Sports

Class of 2025 Collegiate Athletes Recognized at Ceremony

On Wednesday, May 28, ten North Haven High School senior student-athletes were recognized for committing to continue their athletics career at the collegiate level at North Haven High School's annual Collegiate Athletics Recognition Ceremony. Guest speaker, Bill Mecca, Senior Associate Director of Athletics at Quinnipiac University, shared his words of wisdom to the graduating seniors. The following student-athletes received a certificate of achievement from the athletic department:

(from left) John Slais (Baseball, Eastern Connecticut State University), Jace Matthew (Track & Field/Pole Vault, Wentworth Institute of Technology), Jack Marro (Lacrosse, Wheaton College), Andrew Manzo (Baseball, Mitchell College), Kyle Januszewski (Swimming, University of Saint Joseph), Alyssa Ferriouolo (Softball, Western New England University), Safia El Mammann (Gymnastics, Arizona State University), Chris Cretella (Track & Field), Olivia Coish (Soccer, Wentworth Institute of Technology), Alexandra Anquillare (Softball, Wheaton College)

Congratulations to all of the athletes on their achievements!

Boy's Lacrosse Scores with a Toss

Andrew Porto plays defense

Noah Holt scoops up the ball

Alex Porto takes a shot on net

Girl's Tennis Serves up a Winning Season

Coach Justin (left) and Coach Bob (right) with seniors Emily Cerasoli, Sophia Padro, and Anna Hansard celebrate a solid season.

The team gathers on the court for their senior night ceremony

(Left to right): Danielle Dixon, Sophiea Runlett, Amelia Shanley, Mia Molyneaux

Rugby Grabs Second Place at Championships

The team gets ready to faceoff

Team captains Chelsea Chin-Mook and Zayna Saidi meet the opposing captains at midfield

Angela Lin makes the tackle as her teammates Tara Santanello and Chelsea Chin-Mook support her.

Boy's Reach 9th and Girl's 10th in CIAC Class MM Track Championships

Stella Shaw runs in a meet against Guilford

Aaron Brown gets ready to long jump

Kyriakoula Diakogeorgiou competes in the hurdles

Allen Ramirez catapults over the high jump

Boys Tennis Serves up Some Quality Strokes

Priyam Upadhyay prepares his forehand

Sam Giering gets in position

Jesse Spearman warms up for his doubles match

Baseball Team Runs up Some Great Scores to Reach Playoffs

Marcus Wearing celebrates after a base hit

John Slais at bat

Brandon Stevens looks to catch a line drive

Softball Scores Big and Slides into Playoffs

Ava Shamett awaits a pitch and looks to get a hit

Alyssa DiGiovanna gets ready to field a ground ball

Brianna Palmese throws a pitch

Girl's Lacrosse Celebrates Best Season in Nine Years

Peyton Harkins looks to score on goal

Camila Bianchi runs up the field

Kendall Montabana looks to get away from a Sheehan defender

North Haven Golf Senior Night Bids Fond Farewell

Bryce Montabana

Montabana prepares to hit one close

Will Sagnella (Captain)

Sagnella reads his putt

Alessio Fraschilla

Fraschilla gets ready to hit a drive

Lebron James Reaches 50,000 Point Milestone

By Emerson Rooney

There has been much talk in the sports world today about the NBA (National Basketball Association). Specifically, Los Angeles Laker’s number 23, Lebron James, has been popular on television and among sport fanatics’ conversations. This 6’9’’ basketball legend began his career at the ripe age of 9 years old, and then began playing in the NBA in 2003. This March, Tuesday the 24th, Lebron hit one of his biggest milestones against the New Orleans Pelicans at Crypto.com Arena; He scored his 50,000 points after swishing a satisfying three-pointer during the first quarter. This was the NBA’s first player to ever reach this impressive amount of points in one career.

All of Lebron’s great successes first sprouted from his early childhood. Born in Akron, Ohio, Lebron was raised by Gloria, his single mother. Although his coming of age stage in life brought him significant struggles, such as poverty, he was able to find an escape through playing basketball. Lebron’s football coach, Frank Walker, played an important role in his life, being both a role model and a parent figure. Introducing basketball to Lebron, he quickly became interested and grew passion to play more. In his fifth grade, he joined organizational basketball; later, he played in Amateur Athletic Union for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars.

