Roundup
Centaurs beat
Windham
In its first four games, the closest final for the Woodstock Academy boys’ basketball team was a 14-point loss to Coventry.
The Centaurs posted wins of 28 and 21 points against Bacon Academy and Plainfield, respectively, and lost by 16 to Griswold.
So Saturday’s contest versus Windham was the first where the Centaurs had to grind out a victory.
But they managed to do so, 76-68, over Windham to improve to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in Div. II of the ECC.
“I think we played a complete game (Saturday),” said coach Donte Adams. “We have to get better but we hit shots, made free throws, and got some stops down the stretch. We can’t give up 68 points but the more we come into the gym and work hard each day – we will be fine.”
The Centaurs came up with some significant plays in the final few minutes of the game when the Whippets (1-4, 0-1) rallied from nine down at the end of the third quarter to score five unanswered points and pull within two early in the fourth and later tied the game at 66 with 1 minute, 32 seconds to play in regulation.
Vuk Lisancic (12 points, eight rebounds) hit a layup to put the Centaurs ahead to stay.
“He shot the ball well, he was confident, shot in rhythm,” Adams said.
Abdullovski then took over at the free throw line. The sophomore made 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 31 seconds and finished with a game and season-high 32 points.
“I feel like everyone can shoot free throws and everyone can make shots so it doesn’t really matter,” Abdullovski said when asked if he liked to have the ball in his hands late in a game.
While it may not matter to the youngster, his coach is getting more confident with him.
“I’m comfortable with him having it down the stretch,” Adams said. “He made free throws, he actually defended (Saturday) and he played the whole game so that shows what kind of shape he is in. He played well. The more we rely on him and we have guys who will feed him also on the offensive end and the more that happens, the better we will get.”
Xavier Matwiej added a pair of late free throws and had a basket earlier in the fourth quarter but it was his play in the first quarter that opened some eyes. The junior poured in 14 of his 21 points in the first eight minutes.
“He’s been in a slump the past few games and he played really well. When we went to him early, he made plays and he helped us close out the game down the stretch too,” Adams said. “I’ve been telling him that, in this league, he might be one of the most skilled inside-out players. He’s shooting the ball really well but I would like him to go down (inside) and bang a little bit.”
If there are two things that the Centaurs will need a bit of work on, it’s their defense and rebounding.
Windham did make a host of shots, 29-for-61, from the floor and were very effective on the boards against a taller Centaur team.
“I tell the guys that with the length that we have and speed that we have, that we should be able to hold teams to around 50 points. Windham made a lot of tough shots, but we came out with the ‘W.’ We just have to get better on the defensive end always,” Adams said.
Anden Gonzalez got into foul trouble early but scored nine fourth-quarter points and led the Whippets with 24 points.Alex Pomo added 20 and Francisco Alvarado tossed in 14 in the loss for Windham.
The Centaurs scored 19 of the first 23 points in the game and easily rolled to a 65-44 victory over Plainfield earlier in the week.
The Centaurs extended their lead to 20 by the half and were able to sub liberally in the second half.
Lisancic led Woodstock with 17 points while Abdullovski added 14. Brayden Marquis led all scorers with 19 points for Plainfield, 11 of those points came from the free throw line.
Off the court, the boys’ basketball team gave back to the community a bit over the holiday break. The Centaurs hosted some 50 Woodstock youngsters at the winter holiday basketball camp.
Indoor Track
The holiday break is a misnomer for indoor track athletes as they spent all three Saturdays during the holiday season at ECC development meets.
“Of the nearly 80 athletes on the roster, we saw around 70 of them attend each meet and practice numbers were high as well,” said coach Josh Welch. “It’s tough having most of your regular season take place on vacation but the kids handled it well.”
Another school record fell on Saturday.
Kate Dobosz set the standard in the weight throw for the girls’ team as she recorded a 43-foot, 5-inch toss to finish in first overall.
It was the second school record to fall in two weeks as Emma Weitknecht put her name in the record books the week before with an 8.70 second finish in the 55m hurdles to eclipse the previous record held by Juliet Allard. Weitknecht also finished first on Saturday in the same event in 8.94 seconds.
Freshman Emelia Langevin took home 1st-place finishes in the 600 and 3200m races and was also a member of the 4x400m relay team along with Teagan Maloney, Claire Bruneaux and Ella Lidonde that finished second. Maloney was also second in the 300m.
“Athletes like Teagan, for example, are trying new events and learning where they may be most competitive in the postseason amid finding great success,” Welch said.
Avery Plouffe was best in the shotput (38-7) and finished second to Dobosz in the weight throw while Lily Morgis was third in the shotput.
There were two first-place finishes Saturday for the boys’ indoor track team as Eli Manning won the shotput competition (46-8) and Sam Greene took first in the 1000m in 2 minutes, 47 seconds.
“We’ve seen excellent development over the last three weeks,” Welch said. “I can see that our new athletes are starting to get into shape for the season as they start to hit personal bests. We saw a lot of them on Saturday and overall, they are just displaying more confidence at the meets.”
Ronan Curran was second in the 1000m in a personal best 2:50 and was also third in the 1600m while Jackson Durand was second in the 1600m and Lucas Hecker third in the 3200m.
