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Sorrentino
shines at
Class L Meet
Woodstock Academy’s Bella Sorrentino had a pretty good Friday night, finishing second in the Class L state championship indoor track meet in the shotput with a heave of 34-feet, 10-inches.
The effort left her just two inches shy of qualifying for the Nationals in the event.
Just moments after that, Sorrentino went over to the 55-meter hurdles and turned in a sixth-place performance in 9.1 seconds, narrowly missing the school record in the event.
The senior finished with plenty of bling to bring home as she, Talia Tremblay, Isabella Selmecki and Juliet Allard also earned a sixth-place medal in the 4x200m relay, finishing in a team-best 1 minute, 55.13 seconds.
“Bella was tremendous (Friday),” said coach Josh Welch said. “Throws, sprints and hurdles, she showed she is among the top few in the State in all of them. She continues to show that she is an incredibly bright, coachable and talented athlete.”
Centaurs’ senior Magdalena Myslenski also brought home a second-place medal as she cleared 9-feet in the pole vault, a personal best.
Allard also brought home a medal from the 300m where she finished in a personal best 43.88 seconds to claim 6th-place.
Boys’ Indoor Track: Three members of the Woodstock boys’ indoor track team brought home personal bests and medals from the Class M indoor track championship Saturday. Sophomore Christian Menounos came within a half-second of breaking the Woodstock Academy indoor record as he ran the 1000m in 2 minutes, 38.3 seconds and finished fourth. Senior Jared Eaton had a personal best throw of 47-feet, 6-inches to finish fifth in the shotput and sophomore Colton Sallum placed sixth in the 1600m, taking nearly 10 seconds off his previous best performance with a 4:36 finish.
Girls’ Basketball: It was what every coach wants to see in a Senior Day game. On a day when emotions can, sometimes, cause havoc with players, the Woodstock girls’ basketball team took care of business. “It’s always tough. There is always a lot of emotion so we kind of had to move past that, focus on the game and have fun,” said senior Lennon Favreau. After honoring Favreau and fellow senior Leila MacKinnon prior to the game versus Montville on Thursday, that’s exactly what the Woodstock girls’ basketball team did. They rained down five 3-pointers on Montville in the first quarter, broke out to a 19-4 lead after the first eight minutes, and had little to worry about the rest of the way as the Centaurs posted the 60-24 win.
The Centaurs, after a loss to Fitch the day after the Senior Day contest, finished the week with a 12-7 overall record with one regular season game left to play.
The long-distance sharpshooting fueled the Centaurs early against Montville.
Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain sank two and Sophia Sarkis, who hit a team-high three 3-pointers, hit from beyond the arc in the first four minutes to help Woodstock break out to an 11-0 lead.
MacKinnon and Sarkis added treys in the last four minutes as Woodstock led by double digits going into the second quarter.
The Centaurs had a little drought from long-range in the second quarter but it was only a temporary reprieve for Montville.
Woodstock drained three more in the third and another in the fourth, nine in total, to make for a very nice finish to the Senior Day game.
Eva Monahan didn’t hit a 3-pointer but was dominant on the inside and finished with a team-high 13 points while guard Kaylee Saucier added 12.
The week started on a good note for the Centaurs as well with a win over East Catholic, 55-28.
After trailing by double digits since the second quarter, East Catholic looked like it was going to make a run late in the third quarter.
The Eagles had managed to knock down the deficit to nine points heading into the final quarter.
But Woodstock ’s two freshmen guards were not about to let the Eagles make any more in-roads as D’Alleva-Bochain and Saucier put down some big fourth quarter baskets to help lead the Centaurs to a 55-28 win.
Saucier struck first as she buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key just 59 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Just 23 seconds later, an East Catholic miss resulted in a fast break bucket for Saucier for the final of her 14 points in the game.
Then it was D’Alleva-Bochain’s turn. She hit nine of her game-high 18 points in a 2:16 span of the fourth quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers, to end all hopes for East Catholic.
The defense played a large part of that as it helped force seven turnovers by the Eagles in the first 5 ½ minutes.
