Roundup
Centaurs fall short in ECC’s
Ledyard/St.Bernard/Waterford blitzed through the regular season undefeated against ECC competition. There was not much of a reason to believe that it would change in the championship meet. Such was the case.
Woodstock put together its best effort of the season, score-wise, but came up short against the Colonels, 144.2 – 140.35, in the ECC Championship meet last week.
Centaurs senior Olivia Aleman did all she could. 
“She had a really good meet,” said coach Kasey Tocchio adding that there is always room for improvement although not much. “She can probably gain a couple of tenths everywhere. We played it safe on floor a little but it’s the little things that she could probably improve upon a little bit.”
Aleman finished first on bars (9.55), second on beam (9.6) and vault (9.35) and fourth (9.35) in her floor routine.
That all totaled up to a 37.85 score but it couldn’t catch freshman Alyssa McLeod who paced the Ledyard co-op with a 38.2 to win the individual all-around title.
The Centaurs were hurt a bit by the absence of Emma Long who was out due to illness.
There were also a couple of misses and falls which left Tocchio feeling that she hasn’t seen the best from her club yet.
She’s hopeful that will take place in their next outing at the state championship meet on Feb. 22.
Aleman did receive the support of the ECC coaches later in the week when it was announced that she was named the league’s Player of the Year in the sport.
“I am so happy for her,” Tocchio said. “This 
was a comeback season for her and she is so deserving. She’s really showed some consistent gymnastics this season at meets and has shined in the ECC for sure. Not only is her gymnastics great, but she is also an amazing teammate and captain for the team.”
Aleman also received the team’s ECC Sportsmanship Award with Long named as the team’s ECC Scholar-Athlete.
The Centaurs will not find out which division they will be in as far as the state championship is concerned until this week.
In the meantime, they will still be competing as the majority of the team traveled to Texas for an invitational, giving them all a break from the high school circuit.
But it will be all business again
“I just want to see all of them hit their routines at States,” Tocchio said. “I think that would be so amazing. We had a good meet (at the ECC Championship) but it wasn’t a great meet. It should have really showed them the potential they have. I really want to see them feed off their teammates’ hits.”
Indoor Track
If there is one school that Juliet Allard may remember from her senior year of competition in girls’ indoor track – it will be Joel Barlow.
The school from Redding had two of its athletes deny the Woodstock senior a state title at the Class M state championship meet.
“That was tough because she was just edged out a couple of times despite having great races,” said coach Josh Welch. “I think she has more in her in the 300-meter but just hasn’t had the opportunity to pull it out.”
Taylor won the event in 41.34 seconds; Allard was second in 41.37 and just behind them was Tamia Chapman of Plainville in 41.72 seconds.
“There was a handful of runners that were battling on and off throughout the race. It was a tight pack and then it started to spread back out down the stretch and (Allard) and (Taylor) took it to the line. It was a great race. Juliet really fought hard and just narrowly missed,” Welch said.
The same scenario existed in the 55-meter hurdles where Allard and junior teammate Emma Weitknecht placed first and third in the preliminary competition, respectively.
But the heats separated the faster runners meaning Allard and Weitknecht didn’t have to deal with Barlow’s Phoebe Cora Smith or each other until the final.
Cora Smith edged out Allard and Weitknecht with an 8.66-second time with Allard in second at 8.76 and Weitknecht third in 8.94 seconds.
“It was the same thing as the 300-meter; both had great times. It wasn’t Emma’s absolute best but still good for her and Juliet had her best all-time effort, getting the school record back from Emma,” Welch said. “Cora Smith had a slightly better seed and in the head-to-head, she had a little more under the hood than what she put out in the preliminaries. The two-three (finish) for us was really cool.”
Junior Avery Plouffe also captured a second-place finish for the Centaurs in the shotput with a 35-foot, 11 ¼ -inch effort. 
Welch said of Plouffe: “She has been making the transition to rotational shot over the season. She was doing the glide style last year in outdoor which is why she had an ankle issue so rotational is a better place for her. It takes time to learn a new technique and she is starting to get up to her previous marks. She has a good bit to go before she really perfects it.”
