By Hal Levy, Shore Line Newspapers
Special to MaxPreps.com
One milestone slipped quietly by, but not the second one for Branford girls basketball coach Ted Kaczynski.
A 50-44 win over East Haven Jan. 4 was his 200th career victory with the Hornets' girls.
"I didn't even know that myself," he said.
With a little family help, he was able to determine that last Friday's 77-63 win over Sacred Heart Academy was the 300th of his 25-year career at East Haven and Branford.
He has gone 201-168 at Branford, was 17-6 in 1988-1989 with the Branford boys, was 50-58 in five years with the East Haven boys and 32-31 in three years with the East Haven girls. Kaczynski remains in the guidance department in the East Haven school system.
"What I am actually proudest about is the fact we made the state tournament in 23 of my 25 years coaching," he said.
With one more win this year, that number will go to 24-for-26, as the Sacred Heart win was the Hornets' seventh of the campaign.
"We played one of our more complete games," said the coach the Friday night win.
Branford (7-4) took a 19-10 lead after one period as Courtney Schissler scored nine of her career-high 34 points in the opening stanza. Brittney Kenney nearly had a triple double with 10 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and she added four steals.
Free Basketball
Coginchaug-Durham and Portland played long into the night last Thursday with the homestanding Highlanders getting a 93-91 win in quadruple overtime as Nick LaMalfa hit a three-pointer from deep in the corner with 1.8 seconds to play.
The Blue Devils had a 58-55 lead near the end of regulation when Portland's Rich Brewer, who finished with 37 points, tied it up. It was 62-62 after one extra session but the Highlanders appeared to take control in the second overtime, leading, 75-71, with less than a second to play. Coginchaug's Matt Biesak (40 points) was fouled on a three-point attempt and made the first two. He deliberately missed the third and the plan paid off when teammate Eric Hewitt tipped in the rebound to force the third extra session.
After that, it was still tied at 81 and the teams went for four. The Blue Devils led, 91-90, but Portland had an in-bounds play from under its own basket. The pass to LaMalfa was fumbled, but he recovered and fired up a fade-away that ended the contest.
Joe Mullen had 23 points for Portland while Coginchaug was led by Biesak, Hewitt (18 points) and James Carmichael (11).
For those who have followed Shoreline Conference basketball for some time, the Coginchaug scoring leaders have some familiar names. Biesak's father and brother, both named John, played for the Blue Devils. So did Carmichael's father, Don and uncles Gary and Rick.
Girls Team of the Week
Enrico Fermi-Enfield was selected as the Mohegan Sun girls basketball team of the week. Fermi, 9-0, defeated Simsbury, 69-44 and Conard-West Hartford, 56-23, to move into the state's top-10 polls.
In the Simsbury win, the Falcons were led by Leehna Ware with 18 points and 13 rebounds, Erin Alaimo with 12 points and Katie White with eight assists.
Danbury Still No. 1
Danbury drew all 12 first-place votes and remained the top team in the Norwich Bulletin wrestling poll. Unbeaten Bacon Academy-Colchester (16-0) is second with Middletown third. Ledyard and New Milford round out the top five. Southington and Daniel Hand-Madison tied for sixth with Bristol Central eighth, Amity-Woodbridge ninth and Jonathan Law-Milford tenth.
Saturday's Dragon Duals in Middletown featured a final with the Blue Dragons beating Windham, 39-31, for the title. At the Art Powers Duals in Berlin, the host Redcoats, currently unranked, knocked off both Hand and Law to win the title.