“We definitely need offense so to get out, 10-0, and let our defense take hold is something we look forward to. It doesn’t always go that way but it’s a benefit as to what we’re trying to do,” said coach Will Fleeton.
The Centaurs held a 17-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and increased that to 12 by the half, 26-14.
Reegan Reynolds contributed nine points. Monahan led the way with eight rebounds and MacKinnon added five boards, four of them off the offensive glass, and a pair of assists.
There was only one blemish during the week as the Centaurs lost their final regular season home game 42-39 overtime score to Fitch.
The Centaurs were up by 10 in the third quarter but the Falcons put together a comeback and tied the game at 34 with 3:44 left in regulation.
Sarkis, who had an impressive double-double game with 14 points and 11 rebounds, hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to put the Centaurs back on top 28 seconds later.
Fitch closed back within one but Saucier made it a two-point game with a free throw with 46 seconds to play.
The Falcons forced the extra time when Maleeya Robbins was able to get a layup to fall as the buzzer sounded.
Fitch (13-7) scored four points in the overtime on a basket by Ada Ellis and two free throws from Mariette El Khoury (12 points).
The Centaurs could muster only one on a free throw by Monahan (8 points, 7 rebounds) D’Alleva-Bochain added nine points for Woodstock Academy.
Boys’ Basketball: The Woodstock boys’ basketball team had to go to two tough ECC gyms over the course of the week where wins for visiting teams are not easy to come by.
The Centaurs held leads in both of their contests with Norwich Free Academy and Ledyard, only to fall short in the fourth quarter.
It was nip-and-tuck throughout against Ledyard with the Colonels pulling out a 45-41 victory.
The return of 6-foot, 6-inch sophomore center Brady Ericson from an illness provided the Centaurs with a little more in the way of offense but the Ledyard defense proved to be up to the task.
Thanks to four early points from Ericson, Woodstock held a 10-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.
But the Colonels gradually chipped away.
The hosts cut the deficit in half by halfway through the second quarter and forged into the lead, 18-17, by halftime.
That lead grew to six by the end of the third quarter, but the Centaurs showed some resilience and pulled even at 35 with 4 ½ minutes to play.
It was still tied, 40-40, with 1:17 left but Ledyard put up five of the last six points scored to post its second win in 17 games this season.
Ericson finished with 11 and Hunter Larson nine for the Centaurs (4-13).
Woodstock put a scare into Norwich Free Academy on its home floor on Tuesday night before falling to the Wildcats, 64-52.
The Centaurs did get into a hole early as they trailed by 12 at the end of the first quarter, 22-10.
But Woodstock fought back with a team effort to reduce the deficit to three by the half, 33-30.
Six different players scored in the second quarter for the Centaurs led by senior Brandon Nagle who scored five of his 12 points in the game during the rally.
After halftime Woodstock took the lead just 2 minutes, 40 seconds into the quarter, 36-35, and was able to hold on to it until the end of the quarter where they clung to a three-point advantage, 45-42.
But the good news would come to a stop there.
NFA (8-9) went on a 14-2 run in the first three minutes of the final period to put the Centaurs back on their heels and avoid the upset.
The win qualified the Wildcats for the state tournament.
Tony Williams paced NFA with 29 points, nine coming in the fourth quarter.
Edwin Santana was the only other player in double figures with 10 for the Wildcats.
Carter Morissette led Woodstock with 13 points.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Senior Bella Sorrentino brought home lots of bling, getting medals in all three of her events.
Sophomore Juliet Allard showed her strength for the Woodstock girls’ indoor track team, as she brought home two medals, for a pair of sixth-place finishes.
Senior Magdalena Myslenski cleared a personal best 9-feet in the pole vault to finish 2nd in the Class L indoor track state championship.
Senior Jared Eaton shows off his form in the circle where he placed fifth in the Class M indoor track state championship. Photos by Josh Welch/Woodstock Academy
Senior Day
Lennon Favreau, left, and Leila MacKinnon were honored on girls’ basketball Senior Day. Woodstock Academy phot
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