The first game of the season is always difficult.
It was just a little more emotional for the Woodstock Academy girls’ basketball team Dec. 12 as it opened with a 33-24 win over Montville at the Alumni Fieldhouse.
The team has dedicated this season to senior Mackenzie Cayer’s father, Brett, who died at the start of the school year after a short bout with cancer.
Prior to the game with Montville, a moment of silence was held in honor of Brett Cayer who was a regular at all of the girls’ games. “It’s hard because I think about him all the time. He’s looking down at us and he’s proud of us,” Mackenzie Cayer said.
The team will wear his initials on their uniforms this season.
The Centaurs (2-1) followed up the season-opening Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II win with a victory over Fitch and a loss to RHAM.
Centaurs get past Montville
Coach Will Fleeton was worried because the first game of the season is always a concern. A coach never knows how his team will come out of the gate.
In this case, the Centaurs came out pretty slow. The Academy had just two baskets from the floor in the first half. Jamie Woods hit a layup and Cayer sank a 3-pointer. But that Cayer basket came with 3 minutes, 12 seconds left in the first quarter and it was the last basket of the first half for the Centaurs.
The Centaurs led, 7-5, at the end of the first quarter, but the two teams were tied, 12-12, at the half.
“It was a really rough first quarter,” Fleeton said. “I think we had some opening-season jitters and I think with the dedication, mentally, we were a bit in the clouds. We settled in the second (quarter). I thought we looked more comfortable, but then, we couldn’t make a shot to save our lives.”
Montville came out of the locker room and scored five points in the first 3:11. Alexis Michon came off the bench to score her only bucket of the game and Lauren Velazquez added her only bucket, a 3-pointer, to give the Indians a 17-14 advantage.
The Centaurs fought back to take the lead on a pair of free throws by Cayer (6 points) and a three-point play by Woods, who led the team with 14 points. The Academy held the 21-18 lead at the end of the third quarter and finally took control of the game with a 7-2 run, highlighted by an Aislin Tracey (5 points) 3-pointer.
“We take them how we can get them,” Fleeton said. “It was definitely not a pretty one.” Woods said, despite the early struggle, she feels confident in the Centaurs ability. “I’m happy with what I’m seeing. We’re a good group of girls and we’re going to have a good season,” Woods said.
Centaurs top Falcons
The Centaurs were hoping for a better offensive performance against Fitch than in their first outing. They got that and more. After scoring just 33 points in the season opener, The Academy more than doubled their output in a 74-34 win over Fitch at the Alumni Fieldhouse.
“I was confident (against Montville) that there was just a lid on the basket. We didn’t do many things differently, I expected that eventually it would go in. I was just praying that (Thursday) was the night,” Fleeton said.
He didn’t have to wait long to find out if that was going to be the case. The Centaurs scored on the opening tip. Heather Converse tipped it forward to Kalianna Dingui who put home the unchallenged layup with the game just five seconds old.
It was the first of seven points in the first 5 minutes, 9 seconds for Dingui who also added a 3-pointer in that stretch. Converse was just as effective, getting 10 points and the Centaurs reeled off 23 of the first 25 points in the game.
“We wanted to come out and speed up the game a little bit. We had two points in transition (against Montville) and we can’t do that and expect to win. I told the girls we were lucky to get that win considering the easy shots we missed. So, getting off to that fast start (Dec. 14) was important,” Fleeton said.
The Centaurs led by 20, 37-17, at the half after Woods scored six of her game-high 16 points in the second quarter.
The Centaurs finished things off by scoring 12 of the first 13 points in the third quarter. Olivia Perry added 15 for the Centaurs, 12 in the second half, while Dingui finished with 14 and Converse 11.
Sachems nip Centaurs
Converse tied the game with a pair of free throws. But RHAM’s Anna Berry scored on a layup with six seconds to play to give the hosts a 34-32 win Dec. 16.  Woods again led the Centaurs with 15 points while Cayer contributed eight.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director