H.S. roundup: New London boys surprise East Lyme 50-40
East Lyme — Freshman Tayeshawn Pemberton-Cunningham scored 19 points as New London beat East Lyme 50-40 in an Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I boys' basketball game on Saturday night.
The Vikings (13-4, 4-1) missed out on a chance to wrap up the divison. Dev Ostrowski, East Lyme's all-stater, injured his foot early in the game and did not return. He scored only two points. East Lyme can still wrap up the title with a win over Ledyard on Feb. 18.
Derek Raymond added 10 points for the Whalers (7-9, 2-3) whle TJ Horner led East Lyme with 10.
In other games:
• JJ Brennan scored 29 points as No. 6 Waterford scored an impressive 75-54 road victory over reigning Division III state champion Immaculate. Brennan, who made three 3-pointers, also had nine rebounds, five steals and four assists for the Lancers (14-1), who were always in control but broke the game open in the fourth quarter by outscoring the Mustangs (11-3) 20-9. Liam Spellman added a double-double for Waterford with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Kenny Hill finished with eight points and seven assists.
• Mason Jackson scored a game-high 21 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, as Norwich Free Academy pulled away late for a 67-58 win over Ledyard in an ECC Division I game. Jackson went 7-for-8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter for NFA (10-6, 2-2), which rallied from a five-point halftime deficit. Xavier Marquez added 15 points and Nik Hay 12 (three 3-pointers) for the Wildcats while Seamus McGrath and Ken Turner each had double-doubles for the Colonels (6-8, 1-3), McGrath finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Turner adding 15 points and 11 rebounds.
• Zach Southard scored a game-high 24 points as Montville defeated Putnam 62-50 in an ECC Division IV game. Ryan Champagne added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Indians (6-9, 2-2) while Ethan McKinney finished with 10 points and six assists.
• JoJo Beltran scored a game-high 25 points as St. Bernard beat Plainfield 59-40 in an ECC Division III game. Frank Pacheco scored 11 for the Saints (12-3, 5-0), who led 36-15 at halftime.
Girls' basketball
• Putnam handed Montville its first ECC Division IV loss, 37-34, in a battle for first place. The Clippers (14-3, 6-1) avenged a 40-21 loss to the Indians back on Jan. 4. Maya Hillman had 13 points and 22 rebounds to lead Montville (10-7, 5-1) while Lauren Velazquez added 10 points.
• Woodstock Academy picked up its first ECC Division I victory of the season, beating East Lyme 51-46. Megan Bauman led East Lyme (11-7, 2-3) with 18 points.
Wrestling
• Waterford went 1-2 at its own Lancer Duals, defeating Bunnell 60-12 but losing to Hand 40-39 and No. 3 Southington 52-28. Logan Smith (113, 120), Eric Zane (138) and AJ Sachatello (152) each went 3-0 for the Lancers (17-6). Sachatello pinned all three of his opponents while Smith and Zane had two pins apiece.
• Ledyard completed its regular season with a 21-7 overall record by going 2-1 in the Lancer Duals. The Colonels defeated Windham 44-15 and Hand 45-28, but lost to No. 3 Southington 46-27. Connor Doran, Tyler Miller, Cole Dirico, Brayden Grim and Davin McIver all went 3-0 for Ledyard.
• Eric Plainbull captured individual honors at 170 pounds to help NFA place fourth at the Jonathan Law Invitational. Theran Vanase (152) added a second and Ruben Britos (285) a third for the Wildcats, who also picked up fourths from Connor DeVega (120), Brandon Nieto (138), Christian Gervais (170) and Mason McMahon (182).
• Montville seniors Ian Anderson (152) and Zak Navarrette (160) each reached the 100-win mark going 5-0 as the Indians went 5-0 at the East Lyme Duals. Montville (22-2) beat East Hartford 46-32, Cheshire 73-3, Conard 59-8 and both East Lyme and St. Bernard/Norwich Tech 73-6. Also going 5-0 for the Indians were Cy Champagne (138), Sawyer Kury (132), Ioana Cobena (170) and heavyweight Darrick Deaveau.
Indoor track
• Trevor Wells and Kyle Myers had second-place finishes for Old Lyme at the Shoreline Conference Championship meet at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven. Wells was second in the 1,000-meter run (2:50.72) and Myers was second in the high jump (5 feet, 8 inches). Aidan Powers added a third in the 600 (1:26.99) for the Wildcats while Powers, Wells, Casey Blue and Rory Cavicke teamed up to finish third in the 4x400 relay (3:45.07). Old Lyme finished seventh in the team standings with 36 points (Haddam-Killingworth won with 121) while the Old Lyme girls had nine points, well off the pace of 157.5 set by Old Saybrook.
Hockey
• The Eastern Connecticut Eagles remained unbeaten in Nutmeg Conference play with a 5-3 victory over Housatonic/NW Regional/Wamogo/Torrington on Friday night. The top line of Evan Tower, Kyle Jacobson and Ryan Huta led the way for the Eagles (9-4-1) overall. Tower had three goals and one assist, Jacobson two goals and one assist and Huta two assists. Kyle Marino added an assist and goalie Rylin Fowler made 26 saves.