Boys’ Basketball

The Valley Regional boys’ basketball team finished its regular season with a win versus East Hampton and then took a loss to Morgan in the first round of the Shoreline Conference Tournament last week. The Warriors have an overall record of 10-11 as they open play in the Division IV State Tournament this week.

On Feb. 23, Valley hosted East Hampton for its regular-season finale and defeated the Bellringers by the score of 73-58. Valley trailed 29-26 at halftime, but then outscored East Hampton 21-10 during the third quarter to take a 47-39 lead into the fourth. The Warriors went on to win the final frame by a 26-19 margin to pull away for the 15-point win.

Senior Simon Partyka had a big game for Valley by scoring 24 points to go with 5 assists and 5 steals in the victory. Junior DiAngelo Jean-Pierre had 13 points with 7 assists and 2 steals, while fellow junior Sam Hutchinson also scored 13 points on the night.

Junior Andrew Yermenson had 7 points and 8 rebounds for Valley. Senior James Marsden had 6 points and 5 boards, while junior Kevin King added 6 points for Head Coach Kevin Woods’s club.

On Feb. 26, No. 7 seed Valley Regional played at No. 2 seed Morgan in the semifinals of the Shoreline Conference Tournament and took a 44-41 defeat against the Huskies.

Girls’ Gymnastics

The Valley Regional girls’ gymnastics team finished in eighth place at the Class S State Championship last weekend. The Warriors recorded a team score of 125.790 points on their way to placing eighth at Jonathan Law High School on Feb. 26.

Senior Grace Jacaruso posted a score of 8.625 on vault for Valley in states. Jacaruso also scored an 8.4 for both beam and floor and a 6.6 on the bars.

Freshman Holly Board recorded a score of 8.175 on the vault to highlight her performance. She also scored a 7.25 on floor and beam to go with a 6.4 for the bars

Junior Kendra Cika scored an 8.45 on vault, a 7.85 for the floor exercise, and a 6.45 on bars for the Warriors. Senior Erin Ward finished with a 7.9 for the floor, a 7.85 on the beam, and a 7.1 on the bars.

Junior Julie Hartt totaled a score of 8.125 on the vault for Valley at states. Junior Isabella Giuliano finished with a score of 7.7 for the beam.

Prior to participating in states, Valley Regional hosted two teams for a tri-meet at Flip-Flop Gymnastics on Feb. 21. The Warriors posted a team score of 120.65 and took losses against H-K/Morgan/Westbrook (132.45) and Mercy (124.45) at the meet.

Girls’ Ice Hockey

The Hand/H-K/Valley/Branford/Coginchaug/Old Lyme (H/H-K/V/B/C/OL) took a loss against Amity-Cheshire-North Haven (A-C-NH) in the first round of the SCC Tournament last week.

On Feb. 21, the 4th-seeded Tigers hosted 5th-seeded A-C-NH for a first-round SCC contest and took a 9-5 loss at Northford Ice Pavilion. The team has an overall record of 3-13 as it gets ready to face Woodstock Academy in its season finale on Saturday, March 5.

Boys’ Ice Hockey

The East Haven-Morgan-Valley-East Hampton-Old Lyme (EH-M-V-EH-OL) co-op boys’ ice hockey team gained a split of its two games last week to move to 10-7-1 with two games remaining in the regular season. The Yellowjackets, who have qualified for the Division II State Tournament, notched a win over the Eastern CT Eagles before losing against Hand in last week’s action.

In its first game of the week, EH-M-V-EH-OL posted a 5-1 road victory versus the Eastern CT Eagles at RoseGarden Ice Arena in Norwich on Feb. 23. East Haven freshman Gennaro Pompano scored an unassisted goal to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead in the first period. In the second period, EH-M-V-EH-OL went up 2-0 when East Hampton junior Evan Giovanelli scored from East Haven freshman Cameron LaCroix. After the Eagles got on the board, the Yellowjackets scored two more times in during the second stanza to take a 4-1 lead into the third. Senior captain Parker Sprankle of Old Lyme scored from Pompano, followed by a goal from East Hampton junior Alec Berg on an assist by Giovanelli.

EH-M-V-EH-OL finished off the victory when Pompano netted an unassisted goal during the third period for a 5-1 advantage. Senior captain goalie Ethan Roach of East Haven made 32 saves in the game, stopping all 21 shots faced during the third period.

Three days later, the Yellowjackets had a road game against Hand and took a 4-1 loss to the Tigers at Northford Ice Pavilion.

Boys’ Swimming and Diving

The H-K/Morgan/Valley (H-K/M/V) co-op boys’ swimming and diving team had a road meet against Hamden last week. On Feb. 23, the Cougars faced the Green Dragons at Hamden High School and took an 88-73 defeat in the contest.

Senior Connor Levy finished first in the 200 individual medley (2:13.63) for the Cougars at the meet. Junior Jack Ferguson took first place in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.13), junior Alejandro Campo de la Vera finished first in the 100 butterfly (56.83), and junior Joshua Colandrea won the 100 backstroke (1:17.60).