By Hal Levy, Shore Line Newspapers
Special to MaxPreps.com
Masuk-Monroe guard Steve Zazuri is off to a red hot start.
In the Panthers' opener, Zazuri scored 40 points against Daniel Hand-Madison in a game Masuk won, 67-45. Three nights later, he did even better with 43 against Southington in a 67-46 win.
Zazuri, a 6-foot-2 guard, has signed a letter of intent to play at Sacred Heart. His efforts from the foul line would make Phoenix Suns point man Steve Nash proud, hitting 36 of 41 attempts (87.8 percent) from the charity stripe.
Ansonia Honored as Top Gridiron Program
For the second year in a row, Ansonia High will receive the Joseph W. Kelly Trophy, emblematic of the top high school football team in Connecticut.
The trophy will be awarded by the Walter Camp Football Foundation during its all-America dinner Saturday, Jan. 12 at Yale Commons. The dinner is a highlight of the all-America weekend which also includes a FanFest Jan. 11 at the New Haven Athletic Center (4-8 p.m.). Ansonia is the third school since 1976 to repeat as the Kelly Trophy winner, joining Bloomfield (1998, 1999) and Cheshire (1992 through 1995).
It is Ansonia's fourth trophy overall. The trophy is sponsored by Varsity Gold and is awarded to the school which finishes at the top of the New Haven Register media poll. Ansonia went 13-0 and won the CIAC Class S state title, 35-0 over New London. The Chargers, coached by Tom Brockett, have two straight perfect seasons.
Amity Regional's Mengold Honored by NIAAA
Amity Regional athletic director Paul Mengold is one of 12 individuals from across the country, and the only one from New England, named a Distinguished Service Award winner by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
He was scheduled to be honored at a luncheon in Nashville during the 38th annual National Conference of high school directors of athletics, run by the National Federation of State High Schools Associations and the NIAAA.
The Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to individuals from within the NIAAA membership, as well as those outside the field of athletic administration, in recognition of their length of service, special accomplishments and contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels.
Nominations are submitted by state athletic director associations, screened by the NIAAA Awards Committee, and selected by the NIAAA Board of Directors.
Mengold has devoted more than 30 years to high school athletics at the local, state and national levels. Within his school district, Mengold expanded the athletic program offerings from 35 to 78 teams and implemented a full-time staff athletic trainer position. In 1994, he was a founding member of the Southern Connecticut Conference, and subsequently became secretary in 1995-96 and president in 2004-05.
Weaver High to Host Doc Hurley Classic
The Doc Hurley Classic boys' basketball quadruple-header scheduled a week ago at the Hartford Civic Center was snowed out and will be made up this Saturday, albeit at Weaver High School.
In the first game, at 3 p.m., East Catholic faces New London with New Britain meeting Bulkeley-Hartford next. In the third game, Northwest Catholic-West Hartford plays E.O. Smith-Storrs. In the 8 p.m. finale, Hillhouse-New Haven meets Weaver. That game lost a little luster when Weaver was upset by cross-town rival Hartford Public, but it still pits the state's defending Class LL (Hillhouse) and L (Weaver) champs.