Thatcher Paterson was second in the long jump and third in the 300m and Owen Williamson took home a second in the 55m hurdles and a third in the high jump.
“We are seeing an outstanding team come together and if they can maintain this level of commitment and effort, I think we will see full buses for the ECC and State championship meets this year,” Welch said.
Girls’ Hockey
The girls’ co-op hockey team once again easily outshot its opponent on Saturday night.
That is something the Centaurs have been pretty good at. Putting the puck in the back of the net has been another story.
But the Centaurs were also effective at that against Simsbury as they downed their hosts, 4-3, in overtime.
Senior Maci Corradi got the game winner in overtime off an assist from Zi Qing Biondo to give Woodstock its first win in five outings.
The Centaurs had outshot Simsbury 25-8 in the first two periods but still found themselves down on the scoreboard, 2-1, going into the third.
Grace Lescault got the first period goal for the Centaurs with help from Ellary Sampson and Avery Cairns.
Woodstock Academy tied the game early in the third period when Biondo assisted on a goal by Summer Discordia.
But Simsbury forged ahead with 6 minutes, 52 seconds to play. The Centaurs were able to tie the game with 2:46 left in regulation on a goal by Sophia Sherman off an assist from Paige Hinckley which set up Corradi’s overtime heroics.
The Centaurs had done everything except put the puck in the back of the net earlier in the week and Hamden skated away with the 3-0 victory.
“We were snake bit,” said coach Eric Roy. “We were the better team but there were some bad bounces that they took advantage of and, right now, nothing is going in the net for us.”
Woodstock outshot the Green Dragons (3-1), 33-13.
“In practice the last two days, it was ‘Shoot.’ We did that but they just have to go in,” Roy said.
Unfortunately, none did and that has been the case thus far this season as the Centaurs still have not scored a goal on their home ice this season.
“We’re starting to figure each other out. We’re starting to see the lines talk when they get to the bench which is a new thing. The last game we played we had 20 shots but none were really scoring chances. (Monday) there was a good amount of scoring chances. We just have to start burying them,” Roy said.
When Hamden had its chances, it did just that. Hamden senior Jozie Becker won a one-on-one battle with Woodstock keeper Josie Hatch (10 saves) to put the Green Dragons (3-1) up on the scoreboard just 3 minutes, 51 seconds into the second period.
Becker had another rush five minutes into the third period, taking a pass from freshman Amaya Martin and converting for a little insurance for Hamden.
Lexy Patel scored the other goal for the visitors into an empty net with just over a minute left.
Roy was just hopeful, after the Hamden loss, that his team wouldn’t get too down on itself.
“You could see on the last power play that we had that they came back to the bench (upset). That’s a good thing because they are hungry but you don’t want them to press too much because that can be a problem. It’s crazy, 1-0, 1-0, 3-0 (the three scores on the home ice this season). We’re in it. I’m going to the locker room, telling them not to hang their heads. We’re a couple of goals away. We’re there; it’s going to start flowing,” Roy said.
Gymnastics
It was a week off of school. That was probably a good thing for the gymnastics team which had the unusual task of taking part in pair of meets.
“It was hard. It was challenging for sure,” said coach Kasey Fillmore. “It was nice to get them under our belt because now we can space out the remainder of the season. We compete again on Tuesday so it’s been challenging especially with it being the holidays so they pushed through it very well.”
The Centaurs didn’t have to worry much about their opening meet of the week against Norwich Free Academy.
The Wildcats did not have the required four gymnasts available to compete as a team so the Centaurs were guaranteed the win.
The Friday meet was much more difficult. Defending ECC champion, the Ledyard-Co-op, posted a 141.45 total.
That got them past both the Centaurs (127.45) and East Lyme (124.45).
“I’m very excited about the win over East Lyme. We knew they had a pretty good team so I was very happy with that. I don’t think it was our best meet, we had a couple of mistakes that we have not had, but we’ve also been trying some new things,” Fillmore said.
Junior Rhea Desota led the Centaurs 33.75 all-around total. Her best performance came on the bars where she finished with an 8.8 total.
“Bars is the event that I have the most confidence in and it’s really fun,” Desota said. “I would like to improve on vault. I completed a new vault (Friday) so I still need my coach’s help but I’m improving on it.”
Desota finished with an 8.35.
Senior Emma Long was second-best for the Centaurs as she posted a 31.8 total including an 8.9 in the vault competition.
East Lyme was paced by Sylvi Otter with a 34.5 total.
Ledyard was up to the task, however, as Alyssa McLeod topped everyone in the all-around with a 36.95 while Capri Sferazza was third with a 35.8.
The Colonels improved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the ECC.
“We have to keep looking at individual successes because Ledyard is pretty dominant,” said Fillmore.
Up until the loss to Ledyard, the wins had come pretty easy for the Centaurs (3-1, 3-1 ECC). In the first two meets of the season, the Centaurs have taken on programs that had not been able to field a complete team.
That was a problem for Killingly in the first meet of the year for the Centaurs and early last week, Norwich Free Academy dealt with the same affliction.
