Centaurs boys’ basketball win streak ends at 4 games
To all good things must come an end. The Woodstock Academy boys’ basketball team extended its winning streak to four games early last week with a victory over Griswold.
But Ellington and Ledyard brought the Centaurs back down to earth.
The Purple Knights kept their undefeated ways going with a 70-58 win over Woodstock Academy at the Alumni Fieldhouse Jan. 15.
The Centaurs then traveled to Ledyard Jan. 17 and fell to the Colonels, 60-44.
Woodstock Academy tested Ledyard early. Woodstock Academy junior guard Logan Talbot hit four 3-pointers in the first half and kept the Centaurs (4-5, 1-3 Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II) in lockstep with the Colonels as the game was tied at 23 at the half.
But Dorell Cagle hit eight points for the Colonels (5-4, 2-2) in the third quarter and Ledyard was able to double the Centaurs point production in the third quarter, 16-8.
Ledyard put it away with a 21-13 fourth quarter advantage.
Talbot led the Centaurs with 21 while Aidan Morin added 10.
The winning streak came to an end two days before against Ellington.
"I think we have to be very happy with our effort and disappointed with the outcome," said Woodstock Academy coach Marty Hart. "(Ellington) is a very good team. It executed very well and the margin for error was very thin. When we missed an assignment or didn't communicate a switch, we paid for it. When we gave up a rebound, we paid for it. We did battle and hung with them, even when we got down. I give our guys credit for fighting back."
The Centaurs were down by only six points, 44-38, with 3:02 left in the third quarter.
That's when Brandon Zahner, a junior guard for the Purple Knights, decided it was time to get hot.
The guard hit only three baskets all night.
But they came in succession within two minutes of each other late in the third quarter, all from beyond the 3-point arc, and it doubled Ellington's lead going into the final quarter to 12 points.
"We were trying to locate him as a shooter and that' not an individual task, that's a team task. We talked about it, wanted to do it, and didn't accomplish it," Hart said.
The Centaurs did pull back within eight briefly in the fourth quarter when Morin (10 points) and Talbot hit a couple of quick buckets to open the final period.
But Ellington (7-0) followed with an 8-1 run of their own to put the win away.
Both teams came out of the gates smoking.
Talbot scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the first quarter and the Centaurs made eight of their 16 shots as the two teams battled to an 18-18 tie at the end of the first.
Ellington was able to build a seven-point lead, 35-28, by the half thanks to seven second-quarter points from Tom Garrow (15 points).
Andrew Johnson added 12 points for the Centaurs in the loss.
Earlier in the week, the Centaurs had to buckle in and grind it out. Griswold tested them in a defensive struggle but Woodstock Academy pulled it out in the end by a 42-35 score.
Talbot's 32-point effort against Stonington the Saturday before drew the attention of the Wolverines defense.
"They had a man stick with me the whole game," Talbot said. "But they also pressured a lot on defense so backdoor cuts took some of the pressure off which really helped."
Talbot still led the team with 14 points, but others had to step up.
Senior Nick Bedard, the Centaurs’ "Swiss Army Knife", according to Hart, finished with 12 points.
Still, Woodstock Academy was never quite able to pull away.
Bedard and Ethan Davis led the Centaurs with five points each in the first half when Woodstock Academy hit only 7-of-20 from the floor and turned the ball over eight times. Still, the Centaurs led 17-13.
Woodstock Academy did put on a little burst early that would carry them throughout the second half.
Morin, Talbot and Bedard hit unanswered baskets and Morin added a free throw in a 7-0 run that put the Centaurs up by nine, 26-17, with 3:56 left in the third quarter.
Griswold did claw its way back and closed to within three, 33-30, with 5:27 to play on a pair of C.J. Mattson free throws. The senior led the Wolverines (5-2) with 10 points.
Bedard got the last basket of the game for the Centaurs with 2:25 left and Woodstock Academy did enough at the free throw line, making 6-of-14, to keep the Wolverines at bay.
