Morgan’s boys basketball team opened defense of its Shoreline Conference championship by pulling away to beat host East Hampton 62-56 on Thursday night.

The Bellringers, playing their first game under new head coach John Andolini, led by four points entering the fourth quarter. The game was tied with 4 minutes left before the Huskies hit a bunch of clutch free throws down the stretch.

“My kids played a great defensive game and created a lot of turnovers,” said Andolini. “It was a great basketball game. Both teams left it on the court.”

Senior forward Alex Fratamico scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half for Morgan and Cooper Galdenzi finished with 20 points.

Nate Ireland and Ethan Palma led the Bellringers, who didn’t have a 3-pointer, with 16 points apiece.

Morgan hosts North Branford on Saturday night at 7. East Hampton hosts Valley Regional on Wednesday (7pm).

MORGAN (1-0)
Drew Nye 2 1 5, Cooper Galdenzi 7 6 20, Tim McComiskey 1 0 2, Alex Fratamico 7 7 21, Connor Duffy 2 0 4, Eddie Dwake 1 0 2, Cam Johnson 0 3 3, Ben McDonnell 2 0 5. Totals: 22 17 62.

EAST HAMPTON (0-1)
Ethan Palma 6 4 16, Brady Lynch 1 5 7, Drew DiStefano 4 1 9, Jack Watkins 0 2 2, Brady Battit 1 0 2, Jye Lynch 2 0 4, Nate Ireland 6 4 16. Totals: 20 16 56.

Score By Quarters
Morgan………..14 16 11 21–62
East Hampton..8 14 23 11–56

3-pointers: Morgan: McDonnell 1.

In other boys basketball games Thursday:

Xavier 69, Cheshire 32

CHESHIRE (0-1)
Jack Markarian 7 1-3 15, Eric Levens 1 1-4 3, Matt Jeffrey 1 2-2 4, Drew Vagts 2 0-0 4, JD Shumilla 2 0-0 4, Tristan Washington 1 0-2 2. Totals: 14 4-11 32.

XAVIER (1-0)
John Carrozzella 6 1-2 13, Colby Ciampi 0 1-2 1, Vik Vakati 2 0-0 5, Anthony Parker 9 4-4 27, Richie Rivers 2 4-6 8, Aidan Driscoll 5 0-0 11, Mark Schoonmaker 1 2-2 4. Totals: 25 12-16 60

Score By Quarters
Cheshire….7 8 11  6–32
Xavier……22 21 13 13–69

3-Pointers: Xavier: Parker 5, Vakati 1, Driscoll 1.
Of note: Parker also had 7 assists and 6 steals and Driscoll grabbed 10 rebounds for the Falcons.

Old Lyme 81, Coginchaug 71

Maverick Swaney scored 24 points and Caden Monte contributed 19 as host Old Lyme defeated the Blue Devils in the teams’ season opener.

Nick Cox had 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals for the Wildcats, while John Almy put up 8 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Swaney was 6 of 8 from the free-throw line and also had 6 rebounds. Monte had a team-high 8 rebounds for Old Lyme.

Jayson Penney scored a game-high 25 points for Coginchaug, hitting 6 of 7 free throws, and Jeremy Mangiameli hit four 3-pointers and finished with 24 points for the Blue Devils.

Old Saybrook 71, Hale-Ray 60

OLD SAYBROOK (1-0)
Wes Nobile 2 2-2 6, Riley Lawson 2 2-2 7, Ryan Stratton 14 4-5 35, Auggie Albert 0 1-4 1, Aaron Tolve 6 7-7 22. Totals: 24 16-21 71.

HALE-RAY (0-1)
Drew Conroy 5 2 15, Mamush Ciccarello 5 1 13, Loudon Chupas 7 2 16, Miles Gagne 4 0 10, Avery Guglietti 3 0 6, Nate Matetich 0 0-2 0. Totals: 24 5 60.

Score By Quarters
Old Saybrook…17 17 14 23–71
Hale-Ray……….10 21 11 18–60

3-pointers: Hale-Ray: Conroy 3, Ciccarello 2, Gagne 2; Old Saybrook: Stratton 3, Tolve 3, Lawson 1.

Valley Regional 52, North Branford 25

VALLEY REGIONAL (1-0)
Di’Angelo Jean-Pierre 5 1 11, Simon Partyka 9 0 22, Andrew Yermenson 0 2 2, Owen Kelly 1 1 3, Jack Driscoll 0 0 0, Sam Hutchinson 2 0 4, James Marsden 3 1 8, Brayden Shea 1 0 2. Totals 21 5 52.

NORTH BRANFORD (0-1)
Girardi 1 0 2, Meehan 3 0 6, Lanaello 1 0 2, Pearson 1 0 3, Onofrio 1 0 3, Slegina 2 3 7, DeJesus 1 0 2: Totals: 10 3 25.

Score By Quarters
Valley Regional….15 19 6 12–52
North Branford…..8  3  7  7–25

3-Pointers: Valley: Partyka 4, Marsden 1; NB: Pearson 1, Onofrio 1, Slegina 1.
Of note: Partyka also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals for the Warriors, while Marsden had 7 rebounds and 3 blocks and Shea grabbed 9 boards and had 3 steals.

Portland 65, Westbrook 58

WESTBROOK (0-1)
Ryan Engels 2 0-2 4, Brandon Naccarato 7 5-7 20, Joey Caslin 6 0-0 14, Jesse Whitney 3 0-0 6, Sammy Freeman 5 0 10, Vin Naccarato 2 0-0 4. Totals: 25 5-9 58.

PORTLAND (1-0)
Joe Rusczyk 4 0-0 10, Harrison Collins 4 6-7 15, Jake Thompson 1 0-0 3, Ryan Kerr 1 0-1 3, Evan Johnson 2 0-0 5, Benjamin Fecteau 1 2-2 5, Eli Evison 8 1-1 20, Austin Vess 2 0-0 5. Totals: 23 9-11 65.

Game By Quarters
Westbrook…..10 17 22  9–58
Portland………14 19 18 14–65

3-pointers: Westbrook: Caslin 2, Naccarato 1; Portland: Evison 3, Rusczyk 2, Collins 1, Thompson 1, Kerr 1, Johnson 1, Vess 1, Fecteau 1.

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