By MICHAEL LETENDRE
Records are meant to be broken.
And that’s exactly what Bristol Eastern basketball standout Hannah Maghini did against New Britain on Monday night, January 23 from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium.
The junior sharpshooter absolutely shredded the Golden Hurricanes zone defense for seven three-pointers – a new school record.
The previous record, held by Breeann Redman – who established the standard with six three-pointers against Middletown back on February 4, 2010 – was bested by Maghini as she kicked in her final 3 of the game midway through the fourth period.
Maghini was on fire during the 80-78 double overtime win over New Britain and after she missed her first six field goals of the game, the junior canned nine of her final 13 attempts – seven of which came from downtown.
She dropped in all seven of her three-pointers over a stretch of only 16 minutes.
Maghini hit one 3 in the second period, two in the third and then went into overdrive in the fourth frame.
She had her hands in the first 16 points the Lancers scored in the fourth stanza and drained four straight threes with her seventh and history making basket giving Eastern a 56-52 edge with just over four minutes to play – Eastern’s biggest edge of the evening.
Against the Golden Hurricanes, Maghini hit 7-of-13 three-pointers while capturing 29 points, eight rebounds and five assists over another outstanding effort.
To date, Maghini has hit 33 three-pointers which is more that the Eastern program compiled over its first 10 seasons combined.
Overall, the team flipped in 12-of-24 three-pointers versus New Britain and shoots the long ball at a more than credible 31-percent clip for the season.
Maghini leads the squad in several statistical categories including points-per-game (15.9), assists (4.1), and three-point percentage (37.5-percent) which starting every contest this season.
She also averages 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals-per-game.
Currently, she’s also on quite a tear from the foul line and after hitting 8-of-15 free throws at Wethersfield, Maghini has hit 25 consecutive free throws since that contest.
She scored 20 points in her first game at New Britain, nabbed a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double versus Newington, and then put in a near triple-double on the board against Weaver in a 24-point, nine-rebound, and six-assist gem in a nine-point win over Weaver.