Hand Trips the Injury-Plagued Indians 46-20

Hand earned a  46-20 victory over North Haven Thursday night  in a  Southern Connecticut Conference inter-division contest at the  Fred Kelly Gymnasium in North Haven. With the victory the Tigers improved their record to 8-10 and qualified for the Class M Tournament, while the Indians fell to 5-14. NHHS was eliminated from contention in the Class L playoffs with a 53-35 home loss to West Haven on Tuesday night.

A pregame Senior Night ceremony honored 5 North Haven players who were making their final home appearance. All 5 seniors started the game. The North Haven seniors walked to center court with their parents after being introduced by North Haven High athletic director Todd Petronio. A large balloon arch was hoisted above the bench of each team. Olivia DiCapua, who played point guard for the Indians was also a CAPT (Connecticut Academic Performance Test) Scholar and a 4-year honor roll student. Riley Dinneen, a shooting guard, is a member of the national honor society, a CAPT scholar, and a member of the art honor society and also captain of the girls lacrosse team. Clare Hannon, an aggressive defender and rebounder for the Indians, also has been a member of the soccer and track and field teams for 4 years. Amanda Rizzo is a  3-sport  athlete (soccer, basketball and softball).  Center Jocelyn Franchi is another contributor to the basketball program and an honor roll student.  Dinneen, in a planned appearance on the court for Senior Night, left after the opening tip because of an ankle and knee injury sustained in the game against West Haven.

But Dineen's would not be the last Indian injury of the season. With about 5:39 to play in the game, Hannon had to be carried from the court by North Haven coach Tom Cappello after suffering an apparent knee injury while running up the court. Junior backup point guard Sarah Black is also out for the season due to an upper body injury.

“I think the kids are drained right now,” Cappello said. “It seems that I only have 6 or 7 players that are healthy and can play. I would say they are (physically) and emotionally drained. With their teammates going down and then what I saw with Clare. You don’t know how hard Clare worked. Clare was covering when kids blew their assignments (defensively). She was always right there. Clare played wonderful tonight rebounding , boxing out and doing the dirty work. For her to go down was tough. The gods really don’t shine down on us.”

The Tigers were led offensively by junior Kelsey Cuddy who scored 16 points, with 11 coming in the first half. Kara McHugh, a junior, added 9 points for Hand, all in the first half on three 3-point baskets. Hand had 9 different players score in the game. North Haven received 8 points from DiCapua, and junior center Onalee Collins grabbed 7 rebounds for the Indians.

“Kelsey is one of the best players in the SCC in my opinion. She is a 6-foot junior who can see the floor and shoot from the post. McHugh is a streaky shooter that can put up numbers in big bunches when she is on. Tonight she was on,” Hand coach Tim Tredwell said.

Hand jumped out to a quick 14-4 lead after one period of play. Kara McHugh started off the session with a 3-point basket from the left corner. After DiCapua's swoosh, the Tigers scored 11 of the next 13 points. Hand got 3 field goals from Kelsey Cuddy and another 3-point hoop from McHugh in a display of offensive firepower from the inside and outside by Hand.

Following a 3-pointer from Cuddy to start the second period, the Tigers really opened the game up on a basket by Jaclyn Strickland, a steal by Kelsey Kinnare, a basket by Cuddy, and a 3-ball by McHugh (who poured in 7 points in only 45 seconds) to lead 25-8 at the end of the first half.

“Any time you come into another team’s gym on Senior Night it is difficult because there is a lot of emotion,” Tredwell said. “It is a difficult situation to deal with. We tried to put it out of our heads. We came into the game ready to go and wanted to get to the state tournament. I think North Haven is a much better shooting team than they showed tonight. They missed some open looks and we rebounded well and that gave us the opportunity to get that lead. We came in prepared and I think moved the ball better than we have all season around the perimeter. I hope this continues. We might be getting ready at the right time in the season.”  

The second half was tough for the Indians, who found themselves outscored 21-12. The seniors, however, battled to the end. DiCapua and Amanda Rizzo left the game with 25 seconds remaining to a standing ovation.

“They (the seniors) played like they really wanted to be basketball players tonight," Cappello said.”They battled and they didn’t even want to come out at the end of the game because they didn’t want to lose a second of action.”

The Indians final game of the season will be Monday at Sacred Heart Academy at 7 p.m. as the Indians start looking ahead to the future.

“Bri (Melillo has been looking good as has Onalee (Collins) and Sarah (Black),” Cappello said. “A lot of the younger kids entering the program next year will be playing AAU and we will start a weight-lifting program for them so that they will be ready for next year as soon as this basketball season ends. It’s all about the culture at North Haven and we’re working on changing that. We’ve been competitive all year.”