Centaurs hang
with Whalers
'til the end
Early in the season, the New London boys’ basketball team appeared to be ripe for upset possibilities after it lost six of its first seven games including a game at Killingly.
That loss might have served as the wake-up call that the Whalers needed.
They came into Woodstock Academy having won three of their last four including victories over Fitch and Stonington.
That momentum carried into the Alumni Fieldhouse for New London Jan. 24.
The Centaurs hung with the Whalers until the very end, but fell short, losing 66-62.
“It was a great battle. We strung together a lot of great possessions and a lot of great stops, but at crunch time, they’re the ones you remember,” said Woodstock Academy coach Marty Hart.
And those possessions were not as memorable.
The Centaurs (5-6) opened a four-point lead, 55-51, with 4 minutes, 29 seconds to play when Chase Anderson (27 points) hit a 3-pointer.
The Whalers got four of the next five points, but were still down three when Jake Marsalisi went aggressively to the basket and put down the layup.
Marsalisi finished with seven points off the bench.
“He really gave us a lift. We need that ball-handling, he’s a nice slasher, a pretty long kid, and it was good to see him attack the basket,” Hart said.
The Whalers forged ahead on consecutive baskets from Jabari Jones and Tayeshawn Cunningham-Pemberton. Pemberton was also fouled and completed the three-point play to put the Whalers (5-7) up by two.
Anderson tied it with 1:23 left, but Jones (13 points) put the Whalers ahead to stay 19 seconds later.
Pemberton hit two of four free throws, with a Centaur turnover in between, to extend the lead to four with 21 seconds left.
The Centaurs had a chance to respond, but Aaron Johnson’s 3-pointer was just off the mark and Anderson couldn’t get a follow to fall.
“They have length and athleticism and are able to guard us in front and poke check the ball out,” Hart said.
The Centaurs were forced to foul and Noah James (22 points) hit a pair of free throws to seal the Whaler win.
Ethan Adams put down an outside shot for the Centaurs as time expired.
New London threatened to make it a run away early.
The Whalers doubled up on the Centaurs in the first 4:15 of the game with James hitting a trio of 3’s to help New London build an 18-9 lead.
It would grow to 12 before a pair of free throws by Eric Preston reduced the deficit to 10, 23-13, by the end of the quarter.
“We thought we would press them to see if they would shoot the 3, they answered that question (New London hit five from beyond the arc in the first quarter),” Hart said. “We had to match up on their shooters so we went to a 3-2 and we were just a little slow on location. We were plugging holes in the dam as quickly as we could.”
The fixes worked in the second quarter and it helped spark a 9-0 run with four different players scoring. Adams’ three-point play pulled the Centaurs within one, 23-22, with 6:24 left in the half.
The Whalers rebuilt a five-point advantage, but the Centaurs rallied again and an Anderson basket with just over a minute left in the half sent the two teams into the locker room tied at 34.
The biggest lead in the third quarter was three points.
“For us, it’s stringing together more and more of the right possessions. We’re limiting the possessions that hurt us; the defensive run-out, second-chance points or turnovers instead of quality shots. That group of possessions is getting smaller and the possessions where the ball goes inside, pops out and kicks and we get a good shot in rhythm, is increasing. If we continue to do that and maintain our composure, it should do us well down the stretch,” Hart said.
The Centaurs opened the week with a 76-62 loss to the Waterford Lancers in Southeast Connecticut.
While it was a double-digit defeat, the Centaurs were able to hang with the Lancers (11-1).
“We were able to solve their defense pretty well and we defended them in a way that gave them some challenges. They turned the ball over more than they expected to,” Hart said.
The Centaurs were consistent.
They scored 15 points in each of the first three quarters.
It was good enough to hang with Waterford.
The Lancers led by only two at the end of the first and eight at halftime.
The Centaurs actually pulled ahead by a point, 45-44, late in the third quarter.
“They called a time out, made an adjustment and threw some pressure at us that promoted some mistakes and by the time we got re-organized, it was an eight-point game. We played them evenly the rest of the way. So it was a possession here or there, closing out the quarter and taking the last shot instead of taking it early and giving it to them a chance. It’s all part of the maturity process,” Hart said.
Anderson, who is now averaging 18.9 points per game, finished with 24 while Johnson hit a pair of 3’s and ended the game with 10.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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caption:

Commits
Woodstock Academy seniors Ellie Jellison, left, who will play ice hockey for Assumption College, and Irene Askitis, who will be headed to the University of New Haven, sign their National Letters of Intent Jan. 25. Photo courtesy of Joel Thretheway/Woodstock Academy.




The girls’ ice hockey program at Woodstock Academy is only three years old.
It already has one of its own headed for the collegiate ranks.
Ellie Jellison could be considered a pioneer.
The Woodstock Academy senior was a member of the first-ever girls’ ice hockey team at the school three years ago.
Now, she will do the same at Assumption College in Worcester.
Jellison signed her National Letter of Intent to play Division II college hockey for the Greyhounds Jan. 25. Her hockey teammate, fellow senior Irene Askitis, also signed her National Letter of Intent to play Division II college soccer for the University of New Haven.
“I was actually the first commit, so I’m technically the first girl on the team at Assumption which is really cool,” Jellison said.
