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The Woodstock Academy Gold prep basketball team, ranked No. 3 in the country in most prep polls, raised its record to 28-1 with a pair of victories at the National Prep School Invitational at Rhode Island College over the weekend.
Tre Mitchell scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in a 76-62 win over Link Year Prep Feb. 1.
The Centaurs followed that up Feb. 3 with a 92-64 win over DME Academy.
.T.J. Weeks 23 points (4 steals) in the win while Mikal Gjerde added 11 points and Noah Fernandes tossed in 11 points with 6 assists, 3 steals.
Blue gets to 20 wins
The Woodstock Academy Blue prep team raised its record to 20-7 Feb. 2 with a 90-66 win over Rocky Hill School from Rhode Island at the Alumni Fieldhouse at Woodstock Academy.
Kaleb Thornton returned to the lineup and delivered 22 points for the Centaurs. Siddiq Canty added 21.
Good win
As soon as NBA Basketball Academy walked into the gym, the Woodstock Academy Blue prep basketball squad knew they probably were going to have their hands full.
“We expected them to be difficult. We saw them walk into the gym and they were very big and they were very physical. We came out and played hard (Tuesday) and got the ‘W,’” said Isaiah Jones.
Not only was the team from Mexico City big and physical, it didn’t give up either.
The Centaurs had to battle to the end before they pulled out the 74-70 win Jan. 29.
The Blue squad built its biggest lead, 12 points, with 7 minutes, 24 seconds to play on a basket by Dyson Frank.
The Utah resident was a key force in the second half when he scored all 11 of his points.
But an 11-2 run by NBA Academy cut the lead to three, 63-60, with 4:46 left and the battle was joined.
Srjda Marinkovich added a basket and Guillem Gonzalez had two free throws to put the Centaurs back up by seven.
NBA Academy knocked that down to as little as three, 67-64, only to see Woodstock Academy build it back to nine with 1:03 left.
NBA Academy scored six of the last seven points, but fell just short.
Isaiah Jones paced the Centaurs with 19 points including four 3-pointers, three in the first half.
“I was feeling good,” said Jones, from El Dorado, Calif.
It was a good thing.
Because while the outside shots were dropping, Ty Mosley and Canty also found the range from beyond the arc in the first half, the Centaurs missed numerous shots inside the paint. That was partially due to the influence of 6-foot, 11-inch Oumar Ballo who didn’t block many shots but altered a host of the Centaurs opportunities.
The win was the fourth in five games for the Blue team.
“We struggled at bit in the beginning of the season and we’re just trying to get back on track and get a win streak going,” Jones said.
The Centaurs picked up another win Jan. 31, 98-82, over the Mitchell College JV in New London.
Jeff Planutis scored 18 in that win while Canty added 17.
Indoor track
The Indoor track season continues to wind down with the Eastern Connecticut Conference boys’ and girls’ championships held Feb. 2 at the Coast Guard Academy.
The Woodstock Academy girls’ team placed fifth out of the seven schools competing in the Division I championship.
Julia Theriaque had to go against Norwich Free Academy’s Allyson Lewis in the high jump which was no easy task.
Lewis set a new standard for ECC athletes to shoot for when she cleared the bar at 5-feet, 8-inches.
Theriaque, a junior, finished second at 5-2.
“We had some very specific training to get her mentally prepared for jumps at higher heights and it paid off. Julia had one of the best jumping days I have seen from her. She had consistently clean jumps, showed much more power on takeoff, “ said Woodstock Academy indoor track coach Josh Welch.
Theriaque’s finish in the ECC will make her the top seed in the Class L state championship meet which will be held at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven Feb. 1.
“I think Julia has an excellent shot at advancing from the state class meet to the State Open and being competitive there as well. As it stands she is one of the favorites for the Class L championships by heights entered. If she can replicate what she did at the ECC championship or improve on it, she has an excellent chance,” Welch said.
Theriaque was, at least, partly responsible for 16 of the 29 points for the Centaurs scored Feb. 2.
She anchored the sprint medley team which finished fourth and also included Ivy Gelhaus, Ava Coutu and Gillian Price.
Gelhaus ran the anchor leg for the Centaurs in the 4x200 relay, which also featured Coutu, Price and Aochen Li, and also placed fourth.
Unfortunately for Gelhaus, that effort may have cost her individually. She finished fourth in the 600 meter in 1:48.88 which was 2 ½ seconds above her seed time.
Aochen (Daisy) Li reached a goal as she extended her personal season.
She qualified for the Class L competition by finishing fourth in the 55-meter hurdles in 10.16 seconds, two-tenths of a second better than her seed time.
“Daisy is really coming out of her shell, learning to be aggressive in her approach to the hurdles and not let fear get the best of her. She is really turning in to a competitor, who gets fired up at the line, and goes for it,” Welch said.
Aria Gianfrido placed sixth in the 600-meter while Iris Bazinet was sixth in both the 1,000 and 1,600- meter races.
Theriaque (high jump), Gelhaus (600m), Li (hurdles) and the 4x200 team qualified for the Class L competition.
Boys’ results
The boys’ team did not score as well as the girls, getting only 10 points in the championship competition.
The best individual performance belonged to sophomore Ethan Aspiras who was fifth in the 3,200-meter.
There were a host of sixth-place performances.
Danylo Ntamwemizi finished in that spot in the shotput with a throw of 38-feet, 10-inches; Kenneth Birlin placed sixth in the 1,000-meter with his best performance of the season and Lucas Couture was sixth in the pole vault and also qualified for the Class M state championship on Saturday morning at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven in the 55-meter hurdles.
The 4x200 team of Trey Ayotte, Dylan Ponkala, Jacob Boynton and Spencer Collins placed fourth overall while the 4x800 relay squad of Aspiras, Aidan Lisee, Hans Rynhart and Jackson Dias was fifth. In addition to Couture (hurdles), Ntamwemizi (shotput), Birlin (the 1,600-meter in addition to the 1,000) and the 4x200 team have all qualified for state competition.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
The Woodstock Academy girls’ ice hockey team played well against the Cranston (R.I.) Thunderbirds Feb. 3, but fell just short at the Jahn Ice Rink at Pomfret School, 2-1.
Eliza Dutson, who was named the Eastern Connecticut Conference Athlete of the Week the week before, scored the only goal for the Centaurs (3-8). That tally was assisted by both Bryn Miller and Sydney Haskins.
The Centaurs went on the road to the Northford Ice Rink Feb. 2 and lost to Daniel Hand of Madison, 10-3. Dutson, who has five goals this season, Chelsea Willis and Maria Santucci scored for the Centaurs. Emma Ciquera (seven points this year) had two assists while Willis, Ellie Jellison, Ashleigh Angle and Hannah Clark all added helpers.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director, The Woodstock Academy
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