In high school, he played for St. Vincent-St. Mary, where he continued his basketball career. Demonstrating his true skill for the game, Lebron went straight from high school to the NBA. Although he did not attend college, Lebron claimed that he would have attended Ohio State. In the NBA, Lebron has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, and the Los Angeles Lakers, where he still plays for now.

Lebron continued to thrive once he was drafted into the NBA. Some of his many achievements include being the number one all time point scorers in the entire league and winning four NBA championships.

This year, hitting his 50,000 point was a big achievement for Lebron. After this remarkable game, Lebron stated, “It’s a lot of points, I’m super blessed to be able to put that many points up in the best league in the world and with the best players in the world throughout my career. So, it’s pretty special.” Lebron’s words show not only his strong love for the game, but also the appreciation towards the league in general.

Viewers, along with Lebron, hope to continue to watch Lebron play his 23rd season in the NBA next year.

March Madness 2025 Provokes Discussion

By Will Sagnella

While many people believe that this year's March Madness tournament was not as engaging as it has been in the past couple of years, it was still packed full of close games and upsets.

There were a few upsets in the first round, with 12-seed McNeese taking down the 5-seeded Clemson. McNeese was one of the bigger stories of the tournament, with their team manager Amir “Aura” Khan making a name for himself. Khan would walk the team out of the tunnel carrying a speaker to get them ready for the upcoming games. While McNeese’s upset was a big story, Khan may have been a bigger one. Khan became the first student-manager to sign an NIL (Name, Imagine, Likeness) deal, and reports say that he is expected to transfer to North Carolina State University for his graduate year. Other upsets included the 11-seed Drake taking down the 6-seed Missouri, and the 12-seed Colorado State beating the 5-seed Memphis.

In the second round, all the 1-seeds moved one, but there were a few 2 and 3 seeds to go down. Most notably was the 2-seed St. John’s, upset by the 10-seed Arkansas. Arkansas dominated the whole game, and even a late push by St. John’s wasn’t enough. Arkansas won, with the final score being 75-66. Two 3-seeds, Iowa State and Wisconsin also went down in the second round. 6-seed Ole Miss beat Iowa State by a score of 91-78, and 6-seed BYU took down Wisconsin 91-89.

The higher ranked seeds continued their domination in the sweet sixteen, with all the 1 seeds advancing to the Elite Eight. There was not one upset in the Sweet Sixteen.

Going into the Elite Eight the two teams to beat were Florida and Duke. Duke had dominated every game they played in so far, with their smallest margin of victory being 7 points. Duke was led by Cooper Flagg, a 17 year old freshman that had taken college basketball by storm over the past season. Florida was an all around solid team. They had been in many close games throughout the tournament so far, but had prevailed in all them, showing their toughness and will to win.

The Elite Eight consisted of a few close games, the 1-seed Auburn only beat the 2-seed Michigan State by 6, and the 1-seed Florida only beat the 3-seed Texas Tech by 5. When it was all said and done, all the 1-seeds were headed to the Final Four. The fact that there were no Cinderella stories disappointed fans, but the games still promised to be entertaining.

The first game was between Florida and Auburn. Auburn held a small lead all throughout the first half. However, the tides changed after halftime, and the Gators came out hot. They took a lead and never looked back. One of Florida’s top players, Walter Clayton Jr., had a tremendous second half impact after a quiet first half. With Florida moving on to the championship, one game remained to decide their competitor.

Duke was favored in the last of two Final Four matchups. Like the Blue Devils always do, they took a commanding lead during the first half, but they saw that lead dwindle to 3 with 32 seconds left. Houston then stole an inbound pass from Duke and tried to shoot a three. They missed, but got the rebound and threw down a dunk to cut the deficit to 1 with 25 seconds left. With 19 seconds left Duke was fouled and went to the free throw line. The free throw was missed and Houston grabbed the rebound then got fouled. With 19 seconds left, Houston had two free throws to take the lead. Both free throws were made and Houston went up 68-67. With one final chance, Cooper Flag missed a mid range jumper. Two free throws later, Houston won 70-67.

The National Championship was also suspenseful. It was close for the whole game, with Houston consistently leading by single digits. With less than 2 minutes left, Florida started to take command. They took a 1 point lead after two free throws with around 30 seconds left. Houston got the ball and took it up court, only to turn it over near the basket. With 25 seconds left, they had no choice but to foul Florida. Florida knocked down 1 out of 2 free throws to go up by 2, 65-63. Houston wasn’t able to get a shot off, and Florida was crowned National Champions.

