A milestone and a league final were in the cards for the West Haven High girls as the basketball season wound down.
Amani Abuhatab has been a star since she came on the scene as a freshman. Against Guilford, Abuhatab put herself on top of the list.
Connecting on a free throw with just over 31 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Abuhatab passed Catrina Hawley-Stewart’s scoring mark of 1,333 points to become the all-time leading scorer at the school.
Abuhatab finished with 24 points, including 11 in the second quarter as the West Haven girls basketball team topped Guilford 68-42 at West Haven High. The win was West Haven’s seventh in a row and eleventh in the last 12 games as West Haven improved to 14-4 on the year.
Abuhatab was solid in every phase as she also finished with 19 rebounds, five assists, four steals, and one blocked shot. The senior is now just eight rebounds short of 1,000 for her high school career.
Kassidy Carrano scored 11 points, Isabella Fiorillo added 10, and Ciara Harp scored six in the win for West Haven.
The Westies put the game away with 36 second half points, including 10 from Fiorillo and nine from Abuhatab.
West Haven saw its eight-game win streak come to an end in Hamden against Sacred Heart Academy. Despite battling in the first half, it was not enough as the Sharks pulled away and defeated the Westies, 67-44.
With the loss, West Haven fell to 15-5 on the year and played host to Lyman Hall in the opening round of the Southern Connecticut Conference tournament.
Abuhatab led the offense with 12 points, Carrano had 11, and Howard finished with eight points.
Abuhatab and Carrano made sure it started on the right foot as the No. 5 West Haven topped No. 12 Lyman Hall 61-43 in the opening round of the Southern Connecticut Conference tournament at West Haven High Thursday evening.
With the win, West Haven advanced to the quarterfinals against No. 4 Foran.
Abuhatab led the way with 21 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, and three steals, while Carrano had 17 points, six rebounds and three assists. Harp added nine points, three rebounds and two assists.
Leading 23-22 in the second quarter, West Haven closed the half on a 7-1 run to lead by seven at the half.
The Westies opened the third quarter on a 12-5 run as Carrano scored six points for a 38-26 lead. Abuhatab’s basket increased the margin to 42-26, before a bucket by Harp closed the third quarter with West Haven leading 50-29.
Any chance of a Lyman Hall comeback quickly disappeared when West Haven opened the fourth quarter on a 10-3 run with Abuhatab and Carrano each scoring four points.
West Haven advanced to the semifinals with a 65-30 victory over Foran in the quarterfinals Saturday at Sheehan High.
Abuhatab and Carrano continued to lead the way as Abuhatab led the way with 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Carrano had 17 points. Dealyce Howard finished with seven points, five assists, and five rebounds, and Harp had nine points.
The Westies ran away with the game in the first half and never looked back as they outscored Foran 35-10, including holding the Lions to three points in the second quarter.
Carrano had eight points in the first quarter, while Abuhatab and Harp each scored six as West Haven took a 21-10 lead. The Westies went on a 14-3 run in the second half, led by five points apiece from Abuhatab and Howard, and four from Carrano.
Abuhatab finished with 12 points in the second half, and Carrano finished with five as West Haven outscored the Lions; 30-20.
For all your West Haven sporting news throughout the year, including game articles by Mike Madera, highlights, photos and more, visit www.westieblue.com.
The West Haven boys co-op hockey team could not sustain the momentum the Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe hockey team came to town. Behind four goals and two assists from Ryan Tymon, the Mustangs topped the Westies, 9-0.
After playing a solid eight minutes to start the game, the Westies watched as Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe scored twice in 5:02 to take a 2-0 lead after one period.
West Haven was outshot 17-5 in the period, with three quality opportunities. Jayden Spreyer came down the right wing but was denied with a pad save 2:40 in, Zack Fonda was turned aside from the point 5:30 in, and Mike Madera had his shot in front turned aside with 5:02 left in the opening period.
West Haven’s best scoring opportunity of the middle period came 48 seconds in when Madera’s shot from in front on the power play went wide.
The Mustangs then put the game away, scoring seven times in the middle period. Spreyer and Fonda had West Haven’s best opportunities to get on the board in the third, but each was denied in the first three minutes of the period.
Matt Rasile came on in relief in goal in the third period and was stellar with nine saves, not allowing a goal.
Looking to win its third game of the season, West Haven faced Hamden. An earlier season loss to the Green Dragons was also on the minds of the Westies. Despite a late goal to even the contest, the Westies dropped their second straight when the Green Dragons scored in the final 30 seconds to top West Haven, 2-1.
West Haven, which fell to 2-12, trailed 1-0, but evened the game with 5:51 to play when Sam Marquez jammed in a loose puck after West Haven pressure.
Marcus Burrows had a chance to give West Haven the lead with 5:02 remaining, but his shot was turned aside. The Green Dragons then scored the game-winner with 22.4 seconds remaining on a tipped puck in front.
