Foran High showed no signs of a rust following a week-long layoff when it took the court on Friday night against North Haven at Edna L. Fraser Gymnasium.
Senior tri-captain Jasmine Lord was unguardable early on, pouring in 20 of her game-high 27 points in the first half as the unbeaten Lions thumped the Indians, 61-45, in a Southern Connecticut Conference matchup.
The Lions improved to 6-0, while North Haven dropped to 3-4.
“We came out ready to play,” Foran head coach Bob Asmussen said. “We hadn’t played in a week and we put a lot of emphasis into getting off to a hot start. Jasmine was superb… She got to the rim pretty much every time.”
Lord knocked down the game’s opening basket, a 3-pointer from the left corner, on her way to rattling off the game’s first seven points. Her next two baskets came on powerful drives through the lane, with the Indians having no answer for Lord’s slashing ability.
“She hit a three and then wanted to take a couple others,” Asmussen said. “She’s a good shooter, but she’s really tough to defend when she takes the ball to the basket.”
Mia Tunucci’s put back basket extended Foran’s advantage to 12-2 with 3:52 left in the opening frame. Carly Fresher, who got North Haven’s first points on running one-hander with 4:23 left in the first, countered Tunucci’s basket with a pair of free throws.
The Lions then put the game away with 12-0 deluge that extended into the second quarter. Lord’s 3-pointer provided an exclamation point that pushed the Foran lead to 24-4. From there, North Haven never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
Foran repeatedly broke the Indian’s 3/4-court pressure, led by the deft passing of senior tri-captain Sam Inthapanhya (7 assists). That led to easy baskets in the frontcourt for Tunucci (13 points, 11 in the second half), fellow tri-captain Emma Lucas and Bridget Collins.
“We’re much better in transition,” Asmussen said. “Sam was getting pressured like crazy, but she kept looking ahead and finding the open girl.”
The fast-break ability, combined with a stronger defensive commitment, has keyed Foran’s perfect start.
“They play for each other,” Asmussen said. “That’s a big reason why we’re 6-0. Defensively, we are night-and-day improved from last year. We made that a big point of emphasis. Our best offense comes in transition off of our defense.”
The Lions host Harding High of Bridgeport (1-7) on Monday at 5, before traveling downtown to face Lauralton Hall (1-5) on Wednesday at 7.
North Haven
Fresher 3-2-2-9 Petraffsa 2-1-2-6 Bogan 1-4-5-6 Ciarlegio 1-1-2-3 Antonio 4-2-4-10 Puzone 1-1-2-4 Konopka 0-3-4-3 Stefanik 2-0-0-4 Lucey 0-0-4-0
Totals 11-3-14-25-45
Foran
Heenan 0-1-2-1 Inthapanhya 3-1-2-8 Tunucci 6-1-3-13 Lord 11-3-5-27 Musante 0-2-2-2 Lucas 2-0-0-4 Collins 2-0-4-4 M. Loewenberg 0-0-0-0 Wisniewski 0-0-0-0 K. Loewenberg 0-2-2-2
Totals : 24-10-20-61
North Haven 4-13–13-14-45
Foran High 21-15-10-15-61
3-point goals NH: Fresher, Petraffsa, Puzone Foran Inthapanhya, Lord 2