Even though this year's March Madness did not have the Cinderella stories we hoped for, it was still intense and competitive until the very end.

How Will the 2025 MLB Season Unfold?

With the commencement of The 2025 Major League Baseball Season, the spirit of the fans awaiting in anticipation is rekindled.

By Matt Campbell

The defending champions, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs commenced the season with an international opener on the 18-19 of Mar in Tokyo. The games were held to commemorate 25 years of MLB’s regular season games being held in Japan. Multi-faceted celebrations incorporated the advancement of international engagement in the sport’s culture.

All 30 teams debuted on the March 27 Opening Day with the exception of the Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays, whose delayed game was attributed to upgrades on Tampa’s temporary domicile, George M. Steinbrenner Field.

As the baseball season kicks off, there are plenty of storylines that have caught the eye of fans. Aaron Judge from the New York Yankees is having an incredible start, hitting an impressive .427 with 10 home runs, which has led to comparisons with some of the greatest performances in MLB history. On the flip side, some big-name free agents haven't quite lived up to the hype. Willy Adames, who signed a seven-year deal with the San Francisco Giants, has struggled both at the plate and in the field. Veteran pitcher Charlie Morton has also had a tough time with the Baltimore Orioles, sporting an 0-5 record and a 10.89 ERA before being shifted to the bullpen.

Injuries are also shaking things up early in the season. The Los Angeles Dodgers, despite having a strong lineup, are facing some serious challenges with key pitchers Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow both on the injured list. Plus, Shohei Ohtani is expected to be out for several months, which raises questions about the team's ability to keep their edge in the National League West.

Looking ahead, the 2025 season is shaping up to be exciting. The 95th All-Star Game is set for July 15 at Truist Park in Atlanta, home of the Braves. Additionally, “Rivalry Weekend” from May 16–18 will showcase 11 interleague matchups, featuring classic rivalries like Mets vs. Yankees and Angels vs. Dodgers.

As the season progresses, fans can anticipate a mix of rising stars, seasoned veterans, and the thrilling unpredictability that makes baseball such a cherished pastime.

How Important is Mental Strength in Sports?

By Will Sagnella

Often overlooked in the world of sports is mental strength. Many times sports like football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and many more, are measured by physical components. How strong you are, how fast you are, how hard you can hit someone, how hard you throw a ball. All these things are important and contribute to their respective games, but equally as important, if not more important, is an athlete's mental strength.

Mental strength has many components. How well an athlete can regulate their emotions and stay focused, how well they can push through adversity and maintain resilience, and how well they can forget the negative and focus on the positive.

Mental strength is important because it can be the defining factor between success and failure. Many times in the middle of a game you're putting in maximum effort and not getting results. You’ve pushed yourself to the physical max. You can’t suddenly get stronger or throw the ball a lot faster. This is where mental strength comes in and differentiates the great athletes from the normal ones. In times of adversity where you put in maximum effort but don’t seem to be getting the results, the great athletes show their mental strength by staying in the game mentally. They know they can’t get physically better at the moment, but they continue to push through, they stay focused, and maintain resilience. These are the athletes that succeed and become great.

Of course, mental strength isn’t something everyone has, all athletes have to continuously work on their minds and train themselves to be mentally strong. There are many ways to work on your mental strength. One of them is mindfulness. You can practice mindfulness through meditation, yoga, or slow breathing. Mindfulness trains our minds to respond instead of react. Responding allows us to think and make a decision before acting. Usually, a reaction is acting on however we feel without thinking much about it. Many times, reactions can be rash and end up hurting you. Another way to work on your mental strength is to work with a professional. Obviously, this method is not available to everyone due to the cost of a professional, but it is also a very good way to improve your mental strength. These professionals can teach you ways to direct the negative thoughts out of your mind and focus solely on the positives. They help you learn to navigate setbacks and keep you motivated.

