By Hal Levy, Shore Line Newspapers
Special to MaxPreps.com
The Shoreline Conference has completed its process of selecting scholar-athletes for the fall season.
The league, which has been doing this for nearly 20 years, has some very strict rules. The individual must be at least a sophomore, be a first team all-conference or first team all-state selection, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better on a scale of 4.0 (that's 87.5, or a solid B-plus for every course ever taken) with no failing grades for the marking period in which the selection occurred.
Even with all that, some 40 young men and women made the grade including nine from Valley Regional, seven from Lyme-Old Lyme, and six each from East Hampton and North Branford.
Picks from Valley included Matt Boulem, (senior, football), Kristen Bradley (senior, field hockey), Dieny Charlot (senior, field hockey), Mike Gualazzi (senior, football), Jeff Morris (senior, football), Coury Napier (senior, boys' soccer), Kiersten Pederson (senior, field hockey), Jeannette Penniman (senior, girls' cross country) and Taryn Russell (senior, girls' soccer).
From Lyme-Old Lyme were Sally Davidson (senior, cross country), Raeann Groves (senior, girls' soccer), Chelsea Mangs (senior, girls' volleyball), Kyle Roundtree (senior, girls' soccer), Lisa Russell (senior, girls' cross country), Jenna Skaar (senior, girls' cross country) and Lilly Spratt (senior, girls' cross country).
From North Branford were Courtney Brown (senior, field hockey), Anthony Cottiero (senior, football), Natalie Galgano (senior, field hockey), Kathy Gargiulo (junior, girls' soccer), Christina Riccitelli (junior, field hockey) and Matt Riccitelli (senior, football).
From East Hampton were Chris Abbott (junior, cross country), Vincent Greco (senior, boys' soccer), Nicole Muhlberg (junior, girls' soccer), Brooke Pitcher (sophomore, girls' soccer), Kelsey Taylor (senior, girls' cross country) and Nick Vasquenza (senior, boys' cross country).
The rest of the group included: Coginchaug, Isabel Hirsch (sophomore, girls' cross country); Cromwell, Evan Taddeo (senior, boys' soccer); Haddam-Killingworth, Nichelle Gode (senior, girls' soccer), Lindsey Griswold (sophomore, field hockey), Erin Moriarty (sophomore, volleyball), Jessica Mullaney (senior, girls' soccer) and Dan Wendt (junior, boys's soccer); Hale-Ray, Tom Nelan (senior, boys' soccer) and Amanda Smith (junior, volleyball); Morgan, Kara Fillion (sophomore, volleyball); Old Saybrook, Mike Rubano (sophomore, boys' cross country) and Portland, Corey Tobler (sophomore, boys' soccer). Hyde, Old Saybrook and Westbrook did not have anyone qualify.
Gampel Pavilion to Host L and LL Title Games
The CIAC has found at least a temporary answer to its question of where to conduct the boys' basketball Class LL championship game, which has outgrown Central Connecticut State University.
The Class L and LL title games will both be at UConn's Gampel Pavilion Saturday, March 17 at 6 and 8 p.m. The Class M and S games will be at Central Connecticut at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, meaning it is still possible to see all four if you're willing to drive the best part of an hour.
You can get a little break on the ticket price at Storrs. A $10 admission at the gate will get you into both games. Otherwise, tickets are $6 for students or $8 for adults in advance at competing schools (UConn will not advance-sell). Tickets for individual games are $5 for students or $7 for adults at Central.
Kudos to UConn for steppping up, especially considering the women will probably have an NCAA tournament game the next day in Hartford.
State Players Nominated For McDonald's All-American Game
Some 21 state high school boys' and girls' basketball players were nominated for the McDonald's All-America games.
This marks the 30th season for the boys and the sixth for the girls. The 48 players eventually selected will play a boy-girl doubleheader at Freedom Hall in Louisville Wednesday, March 28 at 5:30 (girls) and 8 p.m (boys).
The state's nominees included, among the boys, Tim Abromaitis, Farmington; Matthew Bryan-Amaning, South Kent; Dele Coker, South Kent; Connor Meehan, Choate-Rosemary Hall; Doran Mitchell, Berlin; Mike Moore, Hillhouse; Mike Papale, Sheehan and Courtney Simmons, Xavier.
The girls' list includes Vicky Audet, East Windsor; Cierra Baker, Windsor; Chelsea Blake, Hamden; Jaci Daigneault, Guilford; Alica Demers, Windsor; Kerrianne Dugan, Waterford; Mandy Gobrecht, Hamden Hall; Madel Gimpes, Manchester; Joelle Nawrocki, Farmington; Megan McFee, East Catholic; Amanda Pierlioni, Plainville; Dominique Stellmacher, New Britain and Ashley Williams, Windsor.
Mohegan Sun Teams of the Week
Plainville, Mercy and Nonnewaug have been the last three high schools selected as the Mohegan Sun teams of the week in girls basketball.
Plainville was picked Feb. 6 after improving to 16-1 with wins over RHAM and Northwest Catholic. The Blue Devils finished the regular season 19-1 and were seeded second in the CIAC Class M state tournament.
Mercy was the pick of the week Feb. 13 after wins over Shelton, Hamden and West Haven left the Tigers with a 16-4 regular-season mark. Mercy went on to the finals of the Southern Connecticut Conference tournament and is the sixth seed in the CIAC Class LL state tourney.
Nonnewaug-Woodbury was the Feb. 20 pick after completing an unbeaten (20-0) regular season with wins over Lewis Mills and Shepaug Valley. Nonnewaug is ranked first in Class L for the state tourney.
Tournament Dedicated to Shuler
The Shoreline Conference girls basketball tournament was dedicated to legendary coach Pete Shuler. The Hall-of-Famer guided the Westbrook and Coginchaug girls and the North Branford boys to over 500 wins and a plethora of state championships.
Shuler was presented a plaque during the tournament semifinals which read, in part "For your many years of service to the players and coaches of the league. Your efforts were noted and appreciated."