Jellison is currently on the sidelines for the Centaurs due to illness. She scored four goals and had an assist in their first two games.
Jellison wasn’t sure if she wanted to play college hockey, because of her desire to go into pre-med.
But she put up a video and profile on the NCAA website and Assumption reached out to her.
“I was like, ‘Why not’,” Jellison said.
She went on an official visit to Worcester, fell in love with the school and found she wanted. Instead of pre-med, she will major in biology to have more time to concentrate on the hockey team.
“It will be a club team for the first year, so it will not be as intense as a D-II sport. They are planning to play top club teams to start, but it will develop into a D-II program,” Jellison said.
Woodstock Academy girls’ hockey coach Jeff Boshka was happy to see the first player from the Centaurs program move on to play college hockey.
“It’s so awesome to have coached a player like Ellie,” Boshka said. “She loves the game so it’s really fun, and she wants to get better. What is the most fun is seeing her play, her intensity. Other players get out of her way. If they don’t get out of her way, they will be bounced out of her way.”
Askitis, the goalie for the Centaurs girls’ soccer team, always wanted to go to New Haven where she will major in forensic science.
She talked with Centaurs girls’ soccer coach Dennis Snelling who suggested, if she wanted to go to the school, why not go to a soccer camp held by the Chargers.
Askitis thought it was a good idea and attended a New Haven summer camp.
She opened enough eyes to get the offer to play.
“When I was younger, I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself. Now that it’s official that I’m going to play in college, it’s a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” Askitis said.
The senior posted 13 shutouts in goal for Woodstock Academy this season including six in the first seven matches.
“I think I have a lot more work to do,” Askitis said. “I believe I’m a good player, but if you look at college goalkeepers, they are at the highest level they can be. I know I can get there, but I have to put a lot of work into it.”
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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Prep Boys
Prep School Basketball is a long season with multiple games in a week and not too much time to rest and prepare for the next challenge. This past week was very different than what the Putnam Science Academy Prep Mustangs are used to.
After having one day to prepare for a talented MacDuffie team last Sunday which resulted in a 79-59 win, the team — fewer than 24 hours later — was back on the road heading to New York to face Our Savior Lutheran in the Big Apple Invitational.
PSA ground out a 70-63 win in a game where PSA’s big men got in foul trouble and careless turnovers in the first half led to them trailing at the break before turning it around in the second half.
Guard play has been phenomenal for Putnam Science Academy this season and when they needed it most, the guards stepped up. Tyson Etienne continues to be a true point guard and leader in his first year at PSA finishing with 20 points and adding five assists. His backcourt running mate Hassan Diarra has propelled his game this season as he had 12 points and 12 rebounds to help the Mustangs move to 24-0.
Bryant University-commit Charles Pride, 6-feet, 4-inches, was later named the Big Apple Invitational MVP doing it all with 13 points, 12 rebounds and was a menace on the defensive end with five steals. The Mustangs extend their impressive winning streak to 48 games and now have a full week to recharge and get ready for a home contest vs Hoosac. Then they hit the road against Capital Prep Harbor and appear in the National Prep School Invitational later in the week at Rhode Island College.
Varsity Mustangs
The Varsity Mustangs have had an up and down season under first-year Head Coach Dana Valentine. A team with 3 players listed at 6-4 and a roster filled with guards, the lack of size has come back to haunt the Varsity team this season.
After a 4-0 start to the season, the Mustangs found themselves at 9-7 losing by double digits to Redemption Christian Academy on the road. That’s when Valentine pointed out that things needed to change. “We weren’t playing as a team and you could see that some of the guys were frustrated” Valentine said. “We had some big games coming up on the schedule and so I held a very spirited and emotional practice. I needed to see what these guys were made of.” The Mustangs answered the call and have since won four straight games, including three in a row on the road this past week. PSA blew out Capital Prep Harbor 107-71 and then won at the buzzer over Mitchell College 67-66 thanks to a mid-range jumper by Jaiden Rivera to clinch the win. The next day, PSA traveled to Our Savior Lutheran in New York and showed toughness holding on for an 80-75 win in large part to Tyler Henry’s monster game of 28 points. Henry would dominate in a follow up performance scoring a game-high 29 points in a 74-67 road win over New York Military Academy to help the Varsity team move to 13-7. PSA will play again next Sunday at home vs Post University.
Prep Lady Mustangs
It’s been quite the stretch run for the Prep Lady Mustangs of Putnam Science Academy this past week. Dropping a close 45-43 game vs nationally ranked Crestwood of Canada, in a game where the Mustangs had a shot at the buzzer but failed to knock it down.
The ladies then went to New York to play in The Mecca tournament vs Westridge Academy and DME Sports Academy in back-to-back games. Westridge made key plays late and defeated the Mustangs 52-47 but PSA didn’t go down without a fight. Fatima Lee led the way with 17 points and Xianna Josephs has played well for Putnam Science Academy this second half of the season stepping up with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Even with that tough loss that saw the Mustangs drop two games in a row, the team rallied and bounced back with an impressive performance over DME to win 60-52 splitting the weekend tournament. Josephs went off for 17 points and added six rebounds while Lee scored 12 points and Niya Fields made an impact with 10 points in a much needed win. The Mustangs snapped the two-game losing streak and are now 14-4 on the season.
Josh Sanchas
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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