Woodstock Academy, however, finished 14-for-29 at the charity stripe.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Riptides Team
The Hale YMCA Riptides team. Top row, left to right: Assistant Coach William Walsh, Assistant Coach Irma Allegretti, Ameila Ditzel, Briana Botelho, Mercedes Aleksjuka, Ruby Fallon, Maggie McHugh, Zachary Beauregard, Delia Bousquet, Tyler Bousquet, AJ Williams, Will Colebourn, Head Coach Brian Reilly. Middle: Mary Battersby, Jocelyn Sirrine, Rowan Frazer, Aubrey Paquette, Sophie Godzik, Faith Muga, Gabby Cerasielo, Lillian Bertram, Nora Gosselin, Ryleigh Hitchcock. Bottom: Riley Stankiewicz, Lydia Gosselin, Olivia Barker, Carolina Ahearn, Charlotte Donovan, Ben LaChance, Drew DiCicco, James McHugh, Will Leonard, Ethan Sun, Olivia Rasmusson, Bella Congdon, Abby Biggs. Missing from picture: Mary Kate Barnwell, Amanda Cerrone, Roksana Chruslicka, Eli Evers, James Ferguson, Landen Kuchy, Neli Kuznecki, Rocco Rudnicki, Gabriel Rudnicki, Elezar Serandi, Valentina Sedykh-Gil, Vanessa Zeglan, and Assistant Coach Joanna Kokolski. Courtesy photo.
PUTNAM --- Hale YMCA Riptides made waves against the Old Colony YMCA Jan. 11. More than 30 Riptides' swimmers competed.
In the 15 & up age division: Ruby Fallon and AJ Williams led the way. Fallon finished 1st in the 50yd Free (31.48) and the 100yd Breaststroke (1:30.43).AJ Williams was victorious in the 50yd Free (25.90) and the 100yd freestyle (1:01.91).
In the 13&14 age division: Brianna Boethlo had three third-place finishes in the 100yd Backstroke, the 100yd Breaststroke, and 100yd Freestyle. Delia Bousquet won the 200yd Freestyle (2:43.70), and she also had two third- place finishes in the 50yd Freestyle, and 500yd Freestyle.
In the 11/12 age group, the team of Nora Gosselin (Backstroke) Jocelyn Sirrine (Breaststroke), Lillian Bertram (Butterfly), and Gabby Cerrasielo (Freestyle) picked up a silver medal in the 200 Medley Relay. Individual scorers included: Mercedes Alexjuka had two victories (50 Freestyle (30.16) and 100yyd Freestyle (1:09.24). Lillian Bertram also placed 3rd in the 50 Backstroke. Gabby Cerasielo had impressive best times in the 50yd Freestyle and the 50ydBackstroke. Maggie McHugh had a win in the 200 Individual Medley (3:21.89), as well as a second-place finish in the 50 Breaststroke and a third-place finish in the 50 Freestyle. For the 11 &12 boys, the team of Zackary Beauregard, Ethan Sun, William Colebourn and Tyler Bousquet won 200 Medley Relay (2:59.29). Drew DeCicco recorded best times in the 50 Freestyle and 50 Backstroke. Bousquet also won the 200yd free (2:43.70). William Colebourn had additional victories in the 200 IM (2:46.20) and the 50 Breaststroke (44.73).
In the 9/10 age group, the team of Sophie Godzik (Backstroke), Audrey Paquette (Breaststroke), Rowan Frazer (Butterfly), and Charlotte Donovan (Freestyle), took the gold in the 200 Medley Relay (3:44.08). Godzik, Paquette, Frazer, and Donovan would also go to post best times in their swims in 50 & 100 Freestyle, 50 Backstroke and 50 Breaststroke. Carolina Ahern and Mary Battersby had best times in their freestyle and backstroke events, and they teamed up with Charlotte Donovan, and Sophie Godzik in the 200 Freestyle Relay. Faith Muga won the 50yd Butterfly (53.39) and qualified for the Newport Pentathlon. Rowan Frazer took the 50 Free (34.60), and her third-place finish in the 100yd Free (1:17.09) bested the qualifying time for the New England YMCA Championships. Mary Kate Barnwell won the 50 Backstroke and has qualified for the NE Championship meet in five events (50 and 100 Free, 50 Fly, 50 Back, and 100 IM). Barnwell also anchored the winning 200yd Freestyle Relay which included Faith Muga, Ryleigh Hitchcock, and Amelia Dietzel
For the boys in the 9/10 age group, Ben LaChance also qualified for the New England YMCA Championships in the (50 Fly, 50 Breaststroke, and 50 free). LaChance also won the 100 Individual Medley in 1:30. James McHugh and Ethan Sun also had best times in the Freestyle and Breaststroke events, and Ethan Sun also landed a third-place finish in the 50 Backstroke.