As a result, the Centaurs posted the easy 128.3 - 85.6 win over the Wildcats.
Long paced the Centaurs with a 33.8 all-around performance including a second place in the vault (9.05) and a third place on the beam (8.85). Desota finished with a 32.95 all-around total.
NFA senior Trinity Ambruso topped all individuals with a 36.15 all-around performance as she finished first in bars (9.2), tied for first on the floor (9.1), was second in beam (9.15) and third in the vault (8.7).
One thing that Fillmore has been very happy to see is how Long and Desota have taken to their role as captains of the Centaurs.
On Friday, the two were constantly lending encouragement to their younger teammates during the meet with the Colonels and Vikings.
“It’s so important and it’s what really makes this a team is the way we encourage each other and cheer for each other during the competition. It really pushes us along and without that, we just would not be as much of a team or be as connected as we are,” Desota said.
Girls’ Basketball
The year came to a close for the girls’ basketball team last week. Calendar-wise.
The Centaurs finished up 2025 with a 3-3 record thanks to a 40-22 win over Conard in the consolation game of the E.O. Smith Holiday tournament.
Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain, who was named to the All-Tourney team, got the Centaurs out of the gates on the right note as she put home a pair of 3-pointers and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the first quarter.
That effort helped Woodstock to a 19-9 lead.
The Centaurs defense took over in the second quarter as they held the Red Wolves (0-6) scoreless and were up, 27-9, at the half.
Elise Coyle scored five of her 10 points in the second quarter. D’Alleva-Bochain paced the Centaurs with 14 in the contest. Ryelle Gomes led Conard with eight points.
The win helped make up for a loss in the opening game of the tournament to undefeated Ellington, 53-41, on Monday.
The game began on a good note as senior Vivian Bibeau scored six of her eight points to help the Centaurs to a 14-10 lead after the first eight minutes.
But Ellington (4-0) rallied in the second quarter behind senior guard Julia Laughlan who scored eight of her game-high 24 points that put the Purple Knights ahead, 28-21, at the half.
Ellington extended that lead to nine in the third quarter.
D’Alleva-Bochain led Woodstock with 14 points, seven in the fourth quarter while Kaylee Saucier added 12, both had a pair of 3-pointers.
Boys’ Hockey
The offense is getting more productive but the boys’ hockey team is still looking for its first win as the calendar year flips to 2026.
There were hopes but that was not going to be the case on Wednesday as they traveled to Simsbury on New Year’s Eve and played well through the first 30 minutes.
Things went awry late for the Centaurs as they surrendered three third-period goals that allowed the Suffield-Granby-Windsor Locks-East Granby co-op to tie the game and eventually win, 5-4, in the extra period.
Saturday Woodstock (0-6) found itself behind the sticks early and could not rebound., falling to Cranston West, 7-3.
The Centaurs had built a two-goal lead, 3-1, after two periods against the Suffield-Granby-Windsor Locks-East Granby co-op.
Anthony Malone scored off an assist from Gabe Flannery and Kieran Shepherd tallied with help from Jackson Aleman in the first period. Flannery then picked up his second assist on a goal by Bruce Walker in the second.
The Wildcats came back to tie the game in the third period with a pair of goals but Woodstock went ahead with 3:11 left in regulation when Kellen Coleman found the back of the net.
Logan Marsh forced the overtime when the SGWL junior poked the puck past Centaurs’ goalie Brady Hebert (43 saves) with 1:27 to play.
Sophomore Brendan Morden scored the game winner 3 minutes, 29 seconds into overtime off an assist from James Nikolis for the Wildcats (2-3).
Cranston West held the lead throughout. Jacob Bovay gave the Falcons the early 2-0 lead but the Centaurs cut it in half when Flannery scored his second goal of the season —a short-handed tally, off an assist from Malone.
Cranston West responded with a power-play goal just 30 seconds later and added the next two goals to build a 5-1 lead.
Camden Marshall scored Woodstock’s second goal off assists from Kieran Shepherd and Vaughn Buzak but the Falcons added another to go into the final 15 minutes up by three.
Marshall added his second goal of the game off another assist from Shepard in the third but Cranston West added two more of their own to pick up its second win in five games.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
|The Woodstock Academy
2025 E.O. girls basketball
The girls’ basketball team surrounds Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain (center, holding trophy) after the senior was named to the E.O. Smith Holiday tournament all-tourney team last week in Mansfield. Photo by Sean Saucier/Woodstock Academy.
2025 boys basketball clinic
More than 50 young basketball hopefuls from Woodstock attended the Woodstock Academy boys’ basketball team’s youth basketball clinic. Photo by Donte Adams/Woodstock Academy.
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Junior Camden Marshall sends the puck up the ice. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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Senior Ellary Sampson (8) reaches out just as the puck leaves the stick of a Hamden player. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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Scarlett Hogarty performs her floor routine in a meet against Ledyard and East Lyme. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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Junior co-captain Rhea Desota performs her floor routine. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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Freshman Maelin Lisee goes vertical on the beam in a gymnastics meet against Ledyard and East Lyme. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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Junior co-captain Rhea Desota performs on the beam. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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