East Hampton Wins Third Straight Game

East Hampton took control in the third quarter and went on to defeat North Branford 44-32 in a girls’ basketball game Thursday night at home.

For the Bellringers, it was their third straight victory and fourth in five games. It also was a little bit of revenge. The Thunderbirds won the earlier meeting this season 38-31 in North Branford.

What was the difference Tuesday night?

“Two things,” East Hampton coach Shaun Russell said. “We had a more intense, energetic, focused start than the last time we played them down there. And I thought the defense carried us through some tough stretches with the ball tonight. … Communication was good, I thought the help side was good and frankly we got a lot of good contributions that allowed us to play good defense because we were able to get kids in and out.”

After taking a 21-14 lead into halftime, East Hampton (6-8) broke the game open in the third quarter.

Leah Coughlin scored on a nice 5-footer on a putback. Sarah Denihan hit two free throws for a 27-17 lead. Then the Bellringers turned the game into a track meet. First it was Klaudia Komarnicka beating the North Branford defense down court for a layup. Denihan later raced down for another layup. Then it was Ashley Chasse knocking the ball from a North Branford player, Komarnicka picking it up and passing to Denihan, who took it past midcourt where she hit Chasse with a bounce pass for a layup and a 33-19 lead with 2:53 left in the third.

East Hampton scored 15 points in the quarter, taking a 36-23 advantage into the fourth. The Thunderbirds weren’t finished, though, making a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to within 38-30 with 5:18 to go in the game. Denihan, however, hit two free throws with 4:22 remaining then went the length of the court for another layup to make the score 42-30. The defense did the rest.

Following a 52-21 loss to Old Saybrook, Russell said his team had to keep opponents in the 30s. In the six games since, no team has scored more than 40 and the Bellringers have allowed an average of 35.5 points a game in that span.

“They’ve been doing a real good job of that,” Russell said. “We’ve been playing more balanced defense that has allowed us to rebound the ball better. We’ve been having to defend less second shots, less two- and three-shot possessions, and the way we are capable of rebounding when we are going good, if we can do that, we’ll be in good shape. We’ll be able to possess the ball enough to keep teams lower in their score and be able to stay in the game.”

Looking ahead, the schedule is about to get a little more difficult. Morgan and Cromwell are next. This is clearly a better and more confident group than the one that lost to Old Saybrook, but can they answer the challenge these teams will present? Is there another gear the Bellringers have that can take their play to another level?

“Our best basketball that has been played within these last three weeks is probably as close to as good as we can play,” Russell said. “What we have to do against teams where the score is going to be more difficult to control, but not impossible, is we have to take care of the ball. That has to be the premium. If we can do that consistently well and not have dangerous, hurtful turnovers that result immediately in points for the other team, we’ve been rebounding well enough, we’ve been playing defense well enough and we’re finding a way to share the ball and get it in the net enough that I think we have an opportunity to put some pressure on these teams going down the stretch.”

Getting continued contributions from the bench also will help. Russell has had a lot of praise for that group in recent weeks and has stressed that these Bellringers must play as a team.

“I feel good about what those kids have to offer,” he said. “I feel good about giving them opportunities to offer it. They’ve responded by giving us what we’ve needed.

Tuesday night was no different.

“I thought Leah had a great second half after a shaky, spotty first half,” he said. “Megan Close was great tonight. I got good minutes from Taryn McCabe. I got a great finish from Hailey Picking. She’s been plugged in all over the place, here, there, two minutes, five seconds, eight minutes … whatever I’ve needed she’s done a great job."

Denihan scored 16 points to lead East Hampton. Chasse had 10 and Komarnicka added eight. Deidre DiMaggio scored 12 to lead North Branford (2-13). Justine Johnson chipped in with 11.

East Hampton will next play at Morgan on Saturday night.