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03/07/2023 06:19 AMWhile the East Haven girls’ basketball team may not have emerged from this winter with a state title in its collective grasp, the Yellowjackets certainly played with the heart of a champion by being a defense-first squad surrounded by team-first athletes that did not let any amount of adversity break them.
Following a very strong 13-7 regular season portion of the campaign that concluded with a three-game winning streak over Lyman Hall, Law, and Branford, the Yellowjackets found themselves on a return trip to the SCC Tournament as the 11th seed. Despite taking a 53-45 loss at No. 6 Sheehan in the opening round on Feb. 16, East Haven’s efforts earned itself the No. 13 seed in the Class MM State Tournament.
After a convincing 15-point decision over Kaynor Tech in the first round, the Yellowjackets ended up bowing out to fellow SCC program and No. 4 seeded Mercy by a 66-32 final on March 2, finishing their 2022-2023 campaign with an overall mark of 14-9.
“We had nine different players score against Kaynor, and we were in control the whole game,” said Head Coach Mike Archambault. “We then ran into a talented Mercy team. Even in the loss, we saw the heart of our team. Our energy level was up, and with how hard they worked out there, it was still a strong way to end the year.”
On Feb. 27, East Haven hosted No. 20 seed Kaynor Tech in the first round of the Class MM State Tournament, scoring a sound 47-32 victory to advance in the draw. The Yellowjackets opened up a 17-6 lead after the opening quarter of action. East Haven then held a 28-12 command at intermission, following outscoring the visitors 11-6 in the second.
From there, the Yellowjackets did not pump the breaks and later held a 44-18 edge entering the fourth frame. Kaynor Tech did muster up 14 points in that final quarter to East Haven’s three, though it was not enough to overcome the deficit as the home side cruised into the Sweet 16 round of the bracket.
Sophomore guard Brooke Dennis earned 10 points, while senior guard Gabby Gaetano added nine. Junior guard Gianna Castellano nabbed seven points while going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line to complement her five rebounds and five assists. Junior guard Kelsey Murray contributed six points in the triumph.
Also scoring for East Haven on the night were junior forward Olivia Martin (3 steals), senior center Alice Stettinger (also 6 boards), senior forward Gabby Milici (6 rebounds), junior forward Juliana Iovino, and junior forward Mikaela Pacheco, who also had eight boards on her night (3 points apiece).
East Haven won the battle on the boards by collecting 53 rebounds to the Panthers’ 47, and as a team, the Yellowjackets swatted 14 steals and four blocks defensively.
In terms of solo postseason honors, Iovino made All-SCC Second Team. East Haven additionally finished third in the SCC Hammonasset Division, with a division mark of 4-4.
Archambault noted that one huge component of success for the Yellowjackets that catapulted them to the 13 victories in the regular season was the defensive front on the floor.
“We got off to a strong start, which was key, but so was our defense,” said Archambault. “Everything we did was based off of our defense. We were always able to hold teams down, which triggered our offense.”
East Haven cruised to an impressive 10-2 start through a dozen games, yet like most squads, they had to fight through illnesses, injuries, and losing streaks. Despite dropping five straight contests, the Yellowjackets showed their true character, resilience, and resolve by heading into the postseason on a high note.
“We had people out, people with COVID, and we hit the losing streak,” Archambault said. “The girls had to make a mental commitment to end the regular season on a high note, and I was proud of how the girls fought to get that. In the three-game streak, the Lyman Hall game [a 30-28 win] was a turning point. 30-28 should not be a varsity final score, but on a positive, we won and held a team to 28 points. We had a positive feeling going into SCCs, and getting a home state tournament game was a huge plus.”
One concern of coaches that can arise is when a states-bound team either misses or bows out early of its conference tournament, which was the case for East Haven, who went 11 days without live game action. Yet Archambault and the girls grabbed scrimmage minutes and got back to pure enjoyment with the sport.
“One of the pieces we did was having some relaxed practices while reminding the girls they are here to have fun,” Archambault said. “We scrimmaged against North Haven to get a sense of what we would see from teams in states. The girls bought in and their commitment made it a positive week.”
The tight-knit nature of this year’s edition of the Yellowjackets’ squad additionally carried them over the top when it came to the close contests and clutch moments.
“One thing we talked about heading into the year was how close we felt the team was and saw it as a positive,” said Archambault. “That was especially important in close games, and the selflessness of the girls helped us win those games. Different girls caught fire shooting in different games, and they understood their roles. Castellano stepped up as a point guard in the second half of the year. Things can fall apart when there is a losing streak, but I think the girls being so close and trusting each other put us in a better place.”
Now with the dust settled on his second season as bench boss, Archambault is happy with the progress of the club by sheer numbers alone, with the win total increasing after a 10-10 regular season in his rookie year. He attributed a lot of that accomplishment to seniors who left a marvelous mark before moving, along with underclassmen rising to the occasion.
“We wanted to keep improving after last year and we did that,” said Archambault. “As coaches, we want the kids to buy into what we preach and that also continued this year. We had a lot of juniors step up, and when seniors leave, you want them to leave the program in a better place than when they got here, and these seniors did that. I cannot question how hard the team worked and how well they played together this year.”
In the regular season, East Haven defeated North Branford (56-42), Shelton (47-23), Cheshire (46-41), Amistad (38-30), Lauralton Hall (43-34), Amity (49-36), Lyman Hall (47-42 and 30-28), Wethersfield (44-38), Law (45-20 and 35-28), and Branford (45-42 and 49-40). The Yellowjackets’ losses came against Sacred Heart Academy (71-47 and 61-27), West Haven (66-32 and 64-25), Cheshire (52-36), Lauralton Hall (63-53), and Amity (50-41).