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02/10/2018 11:00 PMThe East Haven girls’ basketball team claimed a share of the SCC Quinnipiac Division title with Hamden after recording victories over divisional opponents Wilbur Cross and Lauralton Hall last week. With these two wins, the Yellowjackets improved their overall record to 17-2 and finished Qunnipiac play at 7-1 to share the title with the Green Dragons, with whom they split the season series.
“We needed these two to get a piece. If we lost, we would’ve needed help with a team beating Hamden, so these two games were important,” said Head Coach Anthony Russell, whose team won the Quinnipiac Division title outright last season and a share of the Oronoque Division title the year before that. “We won our division for the third year in a row. After our eighth win to secure our first goal of the SCC and State tournament postseason berths, the second team goal was to win our division, which we did.”
Another positive for the Yellowjackets is that they finally have a clean bill of health with the return of senior captain Olivia Coyle, who had been injured. Coach Russell said that he’s been incorporating Coyle into the lineup during the past few games.
“We’re still inserting Olivia into the rotation where she’s coming in off the bench. We’re trying to get her comfortable physically,” Russell said. “This year has been unique because we had to shuffle what we do to accommodate McKenzie [Helms], some freshman, plus Olivia coming back. When we play 15 games [prior to Coyle’s return], we have to be creative to work her back in, while keeping everybody’s role consistent, which is difficult to juggle.”
On Feb. 6, East Haven edged Wilbur Cross 64-63 on the road in a Quinnipiac Division showdown. It was a back-and-forth game in which the Yellowjackets needed to come from behind to win.
“[Cross] had a good defensive plan. They played a triangle-and-two on us. We sputtered offensively, and they were up most of the game,” Russell said. “They were up eight late in the third quarter, and we were down by one with 30 seconds to go, but McKenzie hit a shot to put us up. We hit big shots down the stretch. It was very nip-tuck throughout the entire game.”
Kylie Schlottman and Helms each scored 17 points in the victory, while Isabella Ragaini scored 12 and Alexis Pendziwater added 11 points versus Cross. Coach Russell considered it a quality win for his club because of how close of a contest it was. Many of East Haven’s victories have come by 10-plus points this year, and so Russell felt it was big for the Yellowjackets to battle their way to a win in a tight game.
“As we work our way to postseason, those games where you win by 10 or 20 points aren’t going to happen anymore. It’s going to be these games where you grind it out. I’m glad we came out on the winning end of it, because it showed we have resilience,” he said. “We can be down and still execute. In the Cross game, we executed down the stretch, where in the Hamden game [a 66-63 loss on Jan. 29], we sputtered down the stretch. As a coach, it’s a good feeling to see that they don’t back down and can keep their composure.”
On Feb. 9, East Haven held its Senior Night festivities during which the team’s seniors—Schlottman, Coyle, Marley Herard, Jess Stettinger, and Haley Montesanto, who are all captains—were honored prior to the game against Lauralton Hall. All five athletes have proved valuable members of the team, and so it was an emotional night for Coach Russell.
“All five of them—Kylie, Olivia, Marley, Jess, and Haley—they’ve all been a big piece over the last four years. They all found their roles,” Russell said. “As far as the mood, looking at them, they’re 17-2 and on the cusp of getting the most regular-season wins in school history. They’re a big part of our program, and I’m happy to see the progress, knowing we’re nearing the end. I wanted to make the night meaningful.”
East Haven went on to defeat the Crusaders by a 73-29 score to clinch its share of the Quinnipiac title. Russell started his five seniors and got many players involved in the game. Taylor Salato led the way with 17 points, while Schlottman scored 11 and Helms added 10. Pendziwater and Coyle scored eight points apiece, plus Herard scored six, Stettinger scored five, and Montesanto had three points. Erin Curran added five points in the victory for Coach Russell’s squad.
“It was just a feel-good night, celebrating seniors, getting that win, and solidifying the division championship,” said Russell. “All the girls played significant minutes, so it was a good night.”
As the regular season end draws to a close, the Easties have one more game to play prior to the start of the SCC Tournament on Thursday, Feb. 15. East Haven will then compete in the Class M State Tournament.
“As we are getting to the final game against Branford and the postseason beginning, you can feel it in practice. You can feel the focus and you can see them bonding together, realizing any game can be their last,” Russell said. “We’re working as hard as possible to make the season go as far as possible.”