Ansonia/Derby Collects a Pair of Wins

The continued progress of the Ansonia/Derby Girls Travel Basketball program produced two victories Sunday (Nov. 25) out of four games. 

The 4th grade team evened their record to 1 – 1 with a thrilling overtime victory over Haddam-Killingworth 29 – 28. Also, the 6th grade team enjoyed their first victory as well by defeating North Haven 25 – 15 and improving to 1 – 2 on the season.

It is nice for the girls to enjoy a victory to reward them for all their hard work,” said Heather Lane, coach of the 4th grade team. The 4th grade team was led by a program high scoring outburst by Morgan Teodosio. 

She racked up 17 points for the victors. Lucy Lane scored a career high 8 points while Arlinda Komani and Isabelle Chevarella rounded out the scoring with 2 points apiece.

The 6th grade team used balanced scoring to lead from the opening tip to the final buzzer. 

Sidney Drezek and Samantha Inthapanyha both scored 8 points while Gabby Stadt chipped in with 6 points. 

Daphney Pate (2 points) and Gianna Bacchiocchi (1 point) rounded out the scoring. The 6th grade team played solid man to man defense throughout the game making it difficult for North Haven to score.

Two months of hard work and practice by our team and I believe the girls are seeing that the hard work they are putting in, is resulting in them getting better,” explained Craig Drezek, coach of the 6th grade
team. Whether you win or lose, you still need to put time in to improve every week. I think they are starting to understand that.”

While the 5th grade and 7th/8th grade teams both suffered defeat, the teams are continually improving.

Both teams suffered losses to North Haven but both coaches see the gradual progression in their teams.

Almost my entire roster is new to basketball and sometimes it shows,” Patrick Lynch, coach of the 5th grade team, said. When we started in October, some of the girls didn’t know one rule of the game. Now we are playing games and competing with towns all over Connecticut. These girls are having fun and getting better each week. That is exactly why we started this program.”

The 7th/8th grade team is now 1 – 2 on the season and have played some top competition as their opponents so far this year are a combined 12 – 2 against other teams in the league. 

Playing against good competition is a great learning tool for our girls to understand that girls their age can and are that good at the sport,” said Dave Chevarella, coach of the 7th/8th grade team. I just explain to our girls that these girls have been playing for years together, we are in our 2nd month. I hope they understand that and keep working hard to get better.”

After hosting games the first three weeks of the season, all four teams go on the road this Sunday. 

The 4th grade team travels to Westbrook to play at 1:15pm, while the 5th grade team travels to West Haven to play at 11:45am. The 6th grade team will try for two wins in a row by playing at Guilford at 11:30 a.m.

Lastly, the 7th/8th grade team travels to Branford to play at 4:30 p.m.

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