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01/06/2018 11:00 PMGirls’ Basketball
The Hand girls’ basketball squad recorded three-consecutive victories to move to 5-2 overall this winter with a record of 1-0 in SCC Oronoque Division play. Hand defeated Thomaston, Lyman Hall, and Guilford in its last three matchups.
The Tigers bested Thomaston 44-23 in the Notre Dame-Fairfield Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29. Emma Sullivan led Hand with 16 points, including four three-pointers, as well as eight rebounds. Sara Wohlgemuth added nine points, six rebounds, and three steals. Halle Freund grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked five shots, and made three steals. Hand jumped out to an early lead behind a pair of three-pointers from Sullivan and five points from Wohlgemuth as Thomaston struggled to find its shooting touch. After falling behind 18-0 in the first quarter, Thomaston made its first field goal of the game midway through the second quarter. Fortunately for the Bears, Hand cooled off in the second, scoring just six points to take a 24-7 lead into the half. Thomaston hit three from long range in the third quarter to get the Tigers’ lead down to 13. However, another five points from Sullivan kept the lead at a safe distance heading into the final frame, and Hand ultimately coasted to the 21-point win.
Hand kept the winning vibes going in its first game of 2018 by posting a 69-34 victory versus Oronoque Division opponent Lyman Hall on Jan. 2. Freund led four Tigers in double figures with a game-high 19 points to go along with eight boards, four blocks, and three steals. Wohlgemuth added 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Sullivan racked up 10 points and five assists, while Gabby Egidio chipped in 10 second-half points. Hand out-rebounded Lyman Hall 47-20 and forced the Trojans into 25 turnovers. Hand jumped out to a 13-0 lead, holding Lyman Hall scoreless for the first 6:07 of the game. Trailing 17-6 after one, the visiting Trojans scored the first basket of the second quarter before the Tigers went on another run, scoring 11 straight points behind a pair of Sullivan threes. A three by Kailey Lipka three put Lyman Hall into double figures, but wasn’t enough to slow down the Tigers, who scored nine straight to take a 37-15 lead into the half. Hand began the second half on a 9-0 run, holding Lyman Hall scoreless until a free throw with 1:20 to go in the quarter. Up 50-20 going into the final frame, the Tigers cruised to their first divisional win.
“We really wanted to start 2018 with a solid performance, and the kids made sure that happened,” said Tredwell. “Lyman Hall has a very talented player in Lipka, so we wanted to make sure we limited her looks. Hannah Martin did a tremendous job shadowing her all over the court, and everyone else positioned themselves well to help. Hannah doesn’t get enough credit, because she doesn’t score a lot, but she plays exceptional defense and tonight and racked up eight rebounds and five assists. This was a great team effort from everyone in a Daniel Hand uniform. Gabby Egidio found herself in foul trouble early, but other players picked up the slack. Grace Hartmann played solid defense off the bench. Summer Adams is starting to realize how good she is. Halle is playing incredibly well. And Sara just seems to be everywhere. When everyone is finding ways to contribute, we can be a pretty tough team.”
Hand closed out the week with a 57-30 victory over Guilford on Jan. 6. Wohlgemuth scored a game-high 22 points, including four three-pointers, to go with 15 rebounds, five steals, and three assists. Sullivan added 12 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Egidio chipped in 11 points and five rebounds. Hand out-rebounded Guilford 48-25 and held the Indians to three-pointers made in their 11 attempts. Hand sprinted to an early 9-0 lead before the host Indians called a timeout. That timeout proved useful as Guilford turned things around with an 8-2 scoring run to end the first quarter and was down just two. After trading baskets early in the second, Hand went on a 9-0 run to head into the locker room with a 25-12 advantage. Coming out of the break, Guilford was looking to cut into the Tigers’ edge, but Hand went on a quick 8-2 run to stretch the lead to 19 and eventually 20 going into the final frame. The Tigers continued to attack in the fourth and outscored Guilford 17-2 before clearing the bench.
Boys’ Basketball
Hand picked up its first two wins of the year before taking a loss to Guilford last week. The Tigers are now 2-3 this winter.
Hand grabbed its initial victory of the season on Dec. 28, when it defeated O’Brien Tech 68-30. Flynn Driscoll had 10 points and four rebounds, Jeremy Long added eight points and six steals, plus Tyler Boris contributed eight points, four assists, and snared three steals in the victory. The Tigers led 11-8 after the first quarter and then outscored O’Brien Tech 25-19 in the second.
“We came out of the gates without energy and it showed,” said Head Coach Jim Economopoulos. “O’Brien Tech played us really tough in the first quarter. KJ Richmond and Jeremy Long sparked our defense in the second quarter that led us to a nice run to end the half, and we didn’t look back from there. Great for us to get a win.”
