The season came to an end Feb. 26 for the Woodstock Academy girls’ basketball team.
The Centaurs finished their season with a 10-12 record after a loss to East Hartford in a first-round Class LL state tournament game.
“I don’t think many people thought we would even make the playoffs so to break even for the regular season, I definitely would call it an overachievement,” said Woodstock Academy coach Will Fleeton. “It’s a little different view for me because I work with these kids every day so I felt like we could get even more. I see the desire and passion they have. Five-hundred is great. I think we could have done a little better.”
There is some good news for the Centaurs.
They lose only three seniors; leading scorer and rebounder Heather Converse (12.2 points per game, 11 rebounds a game), guard Aislin Tracey (5.2 points per game, 6 3-pointers, 37 steals, 29 assists) and Mackenzie Eaton who was injured for almost the entire season, playing in just one game.
It means Fleeton has a core to work with next season.
“I love the kids. They put in an honest day’s work every day. We see some gradual improvement as we go and that’s all I’m after. If they’re going to work hard and show improvement, then we’re headed in the right direction,” Fleeton said.
Without Converse, the offense will now be in the hands of Katie Papp who finished second in both scoring and rebounding (7.8 points, 6 rebounds per game) and Kayla Gaudreau (6.8 points per game).
“Scoring was an issue for us all season even when we were fully healthy. Missing a key big girl (Converse) in the middle will be a factor. She does a lot of things that don’t show up on a stat sheet. To fill those shoes, we will probably have to do it as a group, but I’m confident in the returning kids that they will put their best effort forward,” Fleeton said.
One thing he hopes is that his players will pick up the basketball in the offseason.
“That definitely has to happen to play at this high a level,” the Woodstock Academy coach said. “I don’t have many full-fledged basketball players, I have multi-sport athletes. I’m proud of them for that. I would rather see that than see them carry a basketball 24/7. But I think extra time with the ball in their hands can only help. It’s definitely a benefit. Is there time and space for that? I don’t know.”
The injuries mounted up for the Centaurs as the season neared its end.
“It seemed like every game we would lose (a player) as we approached the last one. I think I will always carry the question with me forever; If we were fully loaded, how would we have performed against East Hartford?” Fleeton said.
The 25th-seeded Centaurs were playing shorthanded against the No. 8 Hornets Feb. 26 and it showed.
They fell to East Hartford, 61-31.
Converse was sidelined for the last three games of the season with a concussion. Also missing was Papp and two younger players, Peyton Saracina and Sierra Bedard.
East Hartford didn’t come into the game with a 16-4 record for nothing as the Hornets were “pretty solid” according to Fleeton.
East Hartford had some good size and without their two largest bodies in there, the Centaurs yielded a host of offensive rebounds.
The Hornets scored the first eight points of the game and led after the first quarter, 13-2. East Hartford essentially wrapped up the game when it outscored the Centaurs again in the second quarter, 23-12, to take a 36-14 lead into the halftime locker room.
“I thought we defended them well, they just got extra chances. They won the rebounding battle, had many offensive rebounds, which hurt us. It’s tough to make a couple of good stops, give them the ball back and have to do it again. The lack of size hurt us. We fought in the paint as best we could, I can’t complain, we just couldn’t hold down their bigs,” Fleeton said.
Gaudreau had four 3-pointers and led the Centaurs with 12 points while Alexa Pechie added eight in the loss.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
Woodstock Academy

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Legal Notice
Public Hearing
Notice
Town of Pomfret
Planning and
Zoning Commission
The Pomfret Planning & Zoning Commission will hold the following Public Hearing at their meeting on March 20, 2019, starting at 7:00 PM at the Old Town House:
1. NELTA, Inc., 10 Murdock Road, proposed crane training facility and addition to existing training building
A copy of the application is on file in the office of the Planning and Zoning Commission, 5 Haven Road, Pomfret Center, Connecticut. The file is available for review during normal business hours.

Town of Pomfret
Planning & Zoning Commission
Dated this 25th day
of February 2019

Lynn L. Krajewski,
Clerk

March 6, 2019
March 13, 2019

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W. HARTFORD — It’s very difficult to defeat a team three times in a season especially with that 3rd time coming in a title game. That was the case at the University of Saint Joseph this past weekend as the #1 seed Putnam Science Academy Prep Boys were facing the #2 seed Our Savior Lutheran.
The Mustangs beat the Falcons earlier in the year handedly at home and would win again out in New York by double digits just under a month ago but this time, a conference title was on the line and the Falcons were ready. Our Savior Lutheran jumped out on the Mustangs early starting the game on a 12-2 run and would lead 25-13 with 8 minutes remaining in the 1st half catching PSA off guard. “We came out and played sloppy, we didn’t play team ball and turnovers killed us in the 1st half,” Head Coach Tom Espinosa said in the postgame interview. The Mustangs would go on a 6-0 run to end the 1st half and trailed at halftime 44-39.
Putnam Science was not going to let the Great Atlantic Conference title slip away.
The Mustangs moved from the Power 5 Conference into the Great Atlantic Conference 2 years ago, a conference that Head Coach Tom Espinosa began. A Division 1 and 2 were formed with a North and South Division. The Mustangs play in Division 1 in the North along with Our Savior Lutheran, Upper Room Christian Academy and Capital Prep Harbor. The South houses Mount Zion and Scotland Campus Sports, both of who are ranked in the top 10 and will be competing in the National Prep Showcase this upcoming week. With the Mustangs taking the GAC title last year, they had a repeat on their mind headed into the 2nd half vs the Falcons.
“This is their championship; we need to match their energy!” Espinosa said at halftime in front of his team. Putnam Science players weren’t helping themselves in the first half turning the ball over nine times and shooting a dreadful 7 for 17 from the free throw line.
One thing the Mustangs have that most National Prep teams don’t is a solid core of returning players from the previous year.
Experience proved to be the difference in the second half as the Mustangs rallied behind junior guard Hassan Diarra. Diarra scored just 5 points in the 1st half of play before turning up in the 2nd half and attacking the rim relentlessly. “We had them in foul trouble and that was kind of my mindset” said Diarra. Keep attacking them and get to the free throw line, we couldn’t shoot any worse from the line so I wanted to keep going at them.” PSA figured it out from the charity strike making 19 free throws including Diarra’s free throw with 3:38 to play that gave the Mustangs their 1st lead of the game.
A 12-point deficit turned into a 4-point win 88-84 for Putnam Science Academy as they improved to 37-1 and won their 2nd straight Great Atlantic Conference title. Diarra was named Most Valuable Player scoring a game-high 23 points, 18 of which came in the second half, to go with 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Tyson Etienne had 17 points and big man Russel Tchewa made big plays in the paint adding 14 points for the Mustangs.
After being named the 2019 Coach of the Year in Division 1, PSA’s Espinosa said, “This team just doesn’t quit. We have been in these games before this year, you know, not playing well and falling behind but this group of kids just won’t quit, they battle until the very end and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
Josh Sanchas
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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