Whalers Martyr Saints, 100-73

The New London High School boys’ basketball team continued their winning streak Monday with a 100-73 triumph over St. Raphael Academy. The win is the ninth win for the Whalers and puts St. Raphael at 8-4.

New London locked up their half of the court during the first half, allowing only a trickle of points through while racking up a steady stream on the scoreboard. Kris Dunn, who tied with Torin Childs-Harris for the highest number of points with 29, scored the first eight points for the Whalers. The first quarter ended with New London ahead 21-5. The Saints managed to find some chinks in the armor, but remained on the wrong side of the 54-22 score at the first half.

In the second half, St. Rafael began to catch up. They scored 27 points to New London’s 25 in the third quarter, and excelled the Whalers in fourth quarter scoring 26 to 19. The hefty buffer put in place early on kept New London in the lead, however, and Nova Crespo, Jr. sank two foul shots to put the Whalers into triple digits. Charles Correra was the top scorer for St. Raphael, racking up 18 points.

Craig Parker, head coach for New London, said the contest was the first home game for the Whalers in a month. He said the team’s strongest point was the intensity they put into tonight’s match, demonstrating a solid defense and strong offense.

“We had a nice turnout of fans, and we came out tonight ready to play basketball,” said Parker.

The boys place Fitch at home at 7 p.m. on Friday, then go up against undefeated Hartford Public at home at 7 p.m. on Jan. 24.

Sports and Medical Sciences Academy 61, New London High School 50

In the girls' varsity game, the Whalers held onto the lead at the half but couldn’t staunch a strong push by the Tigers in the later part of the game.

At the end of the first quarter, New London led 16 to 11. SMSA discovered some gaps in the defense in the second quarter and were able to narrow the lead, briefly taking over with 2:45 left on the clock. New London recovered to post a 26-23 score at the half.

In the third quarter, SMSA came back to tie the game at 30 points with 5:52 remaining. The teams stayed neck and neck, and were tied at 36 with 1:36 remaining. However, the Tigers capped a three pointer and a series of baskets with some successful foul shots, putting them ahead 47-40 at the end of the third quarter. SMSA maintained the comfortable lead until the end of the game, ending up with 61 points to New London’s 50.

The New London girls’ basketball team is now at 2 and 10 for the season. The Whalers’ top shooter was Lexus Childs-Harris, who posted 21 of New London’s points. On the SMSA side, Chelsea Bourne and Toshina Jessamy each had 15 points.