Coginchaug Halts Cromwell’s 52-Game Streak in Shoreline

Editor’s Note: This story originally reported that Cromwell had a 54-game regular-season Shoreline win streak. It has since been corrected.

DURHAM – Coginchaug is the hottest girls basketball team in the Shoreline Conference.

The Blue Devils proved it again Monday night after riding their defense to a 49-28 upset over Cromwell, the team’s fourth straight victory.

The defeat was Cromwell’s first in a regular-season Shoreline game in three years, ending a streak of 52 consecutive wins against conference opponents.

“It was definitely a tremendous win,” Coginchaug coach Chris Watson said. “I know going into the game that we were going to have a chance, we have been playing so well. But I could not have predicted it going the way it did.”

The teams faced each other on Jan. 21, with Cromwell winning 60-44.

Cromwell’s last regular-season loss in conference play came against East Hampton (35-31) on Jan. 17, 2017.

Monday, the Blue Devils (9-7) had a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and held the Panthers (10-5) to 17 points the rest of the way. Cromwell’s Vanessa Stolstajner, last season’s player of the year in the Shoreline, was held to 6 points.

“Last night and throughout this stretch of good play, it’s been about defense for us,” Watson said. “We had a strong game plan for how we needed to defend them and we executed really well. And then our defense has been translating into good offense – scoring in transition, very active in the half court, the guards were aggressive and the bigs finished around the rim when they got the chance.”

Forward Molly Shields led Coginchaug with 14 points and 10 rebounds, center Jessica Berens scored 13 and grabbed 11 boards and guard Kerry Turecek had a 10-point/10-assist game.

“Turecek was awesome. I think it may have been the best game of her career,” Watson said. “Usually a player’s best game includes a ton of points, but having 10 assists is fantastic. And she guarded Stolstajner for most of the game and held her to six.

“Kerry controlled the game on both ends.”

Sadie Budzik was the only Cromwell player in double figures, scoring 11 points. The Panthers had 12 field goals in 48 attempts.

CROMWELL (28)
Sadie Budzik 5 0-0 11, Khaya Skene 1 0-0 2, Adela Cecunjanin 1 0-0 2, Nevaeh Clark 1 0-0 2, Monica Dewey 0 1-2 1, Vanessa Stolstajner 2 2-3 6, Likhita Chanda 1 0-0 2, Marykate Sullivan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 3-5 28.

COGINCHAUG (49)
Sam Mancini 2 0-0 4, Alyssa Woodward 2 0-0 4, Jessica Berens 5 3-5 13, Amalia DeMartino 1 0-0 2, Raegan Moore 0 0-0 0, Taylor McDermott 1 0-0 2, Kerry Turecek 3 1-2 10, Molly Shields 7 0-0 14. Totals 21 4-7 49.

Score By Quarters
CR 11 5 4 8—28
CO 16 9 17 7—49

3-Pointers: Cromwell—Budzik 1; Coginchaug—Turecek 3.
Records: Cromwell 10-5, Coginchaug 9-7.

Next Games

• Coginchaug at Morgan, Thursday, 7pm
• Cromwell hosts North Branford, Thursday, 7pm

Elsewhere around the area Monday:

Windsor 47, Middletown 41

MIDDLETOWN – Tyah Pettaway scored 19 points for the Blue Dragons, who came up just short against heavily favored Windsor in a CCC interdivision game at LaBella-Sullivan Gymnasium.

“The kids really battled all game. We were undersized at four of the five spots on the court pretty much the entire game,” Middletown coach Rob Smernoff said. “This was a tournament-level game with great intensity from both teams. It will only make us better for the remainder of the season and beyond.”

Pettaway “probably played her most complete game of the year,” said Smernoff, whose Blue Dragons play at Bristol Central on Thursday with a Class LL tournament berth at stake.

Rachel Cleveland led Windsor with 18 points.

WINDSOR (47)
Savanna Yelling 1-0-2; Rebecca Fraley 3-2-9; Paris Roman 1-0-2; Azure Riley 5-2-14; Nylah Wells 1-0-2; Rachel Cleveland 7-4-18. Totals: 18-8-47.

MIDDLETOWN (41)
Jenaya Salafia 0-0-0; India Weston 0-0-0; Aysia Henderson 1-2-4; Tyah Pettaway 8-1-19; Jada Bryant 0-2-2; Shadae Bushay 5-0-12; Travyonna Jefferson 2-0-4. Totals: 16-5-41.

Score By Quarters
W 11 9 19 8—47
M 11 13 4 13—41

3-Pointers: W—Riley 2, Fraley 1; M—Pettaway 2, Bushay 2.
Records: Middletown 7-9, Windsor 11-3.

Next Game

• Middletown at Bristol Central, Thursday, 6:45pm

Mercy 44, Hamden 23

MIDDLETOWN – Lily Hedge scored a game-high 18 points as Mercy upset Hamden in SCC action. Ava Giansiracusa added 12 points for the Tigers and Lily Sokolowski chipped in with 9.

HAMDEN (23)
Rebecca Oberman-Levine 2 0-0 4, Yariliz Santiago 2 1-2 6, Montsho Canton 0 2-5 2, Diamond White 2 3-4 7, Gianna Robert 1 0-0 2, Thailyn Geter 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 6-11 23.

MERCY (44)
Lilly Hedge 6 4-5 18, Ava Giansiracusa 4 2-2 12, Sophie Hedge 2 0-0 5, Lily Sokolowski 3 2-2 9, Abby Bradbury 0 0-1 0.Totals 15 8-10 44.

