Easties Basketball Stormed By Jesuits

The looming snowstorm hit a little early for the East Haven boys' varsity basketball team, as a horrible start let Fairfield Prep storm away with Tuesday night's game 90-70.

“Our start was no good," said East Haven coach Jim Reynolds. “We gave up 24 points in the paint in the first quarter. We can't do that; that's never going to work.”

Baskets by Fairfield's Matt Daley and a 3-pointer by Robbie Bier propelled the Jesuits to a 16-0 start with just over four minutes remaining in the first quarter. East Haven's Nick Proto would find just enough space for a fade-away jumper in the lane, putting the YellowJackets on the scoreboard, 2-16 with 3:49 left in the first quarter.

A powerful display of offense would put the Jesuits ahead 31-9 at the end of the quarter.

“Our goal was to come out of the gate fast,” said Fairfield Prep coach Leo Redgate. “The thing I loved was not the score, but how unselfish the team was playing. It looked like they were always making the extra pass or two.”

East Haven found some relief, managing to outscore the Jesuits in remaining quarters.

“We played very well in the second half,” said East Haven coach Jim Reynolds. “We outscored them the last three quarters, we didn't give up.”

In the second quarter, East Haven freshman guard Nick Lamberti drove into Fairfield Prep's towering defenders picking up contact and finishing for a basket and a foul. Lamberti sunk the free throw with 5:41 left in the half leaving East Haven trailing 12-36. The Jesuits led at halftime 42-17.

YellowJacket senior guard Jimmy Gagliardi was held to only three first-half points. Gagliardi's second half was much more potent, pouring in 30 points in the final two quarters.

“He hadn't really been hot lately,” said Reynolds. “So hopefully, this will get him going. He took smarter shots in the second half than he did in the first half. If he takes sensible shots he can score like that. We just don't want him to get stuck taking bad decision shots.”

“I wanted us to play really tough on Jimmy (Gagliardi),” said Redgate. “I don't think we did a very good job guarding him; he kept finding shots. That's a credit to him and to coach Reynolds. We've got to do a better job of guarding the other teams' best players going forward.”

Behind Gagliardi, the YellowJackets outscored Fairfield Prep 53-48 in the second half, but the first-half spread proved too much to overcome.

Daley led the Jesuits with 19 points and 11 rebounds and Bier added 16 points. In the most well-rounded performance of the evening, Terry Tarpey had 15 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.

Gagliardi led all scorers with 33 points including seven 3-pointers.

The streaking Jesuits are off to the best start in school history at 8-0. Coach Redgate believes the success is a credit to his team's offseason work.

“There were a lot of changes in the offseason,” said Redgate. “I think we really made a commitment to strength and conditioning in the preseason. I did not expect to be 8-0 in our league. It's the best start in school history but these guys aren't done.”

The loss drops the YellowJackets to 3-5. The East Haven team will travel to Career Magnet on Friday. Fairfield Prep will visit Notre Dame West Haven next Thursday.