Three Avon High athletes earn All-State honors

Three Avon High athletes earned All-State honors this past winter — Shelby Little, left, Jack Hall, center and Sarah Grady.

AVON – Three Avon High athletes earned All-State honors in the pandemic-shortened 2021 scholastic season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, practice didn’t begin until January 19 and the season didn’t begin until February.

Basketball player Jack Hall and hockey player Shelby Little earned All-State honors for the second straight season while diver Sarah Grady earned All-State honors for the first time.

Hall was named to the Connecticut High School Coaches Association (CHSCA) All-State team for the second straight year. The senior averaged 19.5 points a game and scored 20 or more points in seven of 12 games. He tied a career-high with six three-point shots in a game against New Britain.

He had a season-high 29 points in a two-point loss to eventual CCC champion Bristol Central in the opening game of the season.

Hall was also named to the GameTimeCT All-State team, one of 12 players to be named to the first team. He is the first Avon player to be named to the GameTimeCT/New Haven Register All-State basketball team since 1988 when Chris Ritger was honored. The only other Avon High player to earn All-State honors from the New Haven Register was Don Friedberg in 1980.

Hall’s career-high performance at Avon was a 38-point game against Rockville in January 2020. Hall will be studying at St. Thomas More in Montville next year.

Avon High senior Jack Hall earned All-State honors for the second straight season.

Little was captain of the Avon co-op hockey team that went 9-3 in the Central Connecticut Conference this season. She had eight goals and seven assists for the Nighthawks (10-4). She was plus 15 on the ice this season for the Hawks, that include players from six other schools (Southington, RHAM, Newington, Wethersfield, Coventry and Lewis Mills).

Little is the first Avon player to earn All-State honors twice from the Connecticut High School Girls Hockey Association.

Grady is just in her second year of diving with the Falcons but has already set new school records in six dive and 11-dive competition. Diving on the boys swimming team this winter, she was undefeated in seven dual meets.

She placed third in the state in the virtual 11-dive competition with a score of 477.45

“She has the spirit and dedication that will take her very far in the sport of diving,” Avon High diving coach Scott Pierson said. “She is extremely coachable and contributes greatly to the positive spirit of the team.”

Boys Basketball
Coach: Kris Pedra
Record: 7-5
All-CCC, Region B: Jack Hall and Will Soucier
All-State (CHSCA): Jack Hall (Division III)
All-State (GameTimeCT): Jack Hall, first team
CCC championships: Lost to Farmington in semifinal of the CCC Pool 2 postseason tournament, 57-40
CIAC state tournament: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CIAC state tournament was cancelled.

Girls Basketball
Coach:  Drew Faucher
Record: 5-9
All-CCC, Region B: Sophie Mango
All-State (CHSCA): none
CCC Tournament: Avon won the CCC Pool 4 post-season tournament with a 33-29 win over Bristol Central
CIAC state tournament: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CIAC state tournament was cancelled.

Boys Ice Hockey
Co-Coaches: Michael Barone and Scott Percival
Record: 7-6
All-CCC North: Scott Groleau, MacAllister Stambaugh, Jacob Markowitz
All-State (CHSCA), Division II: Jack Calcavecchia
CCC North Tournament: Lost to Simsbury, 3-2 in CCC North semifinal
CIAC state tournament: Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the state tournament was cancelled.
NOTE: Avon is part of a co-op team that includes Farmington (host), Windsor and Lewis Mills. They are called the Farmington Valley Generals.

Girls Ice Hockey
Coach: Michael Carrera
Record: 10-4
All-CCC: Shelby Little (Avon), Sophia Nower (Wethersfield), Nicole Partridge (Wethersfield)
All-State (CHSGHA): Shelby Little (Avon)
CCC Tournament: 1-1. Lost to Suffield co-op team in semifinals, 1-0; Beat East Catholic co-op, 2-1 to finish third
CT High School Girls Hockey Association state tournament: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state tournament was cancelled.
NOTE: Avon is the host of the co-op team with Southington, RHAM, Newington, Wethersfield, Coventry and Lewis Mills. The team’s nickname is the Nighthawks. Carrera was the CCC coach of the year. … Little was named to GameTimeCT’s All-State second team.

Boys Indoor Track and Field
Coach: Courtney Fusco
Record: No dual meet record
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CCC championship meet and CIAC state championship meets were cancelled. Avon did compete in two outdoor meets with Farmington and Southington but no team scores were kept.

Girls Indoor Track and Field
Coach: Courtney Fusco
Record: No dual meet record
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CCC championship meet and CIAC state championship meets were cancelled. Avon did compete in two outdoor meets with Farmington and Southington but no team scores were kept.

Boys Swimming
Coach: Colin Truczinskas
Record: 2-5
All-CCC Region D: Sarah Grady (diving)
All-State (CHSCA): Sarah Grady (diving)
CIAC state tournament: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state championship meets were cancelled

Wrestling
Coach: John McLaughlin
Record: 0-0
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no season