West Haven outshot Hamden 39-22 in the loss.
For two plus periods, West Haven was hanging around Fairfield Prep. That momentum ended in the third period.
Scoring four times in the final 15 minutes, the Jesuits topped West Haven, 7-1. With the loss, West Haven fell to 2-13 on the year.
Prep’s Blake Baksay was a thorn in West Haven’s side as he scored four times and added a pair of assists in the win.
The Westies did themselves no favors as they missed opportunities throughout.
The Jesuits took a 2-0 lead with a short-handed goal 1:50 into the second period, before the Westies got one back.
Taking a pass from Fonda, Price scored from in front with 5:28 gone by in the second to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Westies never got closer as Baksay used another end-to-end rush with 3:53 remaining in the second.
West Haven then had its opportunities to get closer in the third. Madera was stopped on a breakaway with a pad save 2:15 in, and Spreyer was denied from the slot 3:51 in.
The Westies had two more golden opportunities later in the contest, but none found the back of the net.
Javed Ullah made 36 saves in the loss.
West Haven fell to 2-14 with a 6-0 loss against cross-town rival Notre Dame. The Green Knights scored three times in a span of 1:20 in the opening period to take control of the game.
Notre Dame controlled the contest from start to finish with West Haven’s best scoring opportunities in the first period coming from Jayden Spreyer, who was stopped with a point shot with 3:30 left in the first and Yousaf Ullah, who was stopped in front 21 seconds later.
Haygen Axelrod hit the post with a point shot late in the second period and Spreyer was stopped in front with a pad save with 6:19 remaining in the game.
Ty Battipaglia scored twice for the Green Knights, including the opening goal of the game.
Kiryl Astravukh made 48 saves for the Westies in the loss.
The West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy girls hockey team won its second consecutive contest and improved to 11-7 with a 6-4 victory over Masuk Wednesday evening in Shelton.
Julianna Picard led the Westie Sharks with four goals and two assists, Anne Plunkett had four assists, and Geena Montano recorded two goals and an assist. Isabelle Desrosiers made 35 saves in the win for the Westie Sharks, including 13 in the second period.
The team won its third straight contest with a 4-2 decision over Ridgefield. The win helped the Westie Sharks improve to 12-7 on the year.
Picard led the way with three goals and Isabelle Desrosiers made 17 saves in the victory at the Edward L. Bennett Rink in West Haven.
West Haven / Sacred Heart Academy closed the regular season with its fourth straight win and improved to 13-7 with a 3-1 Senior Night victory over Woodstock Academy Thursday evening at Bennett Rink.
Desrosiers had 13 saves, with seven coming in the second period, and three different players scored to close the regular season. The Westie Sharks finished with five different players recording points.
The West Haven boys basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak with a 90-53 victory over Amity. The win helped the Westies improve to 6-11 on the year.
The Westies had 10 different players in the scoring column and were led by Randy Alston with 24 points. Isaiah Jackson had 13 points, while Bryan Tillman and Carlos Garcia each scored nine points. Amare Brooks and Ryan DiMaria each scored eight, while Jayce Perry scored seven.
West Haven led 21-10 after one quarter and 46-25 at the half. West Haven put the game away in the third quarter, leading 68-38.
Garcia hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter and Randy Alston drained a pair of 3-pointers. Jackson and Alston each scored eight in the second quarter. Perry scored seven points in the third quarter.
Alston and his teammates are preparing for the postseason. Alston and company had one final farewell for the West Haven faithful.
Dropping 45 points, including 35 in a thrilling first half, Alston led West Haven to a 97-48 victory over Lyman Hall on Senior Night at West Haven High. Alston added 10 more in the third quarter, before coming out in the fourth quarter.
Adam El Kharraz scored 11 points, and Joseph Williams and Ethan Griffin each scored 10 in the win for West Haven. Hakim Dembele scored eight as West Haven had 11 players in the scoring column.
The second straight victory allowed the Westies to improve to 7-11 on the year with a pair of regular season games remaining.
Alston’s efforts gave West Haven a 32-7 first quarter lead as he scored 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. El Kharraz and Williams each scored six in the opening quarter.
Alston was even better in the second quarter with 19 points, including three more 3-pointers as the Westies cruised to a 53-23 halftime lead. Alston scored all but two of West Haven’s points in the quarter, the others coming on a field goal by Perry.
Griffin scored 10 fourth quarter points for West Haven.
West Haven fell to 7-12 with a 74-55 loss against cross-town rival Notre Dame Tuesday evening.
The Westies fell behind by nine points after one quarter and 16 at the half. The Green Knights continued to extend the lead, which was too much for West Haven to overcome.
Isaiah Jackson and Garcia each finished with six points in the game.