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Honored
Woodstock Academy’s (from left to right) Grayson Walley, Logan Talbot and Ethan Davis received their conference awards. Photo courtesy of The Woodstock Academy.
The wins came in bunches for the Woodstock Academy boys’ basketball team this season.
Four in a row near the beginning of the season and four more, including three in a row, at the end.
Unfortunately for the Centaurs, the season came to a close Feb. 27 with a 73-43 loss to undefeated Norwich Free Academy in an ECC Div. I tournament quarterfinal game.
“We battled adversity, injury and illness, and I would like to turn back the clock, but it brought us to where we are,” said Woodstock Academy coach Marty Hart. The Centaurs finished up the season with an 8-14 overall record.
Woodstock Academy, the eighth seed in the ECC tournament, downed No. 9 Bacon Academy, a team that had defeated the Centaurs twice already this season, 74-44, Feb. 26.
Senior Aidan Morin said, “That’s a team that we played twice and we know we could have beaten them twice, just as we did (Wednesday). To actually come through with it, play our best game, move the ball. The 1-3-1 (defense) worked perfectly.”
The Centaurs scored the first 19 points in the game.
Junior guard Logan Talbot (26 points) and Andrew Johnson (17) both had two 3-pointers in the early barrage against Bacon Academy.
“You don’t see shutouts like that, especially in the first quarter. I think that’s one of the biggest things we can take away from this game, how fast we came out and how aggressive our defense was,” Morin said.
Bacon Academy (6-15) scored its first basket with 2:12 left in the first quarter and it spurred seven unanswered points.
But the second quarter was a repeat of the first, much to the Bobcats’ dismay.
Woodstock Academy scored the first 13 points including six points from Morin (16 points) and five from Talbot.
The second run gave the Centaurs a 32-7 lead and they hung on to that 20-plus point lead at the half, going into the locker room with a 39-17 advantage.
Prior to the game, Hart said for Woodstock Academy to be successful, it had to shoot well. The Centaurs made 7-of-13 in the first quarter and 7-of-12 in the second.
“They have really been working on their footwork, and either catch-and-shoot or pass-and-cut. When we took the useless dribble out of the offense with a flat basketball, they started to get after it and started taking good shots within their range with confidence,” Hart said.
In the third, Woodstock Academy was outscored, 17-14, and saw their lead slip to 19, 53-34. But a 16-6 run through the first six minutes of the final quarter guaranteed the Centaurs the win.
It was a nice note for Morin and fellow seniors Efstathios Savvidis, Nick Bedard and Grayson Walley to go out on.
It was a little tougher in Norwich. The Wildcats (21-0) jumped on top early thanks to seven first quarter points each by Nolan Molkenthin (26 points) and Jared Martin (16).
NFA enjoyed the 22-7 lead after the first quarter and raised that to 18 points, 43-25, by the half. Talbot again led the Centaurs with 11 points, Morin added nine.
Talbot, who transferred in from Holy Name High School in Worcester, led Woodstock Academy in scoring this season with a 15.8 point per game average.
He also hit three 3-pointers against NFA, giving him 49 for the season.
Talbot was named an ECC Div. II first team All-Star (the Centaurs competed in Div. II in the regular season. The league combines Div. I and II for tournament play).
Morin was named an honorable mention All-Star while Walley was the team’s Scholar-Athlete award winner and sophomore Ethan Davis was given the team’s sportsmanship award.
“This is good for next year. They saw what they are capable of. There are only four seniors and we didn’t do all the magic that we’ve come across in the last three games,” Morin said. “It’s all the guys stepping up, working hard, and it’s mostly happening in practice.”
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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