Score By Quarters
H   6   6 5 6—23
M 17 15 3 9–44

3-Pointers: H–Santiago 1; M—L. Hedge 2, Giansiracusa 2, S. Hedge 1, Sokolowski 1.
Records: Mercy 6-10, Hamden 9-5.

Next Game

• Mercy hosts West Haven, Wednesday, 7pm

Morgan 55, H-K 31

CLINTON – Leah McComiskey dropped 20 points, pulled down 18 rebounds and blocked 7 shots, and Catie Donadio had 16 points and 12 rebounds as Morgan overpowered H-K in Shoreline play.

Donadio also had 5 assists and 5 steals, Rachel Lehn hit three 3-pointers and finished with 10 points, and Caeley Ayer chipped in with 4 points, 6 assists and 5 steals for the Huskies.

Belle Carini led the Cougars with 13 points.

H-K (31)
Belle Carini 6 0-0 13, Anna Biondi 0 2-2 2, Tessa Wills 5 0-0 10, Kaleigh Bodak 1 0-0 2, Audra Yazmer 0 1-2 1, Haley Phelps 0 0-2 0, Ella McGlynn 1 1-2 3. Totals: 13 4-6 31.

MORGAN (55)
Catie Donadio 6 4-7 16, Caeley Ayer 2 0-0 4, Alyse Olcott 1 1-2 3, Rachel Lehn 3 1-2 10, Leah McComiskey 8 2-4 20, Katie Martin 0 2-6 2. Totals: 20 10-21 55.

Score By Quarters
HK 9 5 11 6—31
M  11 17 6 21—55

3-Pointers: HK—Carini 1; M—Lehn 3, McComiskey 2.
Records: Morgan 10-4, H-K 4-10.

Next Games

• Morgan hosts Coginchaug, Thursday, 7pm
• H-K hosts Valley Regional, Thursday, 7pm

Portland 56, Hale-Ray 18

PORTLAND – Carly Graves led a balanced Portland attack with 15 points as the Highlanders won for the fourth time in their last five.

Ava Hurley added 13 points and Sammy Lasky 12 for Portland, which needs one more win to qualify for the state tournament.

HALE-RAY (18)
Gabby Aquilera 3 0 6, Brooke Praskievcz 2 1 5, Hannah Klick 2 0 6, Jessica Stricker 0 1 1. Totals: Totals 7 1-6 18.

PORTLAND (56)
Maddie Brunk 0 0 0, Olivia Doering 1 0 2, Ava Hurley 5 0 13, Rowen Bell 1 0 3, Izzie McClelland 1 0 2, Carly Graves 5 2 15, Morgan Lasky 4 1 9, Sammy Lasky 6 0 12, Leah May 0 0 0, Mia Lapinski 0 0 0. Totals: 23 3-4 56.

Score By Quarters
HR 3 7 4 4—18
P  13 18 16 9—56

3-Pointers: HR-Klick 2; P—Hurley 3, Graves 3, Bell 1.
Records: Portland 7-7, Hale-Ray 3-11.

Next Games

• Portland hosts St. Bernard, Tuesday, 7pm
• Hale-Ray hosts Classical Magnet/University, Wednesday, 7pm

Boys Basketball

Xavier 59, Cheshire 43

MIDDLETOWN – Stephen Kohs’ perimeter game was cooking Monday, as he made four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 24 points for the Falcons in their SCC divisional win. KJ Grisham also had a big game with 16 points, and Parker Hunter finished with 10.

Cheshire scored 22 points in the first quarter and 21 the rest of the way.

CHESHIRE (43)
Sean Vatti 6 0-0 17; Cole Feinhauer 1 3-4 5; Jason Shumilla 1 0-0 2; Yasha Laskin 2 0-0 6; Dillon Folhs 1 2-2 4; Ben Wable 3 0-0 9. Totals: 14 5-6 43.

XAVIER (59)
Marcus Williams 0 0-0 0; KJ Grisham 6 3-3 16; Stephen Kohs 8 4-4 24; Andrew Brown 2 0-2 4; Parker Hunter 4 1-2 10; Connor Jenkins 1 0-0 3; Anthony Parker 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 22 8-11 59.

Score By Quarters
C  22 4 6 11—43
X 18 13 13 15—59

3-Pointers: C—Vatti 5, Wable 3, Laskin 2; X—Kohs 4, Grisham, Hunter, Jenkins.
Records: Xavier 10-3, Cheshire 1-12.

Next Game

• Xavier at Fairfield Prep, Thursday, 7pm

Shepaug Valley 61, East Hampton 55

EAST HAMPTON – Stephen Brady scored a game-high 23 points for the Bellringers in their non-conference loss at home. Jayden Cornwall led Shepaug with 21 points.

SHEPAUG (61)
Owen Hibbar  6 1 13, Cole Davenport 2 1 5, Jayden Cornwall 5 11 21, Mike Perachi 7 0 14, Luke Schneider 0 0 0, Cole Donaghey 4 0 8. Totals 24 13 61.

EAST HAMPTON (55)
Ted Zhao 0 0 0, Dan Cascio 1 2 5, Drew DiStefano 0 2 2, Grant Arcidiacono 2 2 8, Max Karrenberg 1 0 2, Stephen Brady 9 2 23, Jye Lynch 7 0 15. Totals: 20 8 55.

Score By Quarters
SV 14 12 12 23—61
EH 11 9 15 20—55

3-Pointers: EH—Brady 3, Arcidiacono 2, Lynch 1.

Records: Shepaug Valley 10-3, East Hampton 7-6.

Next Game

• East Hampton hosts Portland, Friday, 7pm