Coginchaug Hoops: Lose Some, Win Some

The way the schedule has worked this season, very often those of us who follow both the boys and the girls of Coginchaug end up at the same place, against the same school, two nights in a row.  This past week, it was the girls, and then the boys losing at home to the Morgan Huskies, on Monday and Tuesday.  Then the girls, and then the boys, travelled to the Highlanders of Portland for wins on Thursday and Friday.

Girls Trounced by Hot Shooting Huskies

On Monday, January 14^th, the Morgan girls missed a total of four shots in the entire first half, taking a 20-9 lead after one period, and 43-18 at the half, ultimately rolling to a 61-37 win over the Lady Devils.  Coginchaug shot the ball better than they have in recent games, at 31%, but it was nowhere near enough to overcome the overall 60% shooting (83% in the first half) by the Huskies, in the lop-sided loss. 

Normally, the Devils can extend their defense to an aggressive ¾ court trap, but the Huskies’ ball handling was too good for this to be effective, depriving Coginchaug of their normal allotment of steals and easy baskets, giving an enormous advantage to the visiting Huskies. 

Audrey Arcari was the only double digit scorer for Coginchaug with ten, adding three rebounds and three assists.  Kim Romanoff added nine points and four rebounds, and led the team in steals with two.  Morgan Kuehnle was the leading rebounder with six, also garnering six points.

Slow Start Dooms Boys with Morgan 

On Tuesday, January 14^th, the boys hosted Morgan, but could manage only eight points in the first period, to Morgan’s 21, and despite a furious 12-0 run mid-way through the final period that brought Coginchaug with eight points at 52-44, ultimately succumbed to Morgan in a 61-50 loss.  

Coach Todd Salva always says that winning games comes down to three main things – free throws, rebounds and turnovers.  The Devils did OK in only one of those areas – turnovers, with only eight give-aways to Morgan’s twelve, but they got beat on the boards by 30 to 23, and at the charity stripe by 12, 18-6, with the free throw difference being more than the ultimate losing margin. 

Mike Bongiorno led the Devils with 16 points, while both Jackson Doyle and Devin Rodrigue added 13.  Rodrigue was also the Devils leading rebounder with eight, while Alex Kotrady added five boards. 

Girls Overcome Slow Start at Portland

On Thursday the 17^th, the girls visited the Portland Highlanders, and despite trailing 20-16 at the half, really ramped up the defense in the second half for a 47-32 victory.  

I’m not sure what Coach Rett Mancinelli said to his charges at half-time, but they came out rededicated to played tenacious defense to key the win.  In the crucial third period comeback, Kim Romanoff had ten points, four steals and two assists, while Audrey Arcari had four steals and two points, as they took the period by a 20-5 mark.  They coasted home with an 11-8 margin in the fourth period for the eventual 47-32 victory.

Kim Romanoff led Coginchaug with 16 points, also leading the team in steals with seven and assists, also with seven.  Morgan Kuehnle dropped in twelve points, adding five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.  Jessica Solomon was the leading rebounder with eight, adding six points and three steals.  Olivia Corazzini had six points and three rebounds, while Mikayla Wyskiel grabbed six rebounds.

The girls are 9-4 overall, 8-3 in the Shoreline conference.  They play a home game at 2 PM on Monday the 21^st, and a game at North Branford on Monday the 28^th at 5:30 PM.

Fast Start Propels Boys at Portland

The boys visited Portland on Friday the 18^th.  On the strength of some hot first period shooting by Jackson Doyle, who scored ten in the period, they jumped out to a 19-9 lead.  At the end of the first half, Jack Granger took the inbounds after a Highlander bucket with only seconds remaining, and launched a three-quarters court shot from about the Portland three point line, and banked it off the backboard for a long-range three pointer, and a commanding 36-19 lead at the half.

Portland did manage to outscore the Devils in the third period, 16-14, but Coginchaug more than made up for that by surrendering only a single two point basket in the final period, pulling away for the 65-37 victory. 

Sophomore Devin Rodrigue led the Devils in scoring with 15, and steals with five, and tied Alex Kotrady for rebounds with seven.  Kotrady also added six points and three steals.  Jackson Doyle scored 13 points, adding four rebounds.  Mike Bongiorno rounded out the double digit scoring with eleven, adding six rebounds and four assists.  Jack Granger was the leading assist man with five, adding three each of points, rebounds and steals.  Jeff Grumm scored six, adding four boards.  Conor Doyle scored five, and Josh Smith, Mike Decker and Taylor Sapia each scored two.

The boys are 4-6, all in the Shoreline conference.  On Tuesday the 22^nd, they host East Hampton at 5:30 PM, and on Thursday the 24^th, host Windsor Locks at 5:00 PM.