All four Ansonia/Derby Girls Travel Basketball teams played Sunday and although they all fell short of victory, each team showed how far they have come and the future of girls’ basketball in each town is looking brighter by the week.
“Our teams battled today, we are playing versus programs that have been running for a decade, even longer,” Patrick Lynch (coach of 5th grade and co-director) explained. “Coach (Dave) Chevarella (7th/8th grade coach & co-director) and I continue to stress to these girls they are getting better and to just keep playing hard. These girls have come a long way since our first practice.”
The 4th grade team played the most exciting game of the day and eventually lost by 2 points to North Haven. Coaches Heather Lane and Jamie Drezek were led by Morgan Teodosio’s 6 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks. Lucy Lane chipped in with 3 points while Kiley Drezek had 8 rebounds as the 4th graders were playing their first game of the season. They will host Haddam-Killingworth to kick off a quadruple header this Sunday at 12pm at the Derby Veterans Community Center.
Lynch’s 5th grade team continued their steady improvement but fell short to Amity to drop their record to 0 – 2 on the season. For the second straight week, Natasha Rivera was the leading scorer as she poured in 6 points. Morgan Teodosio, playing in her second game of the day, chipped in with 4 points and 2 assists. Gabrielle Gavin had 2 points and 4 rebounds while Mikayla Hernandez made a foul shot and had 4 steals. The 5th grade team will host North Haven at 1:15 pm this Sunday.
The 6th grade team, coached by Craig Drezek, was once again led in scoring by his daughter Sydnie, as she was the leading scorer of the day for all four teams with her 10 points. Daphney Pate had 7 points and 3 rebounds while Jordyn Davis contributed 4 points and 6 rebounds. The game was back and forth throughout but Branford used a late run to put the game away. They will also host North Haven at 2:30pm Sunday.
The combined 7th/8th grade team was once again led by Anna Chevarella as she poured in 8 points and had 2 assists while handling Amity’s full court pressure. Alesica Andrade had 4 points and 2 steals while Shamyra Rivers had 2 points and 7 rebounds.
Although they lost the game, Coach Chevarella said, “The effort is there and from where we started to where we are right now, these girls should be proud. We just have to keep getting better every week, not just this team but all four teams we have in the program.” The 7th/8th grade team will conclude the four games this Sunday by also playing North Haven at 3:45 p.m.
