T-Birds’ Girls’ Hoops Drops 60-22 Decision to Morgan

The North Branford girls' basketball squad came into an almost-impossible situation on the night of Feb. 9 when it traveled to Morgan to take on the Shoreline Conference powerhouse. Already a tough-to-beat team, the Huskies were aiming to earn their beloved coach Joe Grippo his 500th career victory, and despite showcasing solid pressure defense, North Branford couldn't upend Morgan as the Huskies earned a 60-22 win.

The Huskies (11-6) started strong against North Branford (3-15) by jumping out to a 14-0 lead thanks to baskets from Tori Hopkins (4 points), Christy Coyne (5 points), and Sarah Thompson (4 points). After three turnovers, the T-Birds got on the board when Jenny Sabetta notched two points with 2:08 remaining in the first quarter, followed by a free throw. That would be all North Branford could muster in the first as Hopkins ended the quarter with a three-pointer, giving Morgan a 17-3 lead going into the second.

Morgan continued to fare well defensively, allowing the T-Birds to only score six points in the second period-four from Stephanie Torniero and two from Hailey Paternoster-while keeping up its pressure defense and forcing North Branford into two more turnovers. Leading the offensive charge was Jess Choronzy (4 points and a steal), Lily DeLaura (4 points), Hopkins (5 points, including a three-pointer), Thompson (2 points), and Coyne (3 points) to give the Huskies a 35-9 lead going into halftime.

Morgan then out-scored the T-Birds 15-5 in the third quarter. North Branford was able to lead off the quarter with back-to-back baskets from both Melissa Sola and Justine Johnson after taking advantage of some sloppy play from the Huskies in the early going, but Morgan bounced back and went on a 12-point tear with scoring from Hopkins (4 points), Thompson (3), Kelsey Donaldson (3), and Coyne (2) before fouling under the basket and allowing Diedre DiMaggio to notch one for North Branford. In dramatic fashion, DeLaura took a shot at the buzzer, notching two points for the Huskies to give them a 50-14 advantage at the end of three.

Morgan ran into some foul trouble in the fourth, allowing the T-Birds to score nine points to the Huskies' 10, but credit could also be given to North Branford's pressure defense, which never relented inits effort. Lily Dawson started things off in the fourth for Morgan by notching two points, followed by a blocked pass from the Thunderbirds' Ashley Arre and a steal from Sola before North Branford earned a point from Arre at the charity stripe. Jen Dawson notched a free-throw point for Morgan and the Huskies saw the remaining quarter's points from Kait Anderson (2), DeLaura (3), and Vivian Tran (2) with North Branford seeing offense from Sola (3), Sabetta (1), and DiMaggio (1).