The Woodstock Academy Gold prep basketball team raised its record to 5-0 with a pair of wins in the Power-5 Conference Tip-Off tournament held at the Alumni Fieldhouse.

“You can’t argue with that,” coach Tony Bergeron said of the season-opening win streak.

The Centaurs downed the Knox School, 90-43, Nov. 12. That win followed a 103-85 win over DME PG Nov. 11.

Woodstock Academy was able to accomplish something else in the win over Knox- get some rest for its starters.

After a tough battle with DME, the game versus Knox was essentially over at halftime.

The Centaurs led 58-21 behind a 19-point effort from Elijah Buchanan who finished with 22 points.

“I felt really great. I thought I was going to have mad 3’s (Sunday),” Buchanan said.

He didn’t get the chance.

After hitting his fourth 3-pointer of the game just 53 seconds into the first half, Buchanan and the remainder of the starters got a chance to sit and watch.

“When you can get the top five or six guys some rest, it’s always good. I didn’t have to play (Joe) Kasperszyk or (Chaylyn) Martin at all in the second half. (Luis) Rodriguez didn’t go more than three or four minutes,” Bergeron said.

Chris Child added 11 and Ty Perry had 10 in the win.

Tre Mitchell led the Centaurs in the Saturday victory with 27 points and 19 rebounds.

Blue breaks losing streak

The Centaurs Blue prep basketball squad broke a two-game losing streak with an easy win of their own, 97-66, over the Isaiah Christopher School.

“We stopped the bleeding a little bit,” said coach Nick DeFeo.

The Centaurs (3-2), playing their third game in three days, broke out to a 53-29 halftime lead.

The second half was a little dicey again as Isaiah Christopher clawed back and closed to within nine points, 59-50, with 11 minutes, 17 seconds to play.

“Rebounding,” DeFeo said when asked what the second-half problems that the Blue squad has experienced can be attributed to. “We’re giving teams way too many second-chance points. On Friday, (a 90-88 loss to Notre Dame Prep), we gave up 33 offensive rebounds.”

E.J. Dambreville, who signed a National Letter of Intent with Florida Southern Nov. 11, led the way with 23 points.

“We needed this win to get back on track after two tough losses. (Sunday) was good, we won by 30,” Dambreville said.

Football

WOODSTOCK – “The Chain” goes to the Player of the Game according to the Woodstock Academy coaching staff.

Nov. 11, it hung around the neck of sophomore Luis Miranda.

Miranda was the defensive stalwart for the Centaurs with a pair of touchdown-saving tackles, a reception over the top of an Abbott Tech-Immaculate defender and two of the biggest plays in the 34-20 win for the Centaurs.

On the first series of the second half, The United drove to the 14-yard line of the Centaurs. In four plays, it could only move the ball one yard. The final play being a pass from quarterback C.J. Cianflone to Matt Christie in the end zone.

Miranda stepped in between the ball and Christie and knocked it away.

Then, with three minutes left in the gamer, Cianflone sent a floater downfield that nestled itself in Miranda’s arms.

“I just saw the receiver coming up the inside, I read it, got the ball and went down. (It) sealed the game,” Miranda said.

The Centaurs were able to run out the clock for their fourth win in nine games.

“He and (Jacob) Straub have become a pretty good duo (in the defensive secondary. They understand what each other does now. (Miranda) is really coming alive, he’s going to be an outstanding football player,” Saucier said.

Before the game, the Centaurs honored the five seniors on the squad, Kameron Janice, Tyler Stuba, Straub, Seth Benoit and John Forest as well as the senior cheerleaders.

Janice will remember the day. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I will never get it again until I hit Senior night in college. Until that time, I’m just grateful for the family I have and the hard work we put in (Saturday),” Janice said.

He made the day even more memorable for himself.

Janice finished with 366 yards in 32 carries and four touchdowns to give him 29 on the season. The yardage helped him become the first Woodstock Academy football player to pass 2,000 yards rushing (2,235) in a season.

