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Woodland's #33 Justin Pringle extends for a shot underneath as North Haven's #31 Marcus Wearing defends during the first half of a CIAC high school basketball game at North Haven High School in North Haven, Conn., Wednesday, February 11, 2026. (Dave Zajac/Hearst Connecticut Media)
NORTH HAVEN - The first half of Wednesday night's boys' basketball showdown between GametimeCT No. 10 Woodland and North Haven played out like the matchup fans would hope for in a battle of unbeatens.
The teams traded punches throughout the opening 16 minutes, and the Hawks held a slim two-point lead at the halftime break. In the third quarter, Woodland turned up the heat defensively and built a lead that swelled to 14 points. The Hawks went on to defeat the Nighthawks, 77-63, in front of a capacity crowd of nearly 1,200 fans and improved to 19-0 on the season.
Woodland closes the regular season against St. Paul on Friday. North Haven, which is the first team outside of the Top 10, fell to 17-1 with games left against Wallingford foes Lyman Hall on Friday and Sheehan on Feb. 17.
Woodland senior John Napiello led all scorers with 23 points while junior teammate Aiden Pringle added 22 points. Seven Hawks scored, and they all had at least four points. North Haven was led by junior Matthew Fee's 16 points. Fellow junior Rocco Perito scored 11 points and senior Lucas Bosticco added 10.
North Haven fell behind quickly, 7-2, but rallied to take the lead not long after and had its home fans fired up. The Nighthawks led, 20-16, after the first quarter. North Haven led by as many as eight points on three different occasions in the second quarter, the final time at 34-26 on a second-effort bucket by junior Isaac Kashila. Woodland went on a 14-6 run and claimed a 40-38 lead just before the end of the first half on an Aiden Pringle layup.
Senior Ean Pringle started Woodland's second half with a tip-in, then brother Aiden scored the next four points for the biggest Hawk lead to that point, 46-38. When senior reserve guard Allen Quayson converted a four-point play after being fouled on a made 3-pointer in front of the Woodland bench, the visitors led, 54-44, with 3:35 left in the third quarter.
North Haven called timeout, but Ean Pringle scored on a layup and Aiden Pringle made two free throws for a 58-44 advantage with 1:04 left in the third quarter. Tristan Boyd's 3-pointer with time winding down put the Nighthawks behind, 58-47, after three quarters.
Six straight points from Fee pulled North Haven to within 60-53 with 5:48 left in the fourth quarter. Two Perito free throws had the Nighthawks within seven points again, 62-55, with 4:54 to play. That was close as North Haven got as Woodland put the game away from there.
Player of the Game
John Napiello, Woodland: The senior found his way to the basket, and the free throw line, time and time again on the way to a game-high 23 points.
Woodland 77, North Haven 63
WOODLAND 16 24 18 19 – 77
NORTH HAVEN 20 18 9 16 – 63
Woodland (19-0): Markell Brown 4 0 0-0 8, John Napiello 9 0 5-7 23, James Scampolino 0 2 0-0 6, Allen Quayson 0 1 1-1 4, Ean Pringle 2 0 2-2 6, Benjamin Pugliese 0 0 0-0 0, Evan Mastropietro 0 0 0-0 0, Aiden Pringle 9 0 4-4 22, Justin Pringle 3 0 2-2 8. Totals: 27 3 14-16 77.
North Haven (17-1): Lucas Bosticco 1 2 2-2 10, Nathan Eggerling 1 1 0-0 5, Rocco Perito 3 1 2-2 11, Isaac Kashila 2 0 0-0 4, Matthew Fee 2 3 3-4 16, Tristan Boyd 3 1 0-1 9, Omari Clayton 2 0 0-0 4, Marcus Wearing 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 16 8 7-9 63.
3-point field goals: W-Scampolino 2, Quayson 1; N-Bosticco 2, Eggerling 1, Perito 1, Fee 3, Boyd 1.
This article originally published at No. 10 Woodland boys basketball uses big second half to down North Haven in battle of unbeatens.
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