The West Haven boys’ basketball team won its fourth game in a row and improved to 6-3 with a 55-41 victory over Fairfield Prep at West Haven High.
The Westies were in control from the start as Michael Singleton scored the last five points of the opening quarter for a 15-1 West Haven lead.
Baskets by Jayce Perry and Isaiah Jackson increased the margin to 19-3 in the second quarter, before a pair of free throws by Bernett Scott had West Haven out in front 21-6. When Jackson hit one of two free throws late in the second quarter, West Haven led 24-12 at the half.
Fairfield Prep outscored West Haven 18-16 in the third quarter to get within 10 points at 40-30, but West Haven never let the Jesuits get closer as Singleton scored nine of his team’s 15 fourth quarter points.
Singleton led West Haven with 21 points, while Scott added 11, and Adam El Kharraz had seven. Perry and Amare Brooks each finished with six points in the win.
West Haven won its sixth straight contest with an 85-42 decision over Amity Monday evening at West Haven High. With the victory, the Westies improved to 8-3 on the year.
West Haven had eight different players in the scoring column, with four in double figures. Singleton had four 3-pointers and finished with 26 points, while Scott had 16 points, Jackson 15 points, and El Kharraz finished with 10 points.
Singleton was on his game from the start as he hit a pair of 3-pointers and two more field goals for 10 first quarter points when West Haven took an 18-15 lead.
The Westies put the game away with a 23-11 second quarter run for a 41-26 halftime lead. Scott hit four field goals in the quarter for eight points, Jackson hit three field goals and finished with seven points in the quarter, while Singleton had five second quarter points.
Any chance of an Amity comeback in the second half ended when the Westies went on a 20-8 run for a 61-34 lead. Brian Tillman led West Haven in the third quarter with six points, Singleton had five, and Scott added four.
The West Haven boys’ hockey team knew it was going to be a tough task to snap its two-game losing streak when it faced undefeated East Haven. Despite a valiant effort, the Westies fell to the Yellow Jackets, 3-2, at the Edward L. Bennett Rink.
With the game even at two, East Haven’s Mike Savo scored with 1:48 gone by in the third period to give East Haven a 3-2 lead. West Haven threw everything it had at East Haven in the final minutes, but the Westies could not get the equalizer.
Brady Price and Jayden Spreyer were denied in succession with eight minutes remaining, before Mike Madera and Thomas Porto were turned aside with three minutes to go. The Westies had a power play with 1:28 to go in the game, but they could not find the back of the net.
Trailing 1-0 in the opening period, the Westies pressured, but a backhander in front by Marcus Burrows was turned aside with 8:24 to go, Madera’s shot from the wing was sticked aside, Spreyer was denied in front, and a Burrows to Josh Rodrigue set up in front with 3:25 to go was also denied.
The Westies finally got the equalizer when Madera rifled a shot home off a breakaway with 2:45 to go in the opening period.
The lead did not last long as John D’Albero scored seven seconds later to send East Haven to the intermission with a 2-1 lead.
The Westies had chances to tie the game in the second, but Madera was turned aside on a partial breakaway one minute in and Rodrigue was topped two minutes later.
Haygen Axelrod then helped set up the equalizer. Axelrod’s shot from the slot was turned aside, but the puck went to Rodrigue who banked in a shot for the equalizer with 9:11 left in the second.
West Haven inched closer to qualifying for the state tournament with a 6-3 victory over Hand at the Northford Ice Pavilion. With the victory, West Haven improved to 5-5 on the year.
Madera led the way with four goals and one assist, Spreyer had one goal and four assists, and Porto added an assist as the line combined for 11 points on the night.
Sean Bush also scored for the Westies, Yousaf Ullah and Jason Alling had assists, and Javed Ullah made 37 saves in the win.
The Westies needed just 2:03 to take the lead in the contest as Spreyer found Madera streaking down the left wing and Madera fired a shot in for a quick 1-0 lead.
After Hand evened the game 2:59 later, West Haven needed less than three minutes to take the lead for good as Madera took the puck off the boards and broke in for a goal with 7:03 left in the opening period.
West Haven’s Porto had two golden opportunities to increase the lead, but he was denied on a breakaway with five minutes to go in the period, and his rebound of a shot was also denied 15 seconds later.
Madera recorded his third hat trick of the season just 21 seconds into a West Haven power play and 4:17 into the second when he took a pass from Spreyer and one-timed a shot home for a 3-1 lead.
Hand had the better of the play the remainder of the period and a shot which deflected off a pair of West Haven sticks and in gave Hand life entering the third.
Spreyer gave West Haven breathing room when he took a pass from Madera and rifled a shot off the post and in 3:05 into the third. After Theo Diakomis was denied in front, Bush scored his first varsity goal when he deflected in a shot by Alling with 10:10 to go.
Leading 5-3, West Haven iced the game with 1:13 to go as Madera picked up a loose puck in the West Haven end, skated to center ice, and fired into an empty net for the 6-3 win.
Looking to qualify for the postseason, West Haven inched a step closer with a 4-1 victory over Guilford Saturday evening in East Haven.
