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Celebrate
Five senior members of the Woodstock Academy girls’ ice hockey team celebrate before embarking on the team’s trip to Simsbury for its final game of the season. Photo by Maddy Millar, The Woodstock Academy.
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Commits
The Woodstock Academy Gold prep basketball guard Julian Soumaoro committed to play Div. I for Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina. Photo by Marc Allard, The Woodstock Academy.
The top-seeded Woodstock Academy Centaurs boys’ basketball team knew it had to accomplish one thing early in its ECC postseason experience tournament quarterfinal game with No. 9 Wheeler March 19.
The Centaurs had to get out of the blocks early.
“We knew it was a first-round game against a slightly weaker team and we had to come out and send the message that we’re not here to play around, we’re going for that chip and that’s what we did,” said Centaurs senior guard Jacob Hernandez.
Thanks to the play of seniors Andrew Johnson and Logan Talbot, the Centaurs were able to do just that and had little to worry about the rest of the way as they handed the Lions a 78-37 loss.
The Centaurs moved on to the ECC semifinals where they played host to No. 5 Windham, which advanced with a 33-30 win over fourth-seeded Griswold March 19.
The semifinal game took place March 23. (too late for this edition)
Johnson scored half of the Centaurs points in the first 3 minutes, 18 seconds of the game when Woodstock Academy (9-1) broke out to a 12-0 lead over Wheeler.
Centaurs senior Dmitrii Zinchenko added four of those points while Talbot had the other two but also assisted on a couple of the Johnson baskets.
“They were a great tandem early in the game,” Woodstock Academy coach Marty Hart said of Talbot and Johnson. “I appreciate their energy because it started on defense and overflowed into the offense. It looks real nice when the ball is going into the hole.”
March 19 the Centaurs made 64 percent of their shots in the first quarter, 10-for-17, with Talbot getting 10 points to go with Johnson’s half-dozen.
Woodstock Academy owned the 24-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Talbot added 10 more, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter, and the team eclipsed its first quarter performance, shooting 66 percent from the floor. It resulted in a 45-18 halftime lead for the Centaurs.
Talbot finished with a game-high 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor including 5-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc and had seven rebounds.
He is now averaging 17.7 points per game this season.
Everybody but one player found their way to the scoring column for the Centaurs.
Johnson finished with 13 while junior Ethan Davis contributed 10 and a team-best nine rebounds.
Wheeler (1-7) had no answers. “They were scrappy. They had size and really found the boards. Hats off to them. We were just glad to get the ‘W’ and move on to the semifinals,” Hart said.
Senior co-captain Lukas Jones and junior forward Nick Larkin led the Lions with eight points apiece.
Girls’ ice hockey finishes up
It was an abbreviated season that became even shorter.
Pandemic protocol sidelined the Woodstock Academy girls’ ice hockey program until last week when the Centaurs were finally allowed back on to the ice.
They practiced March 19 and played their final game of the season on the road in Simsbury March 21.
The Centaurs played two games against two club teams before their season was interrupted.
It was tough on the team.
“Especially for the seniors who had to spend much of the end of the season in quarantine, on top of already having a shortened season, it was devastating. So to be able to sneak this game in was huge for them. To end on a good note was great,” said first-year head coach Maddy Millar.
The Centaurs were not exactly in hockey shape and it showed on the ice as the Northern Lights scored a 3-1 victory.
Prior to the game, the Centaurs held a Senior Day to honor their six seniors; Kileigh Gagnon, Liz Silbermann, Maria Santucci, Maddie Silbermann, Eliza Dutson and Ciara MacKinnon.
The Centaurs (1-2) fell behind Northern Lights, 3-0, before getting on the board in the third period.
Woodstock Academy was pressuring its opponent’s goal and the puck snuck out to the point where Alex Lee sent it back in. The Northern Lights goalie made the save, but the rebound popped out on to the stick of Bella Chaves who scored for a second time this season for the Centaurs.
Millar thought her team played well especially considering the length of time the Centaurs were off the ice. She also made sure everyone got a chance to play.
“I can’t even put it into words,” Millar said when asked if she hopes to be to have a normal season come next winter. “I haven’t experienced any sort of normalcy since I’ve been here. I did get to experience what the team was like for six weeks and the culture and saw the things we need to work on and build off of for next year. The incredible part is seeing what the future of the program will be like with all these young middle schoolers coming in and bringing all their skill. I’m really looking forward to not only next year but the next couple of years with these kids.”