Lillian Morgis was sixth in that event. The Centaurs, as a team, placed fourth overall with 31 points behind Hillhouse (45), Joel Barlow (37) and Mercy High School (35).
“There were a couple of points where we thought we might be really in it but Hillhouse just found a little more depth. I remember watching them in the 300-meter and they had a girl or two in every heat. We knew they were going to pick up points there so it was tough to keep up with them but we made it a meet between those top four teams. It was an exciting one,” Welch said.
The Centaurs will not know who makes the State Open championship, scheduled for Saturday, in any of the events until after the Class L state championship is held. That division was postponed until Tuesday due to weather.
Only the first-place finishers in each division are guaranteed a State Open berth with the others determined by time, distance or height.
“We have a bunch of kids hanging in the mix,” Welch said. “Avery has a shot, Juliet should most certainly go for hurdles and 300m, Emma has a good shot in the hurdles.”
Boys’ indoor track
The difficulty level was certainly extremely high for senior Christian Menounos in the boys’ 600-meter race at the Class M boys’ indoor track championship last week.
Menounos, generally a 1000 or 1600-meter runner indoors, had scaled back his distance due to the inability to train on longer distances because of a respiratory issue over the course of the season.
“He picked a heck of a race to get involved in,” coach Josh Welch said. “In Class M, there are the Conklin twins and both are phenomenal.”
Thomas Conklin, a senior at Lyman Hall High School, owns one of the best times in the country, never mind the state, in the event.
He did not disappoint in New Haven as he cruised across the finish line in 1 minute, 22.29 seconds.
Kristoff finished in second in 1:22. 69 while Menounos was third in a personal best 1:24.11 which also broke a school record that Menounos had already possessed. Menounos did finish ahead of the other Conklin brother, Timothy, who placed fourth.
“Christian ran a great time but it’s hard to defeat the state record holder,” Welch said.
His classmate, Colton Sallum, also brought home a third-place finish in the 1600-meter (4:26.87). Sallum also re-wrote the school record book in the event, besting his own record by a tenth of a second.
“He went out a little faster and tried to hang with the leaders and he did for quite a while. He just kind of broke up in the last couple of hundred. It takes a little time to acclimate to that faster pace but phenomenal effort for him,” Welch said.
He knew the runners in front of him pretty well as Sean McCauley and Sam Leone from fellow ECC member, East Lyme, finished first and second.
Sallum did the difficult double as he also competed in the 3200-meter and finished ninth. Eli Manning was sixth in the shotput with a throw of 45-feet, 2 1/2 inches. The Centaurs boys finished ninth overall.
Both Menounos and Sallum are “on the bubble” according to Welch of qualifying for the State Open but he feels both have good chances of being back in New Haven on Feb. 22.
Boys’ Basketball
And then, there was one. The boys’ basketball team has had its work cut out. It needed wins in its last four games to qualify for the CIAC Division IV state tournament.
It’s now a win away from accomplishing that near Herculean task.
The Centaurs improved to 7-12 with a 56-52 win over Somers. They need eight wins.
Coach Donte Adams said: “I told the guys when we were four games out, I said, ‘Listen up. This is our playoffs right here. We have to win four straight games to get a state game. We’re 3-0 so far and we’re treating Tuesday as a championship game. I told these guys we always play our best basketball when our backs are against the wall at the end of the season. They’re doing just that.”
The Centaurs still need a win over Waterford on Senior Night Tuesday to qualify for the State tournament.
That game will also help decide the play-in game for the ECC tournament. The Centaurs will either play at home on Wednesday or on the road in the eighth-seed vs. ninth seed game which could be against the very same Waterford team.
 “I don’t know what it is but (Friday against Windham) we were up 15 and (Saturday) we were up by (14), we just like to make it hard on ourselves. It’s exciting but it’s nerve-wracking,” said senior Matt Hernandez.
The Centaurs had a six-point lead, 38-32, going into the final quarter.