Now obviously, a professional isn’t available to everyone, so here are some other ways to improve your mental game. You can practice self-compassion. This means that when we fail, instead of beating yourself up and getting frustrated, you look at the situation and learn from it. Beating yourself up will dig you into a deep hole that is hard to get out of and takes away your confidence. Lastly, and this one is very simple, you can get out of your comfort zone. If you put yourself in difficult and challenging situations, you will eventually learn from them. Then, eventually, when you do succeed in these challenging situations, you’ll have even more confidence in yourself.

Other than athletics, a strong mental frame of mind allows you to cope better with stress and anxiety. The benefits of mental strength are endless and mental strength is, in many cases, the defining factor in an athlete.

Paige Bueckers UConn Career Comes to an Astounding Finish

By Emerson Rooney

Over the past years, Paige Bueckers has grown in popularity all over the world, most specifically, in Connecticut. Being one of Uconn’s (University of Connecticut) best and most essential players, Paige plays a key factor in the both offense and defense ends of the basketball court. This 6’0’’ incredible college player has achieved many impressive accomplishments during her career at Uconn.

Paige’s basketball success began long before her time at Uconn. Growing up in Edina, Minnesota, she was raised by Amy Dettbarn and Bob Bueckers. She was the oldest of four children; her two brothers are Ryan and Drew, and her sister is Lauren. Paige’s basketball career began at the age of 5. Along with an early natural talent of playing basketball, Paige also had interest in playing Little League Baseball, football, and soccer. Although Paige did succeed in the many of the other sports she participated in, she continued to favor basketball.

As Paige continued to show her love, determination, and passion for playing basketball, she played in all types of leagues on different teams. Along with participating in AAU, Paige first began gaining popularity because of her talent during her time at playing on the varsity basketball team at Hopkins High School in Minnesota. Demonstrating her talent for the game, Paige was ranked the number one recruit in her class by ESPN, and she was also able to receive national high school player of the year honors. During her time at Hopkins, Paige averaged 21 points per game, and ended her career with a total of 2,877 points. At the ripe age of 14, she received scholarships from many colleges. After many offers and opportunities at other popular basketball schools, Paige decided to go to Uconn and join Geno Auriemma on April 1, 2019.

At Uconn, Paige quickly became the program’s most popular and talked-about recruit. Many people were excited to watch this young player strive playing the game that she loves most. She was one of the fastest players to reach the 2,000 career point mark. Paige was also the All-Big East player of the year, led Uconn to the Final Four as a freshman, and was on Uconn’s All Time Scorers List.

On Paige’s senior day, she was inducted into Uconn’s “Huskies of Honor,” and her jersey number 5 was raised to be honored too.

NFL Off-Season Proves to be Unpredictable Once Again

By Matt Campbell

The 2025 NFL off-season is kicking off with a bang, featuring jaw-dropping trades, daring free-agent signings, and a draft packed with surprises. Just a few months after the Super Bowl, teams around the league are making bold moves to reshape their rosters, all in pursuit of a shot at glory in the upcoming season.

One of the most talked-about trades was when the Seattle Seahawks sent quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a third-round pick. The Raiders are banking on Smith’s leadership to bring some stability to their offense. But Seattle wasn’t finished—they also dealt star wide receiver DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a second- and seventh-round pick, signaling a major rebuild. Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders made waves by bringing in wide receiver Deebo Samuel from the 49ers and left tackle Laremy Tunsil from the Texans.

Free agency has been just as wild. Russell Wilson is now a New York Giant, Sam Darnold has found a home in Seattle, and Justin Fields is heading to the Jets. The wide receiver market has also exploded: Davante Adams is off to the Rams, Stefon Diggs has joined the Patriots, DeAndre Hopkins is now a Raven, and Cooper Kupp is making his way to the Seahawks. On the defensive front, the Bills snagged pass rusher Joey Bosa, while the Buccaneers added Haason Reddick to strengthen their defense.

Then came the 2025 NFL Draft, held at the iconic Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The Tennessee Titans made headlines by selecting quarterback Cam Ward from the Miami Hurricanes with the first overall pick. The Bears focused on fortifying their line, picking Shemar Turner and Ozzy Trapilo to protect rookie QB Caleb Williams. One of the biggest shocks was when Shedeur Sanders, who many expected to go in the first round, slipped to the fifth round and was picked up by the Cleveland Browns—drawing comparisons to Tom Brady’s legendary underdog journey.

With rosters shifting dramatically and new talent flooding into the league, the 2025 season is already shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable and thrilling in recent memory.