons 23-17 in the latter half. Mikos (12), Steinman (11), and Okwuosa (10) guided the offense with Steinman also contributing five assists and three steals. Mikos had two steals, Okwuosa notched six boards with three blocks, and Frost dished out five dimes to go with his trio of steals.
The Indians’ effort in these contests, coupled with their season-ending victory versus Foran, gave Coach Civitello a good feeling about how the campaign concluded.
“Sheehan and Hamden are two good teams and we showed that we belonged and how much we improved by battling with them like that. We gave them everything they could handle,” he said. “The team always worked hard, they had the right attitude, and they showed up every day. It was one of those years, but I really enjoyed it because of the progress we made. I know we’re on the right track and, hopefully, the hard work will pay off. But regardless of the wins and losses, it was an enjoyable season because the kids learned and I saw the energy in them throughout the entire year.”