Girls’ Basketball

The North Branford girls’ basketball team is standing at 4-6 on the year after gaining a split of two recent matchups. The Thunderbirds took a loss to Coginchaug before bouncing back with a convincing win against Hale-Ray last week.

In its first game of the week, North Branford took a 51-46 home loss to Coginchaug on March 11. The T-Birds trailed 32-14 at halftime of the contest. North Branford tried to mount a comeback by outscoring Coginchaug in both the third (19-12) and fourth (13-7) quarters, but the Blue Devils held on for the five-point victory.

Junior Braeden LeBeau had 12 points and 10 rebounds for North Branford in the game. Fellow junior Marissa Ricardo scored 12 points to go with three steals. Senior Erica Piercey scored eight points and also had three boards, three assists, and four steals for the T-Birds. Junior Delaney Norman scored seven points.

The following day, North Branford played a home game against Hale-Ray and triumphed by the final score of 70-38. The T-Birds were up 21-6 after the first quarter and held a 37-20 lead at halftime. North Branford then outscored Hale-Ray 33-18 in the second half on its way to the 32-point victory.

LeBeau had a huge game by scoring a career-high 30 points and grabbing 15 rebounds for North Branford. Freshman Keana Criscuolo netted 15 points and dished out four assists to help the T-Birds notch the lopsided victory. Norman scored seven points and had four steals, while Ricardo had five points, four boards, and two assists in the win.

North Branford will face Valley Regional in its regular-season finale on Thursday, March 18. The T-Birds are then slated to play in the Shoreline Conference Tournament that begins this week.

Boys’ Basketball

The North Branford boys’ basketball team dropped two contests last week to move to 0-10 on the season.

North Branford played a road game against Hale-Ray on March 8 and lost the contest by a 70-41 final. Three days later, the T-Birds were back on the road to face Coginchaug and dropped a 63-40 decision versus the Blue Devils.

In the Coginchaug game, North Branford held a 16-9 lead after the first quarter, but only scored four points in the second quarter, and trailed 23-20 at halftime. Coginchaug then outscored North Branford 40-20 in the second half to pull away for the win.

Sophomore John Onofrio scored 13 points for the T-Birds in the game. Senior Zachary Abbagnaro and junior Blake Pearson had five points apiece.

North Branford is playing Valley Regional in its last game of the regular season on Thursday, March 18. After that, the Thunderbirds are scheduled to compete in the Shoreline Conference Tournament that gets underway this week.

Boys’ Ice Hockey

After seeing its season put on pause due to a team quarantine, the North Branford boys’ ice hockey squad was back in action to play three games last week. The T-Birds took defeats in all three games to move to 1-6 on the season.

On March 11, North Branford squared off with Lyman Hall at Northford Ice Pavilion, marking the T-Birds’ first game since Feb. 22. North Branford took a 5-4 loss against Lyman Hall in the contest. Trailing 4-2 entering the third period, North Branford scored a pair of goals to tie it up with 9:07 remaining. However, Lyman Hall netted the go-ahead score with 3:12 left on the clock to defeat the T-Birds by a goal.

Then on March 13, the Thunderbirds took an 8-3 loss versus Guilford at Northford Ice Pavilion. North Branford grabbed a 2-0 lead before Guilford scored the next six goals of the game on its way to the win.

Juniors Dakota Cooper and Ryan Michonski both scored a goal for North Branford. Freshman Mike Matteo had the other goal for the T-Birds.

The very next day, North Branford faced Branford at Northford Ice Pavilion and lost the contest by a 4-3 score. North Branford scored the first goal of the contest during the opening period. The Hornets stormed back and took a 4-2 lead heading into the third. The T-Birds were able to score a goal in the final frame, but Branford held on for a 4-3 victory.

North Branford is playing Hand and Cheshire in its last two games of the regular season this week.

Boys’ Swimming and Diving

The Greater New Haven (GNH) Warriors boys’ swimming and diving team split a pair of virtual meets last week. Bolstered by season-best performances from three North Branford swimmers, the Warriors moved to 7-2 on the year after posting a win over Amity and taking a loss versus Xavier.

GNH began its week with an 89-86 win over Amity on March 9. Three days later, the Warriors were back at Walter Gawrych Community Pool to turn in their performances for their virtual meet against Xavier. GNH lost a 92-78 decision to the Falcons in the meet.

The Warriors saw several athletes deliver lifetime-best performances between their two meets last week. North Haven sophomore Christian Butler broke his own school record for the diving competition by scoring a lifetime-best total of 281.55 points for GNH. Butler had previously set the school record with a score of 264.22 during the previous week. North Haven senior Tanner Powell recorded a lifetime-best total of 149.40 points in the diving competition last week.

Guilford freshman Alex Hansen swam lifetime-best times in both the 500 freestyle (5:31.99) and the 100 breaststroke (1:19.13). Guilford freshman Carter Bryan did a lifetime best of 1:03.99 in the 100 freestyle, while North Haven freshman Victor Zito finished with a lifetime best of 2:05.24 for the 200 freestyle.

Several swimmers also recorded season-best times for the Warriors last week. Among the athletes who swam season-best times were North Branford senior Connor Coyne in the 200 individual medley (2:05.81), North Branford sophomore Spencer Carroll in the 100 butterfly (1:01.57) and the 100 breaststroke (1:08.96), and North Branford sophomore Patrick Cucchiarelli in the 100 butterfly (1:04.59) and the 100 backstroke (1:03.88). East Haven junior Hethon Foster posted season-best times in the 50 free (22.57), the 100 butterfly (53.73), and the 100 breaststroke (1:07.87) for GNH. North Haven senior Cam Cargan swam season-bests in the 50 free (23.24) and the 100 free (51.23).

Other athletes who swam season-best times for the Warriors last week were Guilford senior Dan Kamen in the 200 freestyle (1:55.37) and the 500 freestyle (5:13.68), Guilford senior Alan Penna in the 50 free (28.29) and the 100 free (1:02.17), Guilford junior Finn Henry in the 100 free (48.46), Guilford senior David Zhang in the 100 backstroke (59.06), Guilford sophomore Aiden Cohen in the 50 free (23.17) and 200 free (1:58.00), Guilford freshman Will Cong in the 100 freestyle (54.69) and the 100 breaststroke (1:15.38), and Guilford freshman Sam Mayo in the 100 breaststroke (1:20.76).

GNH competed against Cheshire for its regular-season finale on March 16 (after press time). After that, the Warriors’ swimmers will participate in the SCC Virtual Championship by competing in their events at Walter Gawrych Community Pool at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 18. GNH’s divers will then compete in the SCC Diving Championship at Sheehan High School on Saturday, March 20 at 10 a.m.