Javed Ullah made 25 saves and the Westies received goals from Porto, Madera, Brody DiNuzzo and Yousaf Ullah in the win. Madera and DiNuzzo each had a goal and an assist in the victory.
The Westies wasted no time setting the tone of the game as Porto scored off his own rebound just 2:50 into the contest. West Haven, which held a 16-2 shot advantage in the opening period, kept pouring it on as Axelrod had two solid scoring opportunities, and Spreyer and Rodrigue were both denied from the right wing.
Madera then gave the Westies a 2-0 lead as he took a pass from DiNuzzo and scored with 2:15 remaining in the opening period.
West Haven continued to put the pressure on in the middle period, but the Westies could not capitalize. Price was denied off the left wing 30 seconds in, Alling was stopped in the slot 1:17 in, and DiNuzzo and the rebound by Spreyer were stopped with 5:45 left in the period.
Holding on to a 2-1 lead, the Westies got some breathing room when DiNuzzo scored his first goal as a Westie in front off assists from Spreyer and Madera with 8:16 remaining.
West Haven then had to kill a full 5-on-3 Guilford power play with 5:49 remaining and never let the Grizzlies get going.
Yousaf Ullah sealed the contest with an empty net goal with 1:21 remaining in the game.
The West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy girls hockey team was in for a battle. Unfortunately for the Westie Sharks, they did not have enough offense as Guilford posted a 2-1 victory in West Haven.
The defense did its part, limiting the Grizzlies to just 14 shots on goal. Evelyn Twarowski made 12 saves, but it was not enough as the Westie Sharks saw their four-game win streak come to an end.
WH/SHA (4-2) took a 1-0 first period lead as Julianna Montano scored a power play goal 6:13 into the contest.
The lead lasted just 1:12 as Guilford got the equalizer. The two teams then played a defensive game until the Grizzlies scored the eventual winner at the 7:55 mark of the third period.
West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy fell to 4-3 with a 3-1 loss against Masuk in Shelton. The loss was the second straight for the Westie Sharks.
Megan Losito made 22 saves in the loss, including 17 in the first two periods. Olivia Twarowski scored West Haven / Sacred Heart Academy’s lone goal in the opening period off assists from Juliana Gonzalez and Hailey Azzarone with 5:57 remaining.
That was all the offense in the contest for the Westie Sharks. Masuk scored the equalizer at the 10:13 mark of the middle period, then added two more in the third to seal its first ever win over West Haven / Sacred Heart Academy.
The West Haven girls’ basketball team dropped its fifth straight contest and fell to 3-7 on the year with a 66-45 home loss against Sacred Heart Academy.
D’Lyana Dixon drained three 3-pointers and led the Westies with 11 points. Noelle Lawrence scored 10 points, and Isabella Fiorillo and Fatoumata Keita each scored six, while Ella Morgan had four.
Sacred Heart Academy led 18-8 after one quarter and took over the contest with a 22-10 second quarter run for a 40-18 advantage.
Lawrence scored four points in each of the first two quarters, while Morgan scored four points in the second quarter. Dixon’s 3-points all came in the second half, with a pair coming in the fourth quarter.
The losing streak for West Haven reached six games as the Westies fell to Foran, 50-42, at West Haven High. Despite a valiant effort, the loss dropped the Westies to 3-8 on the year.
Poor free throw shooting contributed to the loss for West Haven as the Westies connected on just 12-of-22 from the free throw line in the 8-point loss.
The Westies battled and led 21-20 at the half, but a 30-21 second half run by Foran proved to be the difference in the game. Foran turned the one-point deficit into a 36-30 lead after three quarters.
Ella Morgan, who finished with nine points in the contest, helped the Westies jump out to a 15-10 lead in the first quarter with seven points, while Lawrence scored six of her team-high 14 points in the opening quarter. The Westies connected on just one field goal in the second quarter, a basket by Lawrence, but managed to hold the 21-20 advantage.
Fiorillo scored five of her team’s nine points in the third quarter and finished with 10 points in the game. Fiorillo and Dixon connected from 3-poinr range in the fourth quarter, but West Haven managed just one other basket from the field as Foran held on for the win.
The West Haven boys swim team fell to 0-4 with an 88-75 loss to Milford at Foran High Tuesday evening.
West Haven’s Andrew McClarty won the 200 IM in 2 minutes, 21.18 seconds, and Johnny Chen was victorious in the 100 breast in 1:44.87.
West Haven’s 400 free relay team of Jeffrey Flores-Copa, McLarty, Nate Charron, and Benjamin Proano won in 4:15.44
West Haven fell to 0-5 with a 91-76 home loss against Greater New Haven Friday afternoon.
McLarty won the 100 fly in 1 minute, 1.50 seconds, Charron was victorious in the 100 back in 1:04.65, and Edward Fagnani won the 100 breast in 1:39.43.
The 400 free relay team of Charron, McLarty, Flores-Copa, and Brandon Sihaphong won in 4:19.06.
For all your West Haven sporting news throughout the year, including game articles by Mike Madera, highlights, photos and more, visit www.westieblue.com.