“I knew he could do it, it was obviously within range and he deserves it,” Saucier said. “It’s just another nice step in a nice season for him.”

The United scored the first touchdown of the game when Jake Payton (eight carries, 98 yards) and Matt Christie (18 carries, 91 yards) took all of three carries to go 67 yards with Payton scoring from 11 yards out.

But there was little time for celebration for The United (5-4) as the Centaurs answered with a three-play drive of their own capped by a 3-yard Janice score.

Abbott Tech-Immaculate saw a drive end at the Centaurs’ 40-yard line on a fake punt.

The Academy’s offensive coordinator Greg Alexander decided it was time to strike. He dialed up a Derek Thompson (4-for-11 passing, 86 yards) to Benoit 60-yard pass that put the Centaurs ahead to stay, 14-8.

Janice gave The Academy some breathing room at the half when another fake punt by The United did pan out. The Centaurs got the ball on the ATI 47 and Janice covered all of that in one carry for the 21-8 lead.

But the United didn’t go away. Jordan O’Brian (26 carries, 241 yards) made it a one possession game with a 13-yard run with 2:39 left in the third quarter.

Janice took some of the sting out of that with a 57-yard score on the Centaurs next play from scrimmage.

The Centaurs gambled at the beginning of the final quarter, electing to go for it one a 4th-and-10 from the 50.

An incomplete pass turned the ball over and O’Brian scored from a yard out with 11:05 to play to make it 28-20. “I was very concerned,” Saucier said. The Centaurs took away that concern with 3:11 left when Janice broke free for a 54-yard score and Miranda guaranteed the win with his interception.

The Centaurs finish off the season on Thanksgiving Day when they host undefeated Killingly in the first meeting between the two on the holiday.

 Soccer

A nice win Nov. 6 meant a long trip Nov. 8.

Unfortunately for The Woodstock Academy boys’ soccer team, the trip was not a fruitful one.

The 13th-seeded Centaurs made the nearly two-hour journey to Monroe where they met No. 4 Masuk and saw their season come to a close after a 5-1 loss in a Class L state tournament second-round match.

“It was a disappointing end to the season, I thought the boys played well,” said Woodstock Academy coach Paul Rearden.

The Centaurs felt like they were still in the match with the Panthers (16-1-1) at the half when they only trailed, 2-0.

But Masuk made it 3-0 just under 10 minutes into the second half and added a fourth goal seven minutes later.

Eli Child scored the only goal for Woodstock (12-7-1), his third of the season, when he stole a clear and zipped it back 25 yards into the Panther net with 18:17 to play.

 “I’ve been proud of the lads, how they have played and their commitment. We, obviously, would have liked to go further in the (Eastern Connecticut Conference) tournament, but we were proud of the first-round win over a really good Brookfield side,” Rearden said.

The Woodstock Academy coach thought that victory on Monday was the highlight of the season.

“It showed everything good about the team and the season,” Rearden said of the 4-3 win over Brookfield. “We had some great team play, strong defense and a never say quit attitude.”

It was also the healthiest the Centaurs had been in a while.

Junior Ethan Holcomb (4 goals, 2 assists) and senior Italian exchange student, Jacopo Ambrosetti (17 goals), have been bothered by injury for much of the second half of the season.

Holcomb was injured early and never really made it back to 100 percent. Rearden said that hampered not only his, but also the team’s rhythm and effectiveness.

Ambrosetti suffered an injury midway through the season after a fantastic start.

“He was, obviously, a massive add to the squad and was a great education for the lads playing next year. He is a player of a level rarely seen and we have been fortunate to have him. It was really frustrating not to have him fully fit,” Rearden said.

Rearden said the team captains, Holcomb and Cole Hackett, both of whom will return next season, and senior Jack Gelhaus were “the spine of the team this season both on and off the field.”

“Their ability on the field is top quality as is their leadership, a good example to the younger players who look up to them so much,” Rearden said.

Marc Allard

Sports Information Director

 

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