Brady Ericson, who finished with a team-high 21 points, put home a pair of buckets and Drake Abdullovski hit a 3-pointer to put the Centaurs up by 13.
The Spartans got a basket but Hernandez, who finished with 12 points and six rebounds, countered with a 3-pointer to put the Centaurs up, 48-34.
Then Somers’ Andrew Czerwinski, who finished with a game-high 30 points, scored nine consecutive points for the Spartans to cut the deficit for the visitors to five, 48-43.
Somers (6-14) got as close as two with 2:40 to play but Cam Nason (10 points) hit a clutch bucket and Ericson a pair of free throws to give Woodstock the six-point lead back.
Somers cut it to two again with six seconds left but Ericson finished things off with a couple of free throws.
“They always like to make it interesting and that makes me a better coach,” Adams said. “It’s a little scary but I have the full faith in my guys, they make free throws, are strong with the ball, make the right plays and are doing all the right things. They got it done (Saturday).”
Friday, once again, the fourth quarter got a little dicey but the Centaurs hung on for a 68-61 victory over Windham.
The Whippets had beaten the Centaurs the week before.
“That was a little give back,” Adams said. “We got one. I haven’t won there in three years and we finally got one. It came at the right time. They wanted to get that one back and keep this thing rolling.”
Ericson again paced the Centaurs with 20 points while Nason added 16 and freshman Drake Abdullovski had 10.
The Centaurs opened the week with a game in which they had some room to breathe. There was a time earlier in the season when the boys’ basketball team could not buy a 3-point basket. That was certainly not the case on Tuesday night.
The Centaurs made 13 of them against the Bacon Academy Bobcats and that powered a 75-44 win.
“We needed them,” Adams said. “We’re one of those teams where good things will happen if we make shots. (Tuesday) showed this team what that could be like.”
Woodstock began minus three starters. So, it was up to the youngsters and they delivered.
Abdullovski got his first varsity start in place of Lucas Quercia at the point guard position and was smoking to start.
The youngster hit a trio of 3-pointers in four attempts including the first basket of the game just 41 seconds in and the last basket of the quarter with 10 seconds left.
“It just gave me confidence to keep shooting. I’ve been in a slump but my team told me to keep shooting and they have had confidence in me throughout the year,” Abdullovski said.
The freshman finished with six 3-pointers in seven shots. The only shot he missed from the field was a layup. He finished with a career-high 20 points.
The Abdullovski factor resulted in a 20-13 first quarter lead for the Centaurs.
He got help in the second as Hernandez canned two 3-pointers and Carter Tosetti hit the first of his two treys to put Woodstock up, 40-22, at the half.
The lead remained double digits throughout the second half which enabled Adams to go to his bench a bit and get help from some other younger players.
“It shows that the future is bright,” Adams said. “It’s up to the older guys to put the rookies through their stations and for the young guys to see the future and have the confidence to fill the shoes of those who will be leaving.”
Hernandez finished with 12 points while Ericson contributed another double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Will St. John tossed in nine points in the victory.
Girls’ Basketball
The energy was there. The enthusiasm was there.
“It was amazing,” said junior Vivian Bibeau. “We were all ready to play. We all wanted to protect the home court, play hard, and we did just that.”
The Centaurs lost to Norwich Free Academy by 18. They returned the favor early last week.
Woodstock trailed only once in the opening seconds of the game and went on to post a 54-39 win over NFA.
The Centaurs followed that up later in the week with another strong effort as they rolled past Somers, 58-39, for their fourth consecutive win.
Woodstock is now 13-6 heading into its final regular season game against Plainfield which took place on Monday (too late for press time).
If the Centaurs are going to struggle, it’s often because they are not creating enough offense.
“I think it’s typical of most cases for us in that we play hard, regardless. When things don’t go our way it’s because the ball doesn’t go through the hole,” said coach Will Fleeton.
That was also not a problem against the Wildcats. The ball went in early and often.
The Centaurs benefited a bit from a slow start by NFA which was able to make only 1 of its 10 shots in the first quarter to take an 11-4 lead at the end of the first eight minutes.
But it didn’t stop there.