In the 8 & under age group, Will Leonard scored big, with two third- place finishes in the 25yd Freestyle and the 25yd Backstroke For the girls, Olivia Barker (Backstroke), Riley Stankiewicz (Breaststroke), Olivia Rasmussen (Butterfly), and Abby Biggs (Freestyle) all competed well in the 100 Medley Relay. Isabella Congdon, Olivia Rasmussen, Olivia Barker, and Abby Biggs all had best times in the 25yd Free. Rasmussen took a third place in the 25yd Butterfly. Riley Stankiewicz won the 25yd Butterfly (26.57) and placed third in the 100yd Individual Medley.
By Brian Reilly
Head Coach, Riptides Swimming
Centaurs girls basketball break 7-game skid
There was concern about traveling to Bristol Jan. 18 due to an impending snowstorm. But the game was moved up a couple of hours and the Woodstock Academy girls’ basketball team made the near cross-state trek to play at Bristol Central.
Woodstock Academy broke a seven-game losing streak with a 54-40 win over the Rams.
“More than you believe,” Centaurs coach Will Fleeton said when asked how much his team needed a win. “The spirits have been high but this win was needed to keep them high. It was also good to see the girls see a positive result from all their hard work.”
Woodstock Academy raised its record to 2-9 with the win.
It also did something for a first time this season. It broke the 50-point mark.
“We limited the turnovers, got some transition offense and finally made some jump shots,” Fleeton said.
The Centaurs also hit a lot of 3-pointers early.
Kayla Gaudreau hit a trio of 3’s in the first half when she scored 11 of her 17 points.
Gaudreau wasn’t the only one hitting from beyond the arc. Alexa Pechie added two 3-pointers of her own and Katie Papp stepped outside to add another.
The long distance barrage meant Woodstock Academy owned a 30-21 lead at halftime.
Kaitlin Birlin was the second half fuel. The 5-foot, 9-inch junior finished with a game-high 22 points.
Five of those came in the third quarter and she added 11 of the 15 points the Centaurs scored in the fourth quarter.
In addition to five field goals, Birlin made 6-of-9 from the free throw line in the second half.
Earlier in the week, Gaudreau was the player tasked with playing some shut down defense.
The Woodstock Academy senior was in charge of holding Longmeadow guard Ilana Kofman at bay.
Gaudreau held Kofman scoreless in the first half.
Unfortunately, the Lancers proved that Kofman was not the only shooter on the team and finished by making seven of their 11 3-point attempts to hand the Centaurs a 39-23 loss.
Both teams struggled in the first half offensively. Longmeadow failed to hit a field goal and was forced to live off of six made free throws.
It was enough, however, for the Lancers (6-3) to hold the first quarter lead.
Woodstock Academy also had its struggles on the offensive end. Papp, who led the Centaurs with nine points, hit a pair of buckets in the final 30 seconds of the quarter but Woodstock Academy still trailed, 6-5.
The Centaurs offense, before Jan. 18, had not been very productive. That caused the Centaurs to adopt a new philosophy.
Without a dominant post player, Woodstock Academy has been forced to go to a more transition-oriented offense.
But the Centaurs haven't quite perfected it and they committed 17 turnovers in the game with the Lancers.
It's not what Fleeton and the Centaurs are used to.
"We can't play inside-out, which we like to do, without a big presence in the paint. We have to find other areas to get scoring opportunities. I will say, we've always played a transition game but this is different," Fleeton said.
What makes matters even worse, almost as soon as the new system was put in place, guard Peyton Saracina went down with an injury.
Longmeadow opened things up in the second quarter.
The Centaurs followed with four points but Brown put another 3-pointer down at the buzzer for a 17-10 halftime lead.
Woodstock Academy did get as close as three points, 19-16, in the third quarter only to see Longmeadow score the last seven points for a double-digit lead going into the final quarter.
The Centaurs scored the first five points of the fourth, with Birlin getting three of her five points in the game, but the Lancers salted it away with an 8-0 run.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Griffins win
POMFRET --- Jan. 18 the Pomfret School girls’ basketball team travelled to St. Mark's for a Class B win and came away with a victory. Although both teams struggled a bit offensively, Pomfret's defense held St. Mark's to only 12 points in the first three quarters. This gave Pomfret a cushion they would hold onto late. Sel Gonzalez had 17 points for Pomfret and was the leading scorer on the day.
Scoring: Pomfret School 7 16 20—37; St. Mark's 5 10 12 ---32
Pomfret Scorers: Molly Vincent: 2 points; Sel Gonzalez: 17 points; Tay Guirantes: 6 points; Grace Bullied: 4 points; Alba Samu: 2 points; McKinley White: 2 points; Teagan O'Hara: 4 points
Pomfret’s record stands at two wins and six loses.
By Patrick Burke