Soumaoro headed to N.C.
Early last week, Woodstock Academy Gold prep basketball player Julian Soumaoro made the decision.
After practice one afternoon, Soumaoro got on to the phone with Gardner-Webb University coach Tim Craft and told him the good news.
Soumaoro had decided to become a Runnin’ Bulldog.
“Oh man, I can’t tell you how much of a weight that is off my shoulders,” Soumaoro said. “This is what I came here for. I took the extra year to better myself, it feels good just to know that it worked out.”
Gardner-Webb is a Division I program that plays in the Big South Conference. It finished 11-15 this season.
“It’s a great dream of mine, one of my main goals,” Soumaoro said of the chance to play D-I basketball. “I could have gone to (a college) after high school, a D-II or a (junior college), but I bet on myself, took the chance, trusted (Woodstock Academy prep head) coach Jacque (Rivera) and Woodstock Academy and here we are.”
Soumaoro said he was getting “a lot of love” from the Gardner-Webb coaching staff and he likes how it promotes a winning mentality.
Rivera said he believes Gardner-Webb will be a good fit for Soumaoro as the university has a history of success with athletes who come out of the Northeast.
Unfortunately, the news on the floor was not as good for the Centaurs as the news off of it. The Woodstock Academy Gold prep basketball team saw its record dip to 5-5 with a pair of losses over the weekend to Upper Room Christian School out of New York.
The Royals were able to put together two second-half comebacks and posted a 72-61 win March 19 and a 55-54 win March 20 in the two games.
Jayden Beloti came off the bench to spark the Centaurs in the first half of the March 19 game.
The guard scored 15 of his team-high 18 points in the opening half including five in the final 1 minute, 4 seconds of the half to help the Centaurs get a little breathing room.
Belotii’s 3-pointer with two seconds left in the half put Woodstock Academy up, 39-33, going into the break.
But the good vibes would not last when the two teams switched sides of the court,
Upper Room Christian tied the game at 52 with 10:49 left and outscored the Centaurs 20-9 the remainder of the way.
Pipe Ajayi was the only other player in double figures on Friday for the Centaurs.
The post player from Alberta, Canada, finished with 13 points, seven from the charity stripe, and pulled down 10 rebounds.
Guard Omar Cooper was also effective off the boards with eight caroms. Soumaoro and Kwesi Henry each scored seven for the Centaurs.
The Woodstock Academy Blue prep basketball team is on a four-game win streak.
The Centaurs knocked off Army Prep at home March 18, 62-50, and held them off again, 72-69, at West Point, N.Y., March 19.
D’Amonte Johnson paced the Centaurs March 18 with a 22-point effort. He combined with guard Mark Heber (14 points) for seven 3-pointers. Ethan Edwards added 10 in the win.
It was Edwards who was the catalyst in the nail biter. He led five Woodstock Academy players in double figures with 17 points in the win.
Heber equaled his Thursday output with 14 points with Johnson and Levi King both putting down 11 points and Kyle Alcy finished with 10.
Indoor Track
Centaurs perform well in Norwich
Indoor track athletes had to wait for any competition, but the wait has paid off and should help kick start the outdoor track season.
The Woodstock Academy boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams went south again March 20 to compete under some pretty nice conditions at Norwich Free Academy. The Centaurs took advantage of the sun and temperatures near 60 degrees to score a pair of victories over the Wildcats.
The Woodstock Academy boys posted a 61-42 win while the Centaurs girls dropped NFA, 69-33, according to Woodstock Academy coach Josh Welch’s tabulations. The event was not officially scored.
Bella Sorentino again had a successful day on the girls’ side of the ledger as she finished first in the hurdles, long jump and shot put.
Linsey Arends was a first-place finisher in the 1000 meter, was second in the 1600 meter and was a member of the winning 4x800 meter relay squad.
Jill Edwards took a first in the high jump and was second in both the 100 meter hurdles and long jump while Carah Bruce won the 3200 meter and Leah Castle was best in the 1600 meter.
Among the boys, senior Ethan Aspiras was a winner in the 1000 and 3200 meter races and was also a member of the winning 4x800 meter relay team.
The boys’ team also won both the 4x200 and 4x400 relay events.
Eric Phongsa won the 100 meter, Adam Schimmelpfennig was tops in the 110 hurdles and Liam Wilcox was best in the high jump and second in the long jump.
“I hope we will continue to attract talent from crossover athletes who have come from football, soccer, volleyball, gymnastics and the rest," said Welch.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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