The Tigers went on to defeat Branford 54-39 on Jan. 2. Hand ended the week with a 59-42 loss to Guilford on Jan. 6. Driscoll posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards, Boris chipped in nine points, while Graeme McGivern and Long had eight points each against Guilford.
Wrestling
The Tigers improved to 8-0 after picking up six victories, five of which came in a tournament.
Hand swept the Joe Belen, Sr., Duals in Milford on Dec. 28. The Tigers pinned down Harding (72-6), Bunnell (73-0), Stratford (78-6), Notre Dame-West Haven (68-10), and Farmington (55-10) at the meet.
The Tigers next defeated Amity 57-19 on Jan. 3. Victories for Hand were earned by Jack Pireaux in the 106-pound weight class with a pin in 35 seconds, as well as Kyle Davern (120, by 12-6 decision), Jared Puricelli (130, pin at 1:02), Mark Hartmann (132, pin at 3:51), Charles Jensen (145, pin at 4:47), Adam Hendrick (170, pin at 1:11), Alec Dube (182, by pin), Matthew Derken (220, pin at 2:21), and Michael Burchell (285, pin at 0:32).
Gymnastics
The Tigers opened their campaign by competing at the Pomperaug Invite on Jan. 6. Hand finished third with a team score of 131.3.
Erin Naclerio won the top spot in the all-around (36.2) and the floor exercises (9.4), plus she also finished as runner-up on the beam (9.3) and was fourth for the vault (9.0) and bars (8.5). Carly-Anna Barba finished seventh on the vault (8.4) for the Tigers.
“This was a great way to open our season, and we’re really pleased with our performance today. We weren’t sure how and where we’d match up in such a large field of teams, and we far exceeded our expectations of a starting point for this season,” said Head Coach Kelly Smith. “We had remarkably few major mistakes for a first meet. Everyone stepped up, and this is a great place to build from. We were excited for the spot on the podium and to break a score of 130. Erin winning the [all-around] and floor was certainly a highlight. She picked up right where she left off last season, which was at the top of her game. She looks primed and ready for another great season to cap off her career. She was confident and certainly a leader for us today. And for Carly, a medal on vault was an unexpected, but a well-deserved surprise. She’s powerful and has been working hard and her vault was one of the best I’ve seen her do. Erin, Schylar Saliba, and Lexi Theel all competed in all four events for us today and were imperative to our success. Other highlights included the debut of our two freshmen, Kayla Cataldo [bars] and Grace Segnere [vault]. Both girls have been working hard and have great potential for our team. They handled the first meet nerves and both performed great today. Lexi has a superb stuck beam routine, and Kelley Levis performed really strong for us on floor.”
Girls’ Ice Hockey
The Tigers faced off against Lauralton Hall and Branford-East Haven-North Branford last week and split the two contests to move to 4-2.
Hand-Coginchaug-Old Lyme (H-C-O) routed Lauralton Hall 11-0 on Jan. 3. H-C-O came out of the gate flying and scored only 23 seconds into the game. The Tigers outshot Lauralton Hall 33-0 in the first period and 73-9 in the game. The line of Jacqui Sandor, Jacqueline McKeown, and Anna Sather had a dominating offensive performance as they combined for nine points (4 goals, 5 assists) on 26 shots. Kylie Gargiulo picked up her second shutout of the season in as many starts. Skylar Rascati had a hat trick for the Tigers, while McKeown had two goals and two assists. The Sandor sisters, Jacqui and Kaitlyn, had two goals each, plus Sarah Conroy dished out three assists for the Tigers.
“Games like this are tough to stay focused, but I’m very proud of how we were able to stick to the game-plan from start to finish,” said Head Coach Ray Lilley. “We gave the girls some things to work on each period, and it was good to see them work hard to get it done. I think it was even better for them to see the results from what we wanted them to work on. It was good for us to split the game up with different focal points and gain more confidence in some different areas.”
H-C-O later took a 2-1 defeat against Branford-East Haven-North Branford (B-EH-NB) on Jan. 6. Ciara Halloran started the scoring for the Tigers, but only 13 seconds later, Emilie Wilkinson scored for the Wings to tie the game. Just 31 seconds into the final period, B-EH-NB took a 2-1 lead when Juliana Constantinople buried a goal on a 2-on-1 break.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
Hand had just one contest last week with a matchup with Bethel-Brookfield-Danbury. The Tigers prevailed by the final score of 7-3 at Northford Ice Pavilion on Jan. 6 to level their record at 3-3 for the season.