Girls’ Basketball

After going a few weeks without playing a game, the East Haven girls’ basketball team returned to the court to play four contests last week. The Yellowjackets won one of those four games to move to 3-4 for the 2022 season.

East Haven played its first game since Dec. 20 when the team hosted North Haven on Jan. 10. The Yellowjackets edged out the Nighthawks by the final score of 36-34 in the matchup at East Haven High School. Two days later, East Haven headed to New Haven to play Hillhouse and took a 56-51 defeat to the Academics.

Then on Jan. 14, East Haven took a 39-25 defeat versus Hamden in a road game. The Yellowjackets were only down 14-11 at halftime, but Hamden outscored East Haven 16-3 in the third quarter and went on to get the win. Senior Kate Pycela and junior Gabby Gaetano scored 5 points apiece for East Haven.

The following day, the Easties were back on the road to face West Haven and lost the contest by a 49-32 score. Sophomore Juliana Iovino scored 12 points for East Haven, while Pycela had 10 points in the game.

Boys’ Ice Hockey

The East Haven co-op boys’ ice hockey team played two games last week and split the set to move to 6-1 on the season. The Yellowjackets took a defeat to West Haven and then defeated the Eastern CT Eagles in recent play.

On Jan. 12, the East Haven co-op squad took a 4-0 road loss versus West Haven at Bennett Rink. Three days later, the Yellowjackets played a road game against the Eastern CT Eagles at RoseGarden Ice Arena in Norwich. East Haven posted a 3-0 shutout over the Eagles to earn their sixth win of the year.

Girls’ Ice Hockey

The Hamden co-op girls’ ice hockey team hosted the Hand co-op for a game at Lou Astorino Ice Arena on Jan. 15. Hamden took a 5-1 loss against the Tigers to move to 2-7 for the winter season. The Green Dragons also had a scheduled Jan. 12 game versus Guilford postponed last week.

Boys’ Indoor Track

The East Haven boys’ indoor track squad was represented by some athletes at two meets that recently took place at Floyd Little Athletic Center. The Yellowjackets participated in the Elm City Coaches Meet on Jan. 8 and then the SCC Novice Meet three days later.

Freshman Dante Rodriquez took seventh place in the 55 hurdles for East Haven at the Elm City Coaches Meet. Rodriquez placed seventh in the prelims with a time of 10.28 to advance to the finals, where he ran a time of 10.13 to finish in seventh overall.

Then at the SCC Novice Meet, Rodriquez finished second in the high jump (5-6) and took fifth place in the 55 hurdles (10.09) on behalf of the Yellowjackets. Junior Ronald Koye took eighth place for both the high jump (5-0) and the 55 hurdles (10.63) at the meet.

Girls’ Indoor Track

The East Haven girls’ indoor track team sent several athletes to compete in a pair of meets last week. The Yellowjackets took part in the Elm City Coaches Meet on Jan. 8 and were back at Floyd Little Athletic Center to compete in the SCC Novice Meet on Jan. 11.

Senior Morgan D’Auria finished seventh in the high jump (4-6) for the Yellowjackets at the Elm City Coaches Meet. Senior Emily Mazzucco finished eighth in the high jump (4-4) and also finished ninth for the 55 hurdles (10.93).

Senior Princess Aggrey took ninth place (25-10.5) in the shot put, and sophomore Aniya Franklin came in 10th place (25-8) for the shot put. Senior Juliana Espinoza finished 11th in the 600 (2:01.35) for the Yellowjackets.

Franklin went on to finish in fourth place in the shot put (25-10) at the SCC Novice Meet. Sophomore Erica Canfield finished 14th in the both the 55 (8.47) and the 300 (50.50) for East Haven.

Wrestling

The East Haven wrestling squad competed against a couple of teams at the Ellis Tech Duals on Jan. 15. The Yellowjackets claimed a 45-31 win over Bacon Academy and battled Ellis Tech to a 36-36 tie at the meet.

In the win against Bacon Academy, junior Elijah Trufan earned a pinfall victory at the 1:40 mark of the 126-pound bout for East Haven. Senior captain Dylan Tavares won a 7-1 decision in the 160-pound division.

Facing Ellis Tech, Trufan pinned his opponent in 53 seconds in the 132-pound matchup, while senior Kevin Phan prevailed via pinfall at the 1:16 mark at 138 pounds. Junior Dylan Snyder notched a win by pin at 3:21 in the 145-pound division, Tavares needed just 53 seconds to win his 160-pound bout via pin, and junior captain Jason Toth was a pinfall winner at the 3:12 mark in the 170-pound division.

Earlier in the week, East Haven squared off with Xavier for a road meet and took a 78-6 defeat to the Falcons on Jan. 12.

Boys’ Swimming and Diving

The Greater New Haven (GNH) boys’ swimming and diving team continued its strong start to the season by notching two more victories last week. The Warriors claimed home wins over West Haven and Lyman Hall-Coginchaug to improve their record to 4-0 on the campaign.

On Jan. 11, GNH hosted West Haven and claimed a 93-72 victory at Walter Gawrych Community Pool. East Haven freshman Aeden Conners finished first in the 200 freestyle (2:06.21) and the 500 freestyle (5:29.26) for the Warriors. East Haven senior Hethon Foster took first place in the 100 butterfly (53.90), while East Haven junior Brendan Conners finished first in the 100 freestyle (50.64).

North Haven junior Christian Butler earned top honors in the 1-meter diving (278.30) for the Warriors. Guilford senior Finn Henry won the 200 individual medley (2:05.24), and Guilford sophomore William Cong placed first in the 50 freestyle (24.37). GNH’s 200 medley relay of Henry, Cong, Guilford sophomore Alex Hansen, and Guilford junior Joey Gould also finished in first place (1:52.71).

Then on Jan. 13, GNH went up against Lyman Hall-Coginchaug for another home meet and triumphed by the score of 98-80. Brendan Conners won the 200 IM (2:01.72), and Foster finished first in the 50 freestyle (23.06) for the Warriors. The 200 freestyle relay of Brendan Conners, East Haven senior Pavlo Melnyk, North Haven freshman Kyle Januszewski, and Guilford junior Lucas Espinosa also took first place (1:39.87). Henry took first place in the 200 freestyle (1:50.38) and the 500 freestyle (4:55.61) for GNH. Hansen placed first in the 100 butterfly (57.14), and Butler earned another first-place finish in the diving (245.45).