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01/23/2016 11:00 PMThe East Haven boys’ basketball team entered last week with its backs up against the wall as the Yellowjackets sported an overall mark of 2-7 and were winless in Oronoque action. However, that all changed on Jan. 19, when East Haven defeated division rival Branford at home by the final score of 55-52.
“We stopped talking about trying to qualify for the State Tournament and really just approaching every game as a one-game season,” said Head Coach Ricky Narracci, whose team later beat Foran to improve to 4-7. “We’re going to have to fight and scrap and I thought we did a really good job defensively—much better than we had been playing.”
Junior guard Jeremiah Cureton nailed the game-winner with 33 seconds remaining in the win over the Hornets. With the score tied 51-51, Cureton (6 points) and his teammates passed the ball along the perimeter before he drove the lane and his teardrop floater hit nothing but net.
“It wasn’t probably the highest percentage shot we could’ve got in that situation, but that’s the type of player that he is. He’s a good athlete, he uses athleticism, sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t,” Narracci said. “Fortunately for us, he made a play when we needed him to make one, so we’ll take it.”
Coach Narracci was concerned with how Branford’s top players would fare in this one. The Easties committed plenty of fouls and 21 of Branford’s 52 points were scored from the free throw line, although Narracci’s squad still prevailed.
“We talked about not putting [Branford’s Jake Sullivan] on the line. He has the ability to get there, but the game was called tighter than in the past few games. We didn’t do a good job of adjusting to that. It wasn’t intentional, but they have three smart players and we did as good a job as we could against them,” Narracci said. “They have three very good guards and I thought we did a good job containing them as much as we can. We need to get better at taking care of the ball a little bit in spots, but it was an improvement from where we have been in the past five or six games.”
The Yellowjackets’ defense played great for stretches of the game. Branford didn’t score a point in the opening four minutes and also didn’t score in the final two minutes of the third quarter. The Yellowjackets scored 10 points combined in those two stretches, allowing them to build a lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Hornets continued to push throughout the game and had it tied in the final minute, but couldn’t score following Cureton’s basket. Conor Reynolds made two free throws to extend the lead to 55-51, after which Sullivan was followed attempting a three-pointer that rimmed out with two seconds remaining as East Haven hung on.
“When you’re coming in 2-7, any win is a great one. Obviously, it’s a division win against our rival,” Narracci said. “We beat them here last year in a close one and we held home court again. We’ll enjoy it tonight and then get ready for Foran on [Jan. 22].”
Nick Durso scored a game-high 27 points and fellow senior guard Reynolds netted 19 to propel the Easties to the win.
“Obviously, Nick athletically can do some things that other guys just can’t do. If we can get some contributions from some other guys, we’ll be in good shape,” Narracci said. “Conor had done a tremendous job in the offseason. He’s elevated some part of his game every year and he’s night and day from where he was when I started two years ago when he was a sophomore. He can get it off the bounce and he can catch and shoot, plus he’s a good free throw shooter, so we’re comfortable with the ball in his hands.”
East Haven then moved to 4-7 with a 57-47 win over Foran on Jan. 22. Durso led East Haven in scoring with 18 points as plenty of Yellowjackets contributed. Cureton finished with 13 points, five steals, and four assists; Ryan Spano had 12 points; Reynolds had eight points and 10 boards; and Zack Zito recorded six points, five rebounds, and four blocked shots.