Woodstock made five of its six 3-pointers in the second quarter with Allison Camara getting two of those and Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain getting the most impactful one. The junior guard, who finished with 12 points, drained a trey as the buzzer sounded giving the Centaurs a 28-10 halftime lead.
“That’s pretty good,” Fleeton said of the 5-for-6 performance. “At the half, I had talked about how all of those 3’s we took in that first half were all rhythm shots. In the (four-game) losing streak that we had, I thought that contributed to it. We were getting those shots up, but they were not in rhythm, ball from one side to the other, and in the flow of the offense. Every one of those 3’s we took (Monday) were off some type of dribble-drive kick out or a swing around, some type of team play and that raises the shooting percentage.”
One had to anticipate a NFA resurgence in the second half. The Centaurs did. And the Wildcats attempted it.
 “It felt like too little,” Bibeau said of the halftime lead. “We knew they could always come back and had to come out of the half hard.”
NFA did get as close as nine points, 36-27, with 1:15 left in the third quarter.
But Bibeau re-established the double-digit lead with a pair of free throws with just 59 seconds left in the quarter.
D’Alleva-Bochain stemmed the tide further with another 3-pointer to open the final quarter and Bibeau, who was 6-for-6 from the line in the game, added two more from the charity stripe to make it a 16-point lead again.
Bibeau scored 13 of her team-high 16 points, tying a season high, in the second half.
“I don’t even remember scoring,” Bibeau said. “I think we were all just in the rhythm; the passes were amazing. Defense was hard and the whole game came together.”
Emily Orcutt led all scorers with 18 points for the Wildcats.
The game did not have much of an impact on the ECC regular season standings. NFA (12-6) had already clinched the Div. I regular season crown as it finished 6-2, the Centaurs finished 4-4.
But it may have made things a bit different in the Div. I tournament.
The loss by the Wildcats dropped them to second seed behind Bacon Academy and the win elevated the Centaurs (12-6) into the fourth spot in the league standings, meaning they will likely host New London in a league quarterfinal on Wednesday.
“It feels so much better,” Bibeau said of the positive streak. “Practices are intense. Everyone is ready to play. We want to go into the ECC and State tournament feeling good and ready to go.”
But, sometimes, you need a little kick in the backside. Somers provided a little of that on Thursday. 
With 5:36 left in the third quarter, they had pulled within a point, 26-25. That’s when the defense kicked in.
“That’s what coach was looking for and our whole program is about defense. It’s what is going to win the game every time and that’s what coach wants to see,” senior Sophia Sarkis said.
The Centaurs turned the game around by forcing the Spartans into five consecutive turnovers which yielded five consecutive layups, three from Saucier and two from Sarkis.
“I didn’t feel like we played the first half like we are capable; didn’t look like ourselves. At moments, we did but not steady. The big adjustment was from the team taking the challenge and turned up the intensity coming out of the locker room,” Fleeton said.
As a result, the Centaurs were up by 11 with 1:56 left to play in the quarter and never led by less than nine the remainder of the way.
Saucier finished with 16 points, 11 of those came in the second half. Bibeau and Sarkis both added 11 while D’Alleva-Bochain finished with 10.
“That’s always good,” Fleeton said of the balanced scoring. “We try to spread it around. We don’t put a lot of importance on who the high scorer is. We take what defenses give us but it was nice to have a balanced attack and a full team win.”
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

2025 Drake Abdullovski – Woodstock Academy freshman Drake Abdullovski (2), shown in a game earlier this season versus Cheney Tech, had the best game of his young high school career as he finished with 20 points in a win over Bacon Academy last week. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.

 2025 Matt Hernandez- Senior Matt Hernandez helped keep Woodstock Academy’s hopes alive for a state tournament berth with a 12-point, six rebound effort against Somers on Saturday. Photo by Sam Clark/Woodstock Academy.

2025 Olivia Aleman- Woodstock Academy senior Olivia Aleman, who finished second in the Eastern Connecticut Conference gymnastics championship, was named Player of the Year by the ECC Coaches. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.

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