Roundup
Aleman gets
2nd in States
It was a familiar feeling for Woodstock Academy senior Olivia Aleman. On Saturday, she and freshman teammate Anyah Oatley competed in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference State Open gymnastics championship.
It was her first time to do so since 2023 when she finished as runner up by 0.050 of a point.
Aleman could not compete in last year’s Open as she did not have enough competitions due to injury.
Aleman finished as runner up to Ana Pepin of Trumbull by 0.050 of a point.
Pepin finished with a 37.775 total while Aleman was right behind at 37.725.
“She had an amazing day,” said coach Kasey Tocchio. ”The point 0.050 is tough and when I said that to her, she reminded me about (two years) ago. I forgot that she was that close then, too. She looked amazing out there (Saturday), strong and we were really proud of her.”
Aleman performed well in all her events especially the vault where she nailed a 9.575 score to finish as state champion in the event.
Aleman also placed third overall in the bars (9.35) and beam (9.45) and sixth in the floor routine (9.35), hitting in all three events but could not catch Pepin who was not one of the favorites coming in.
Oatley got her first experience at the Open and also performed well. “She nailed her vault and her bars routine and as a freshman, coming into the Open for a first time without the whole team here, is a tough thing to do. She handled it really well,” Tocchio said.
Oatley finished 8.9 on vault with a very nice second effort and added an 8.7 for her bars routine.
Aleman will compete in-state one more time for Woodstock as she heads for the New England Championship meet on Saturday.
Both Aleman and Oatley also received honors earlier in the week as they were named Class M All-State performers.
Prep Select
The first regular season for the Prep Select basketball team came to a close this week. “It’s been an interesting year but we have had a lot of life lessons and have really grown as a team,” said head coach Tom Holmes. “To see the growth we have had in our games since we formed in November and December to now — it’s night and day.”
That’s due, in part, to the ability to communicate, at least, on the court.
The Prep Select team hails from a host of countries including Belgium, The Netherlands, Turkey, Serbia, Macedonia, Italy, the Cayman Islands, Spain, Germany, Bermuda and China.
“There was a language barrier to start, a lot of different cultures, a lot of different countries represented within our team. They have become best friends. That’s something that’s really special about the game of basketball, it connects people from all over the world in a way that many things cannot,” Holmes said. “Every country, though, has its own distinct style of play. Some like the faster tempo, some the slower, some emphasize mid-range shots. I can talk all day about that so we just focused, as a team, on things that we could do well.”
The Centaurs finished the regular season with an 8-22 record but had three good battles in their last three games.
That began early in the week with a game that had to be decided in extra minutes as the Centaurs took Bushe Academy from Chester, N.H, into overtime but fell short, 74-71.
Woodstock led by as many as nine in the second half only to see the Lions (8-15) catch them and briefly go ahead by a point with 10 minutes, 55 seconds left in regulation.
“They hit some tough 3’s and played really well,” Holmes said.
The Centaurs forged back ahead and a pair of baskets by post-grad center DeNash Davis (20 points) gave the hosts a 63-55 advantage.
But Busche Academy’s Carmelo Man-Son Hing scored five points, Elijah Moore (22 points) added a 3-pointer and Jaeshawn Rogers had a bucket to put the Lions back in front, 65-63 with 33 seconds left. With just 11 ticks of the clock left. Davis slammed one home for the Centaurs to send the game into overtime.
Busche Academy came out of the blocks first with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer.
The Centaurs clawed their way back on a pair of their own free throws from Casper Dee Winkel and baskets from Filippo De Giorgi (17 points) and Davis.
With 52 seconds left, Woodstock was up by one but the Lions scored the final four points to account for the final.
David Volz, who led the team with 22 points, and had the game-winner at the buzzer against St. Andrews, saw his last-second 3-point attempt hit the front and back of the rim but refused to drop in.
“It was great to see the team put in the effort and it was great to see the crowd out. I’m very proud of how we played,” Holmes said.
Prior to the game, the Centaurs and the Woodstock Dance team celebrated Senior Night. Dee Winkel, Nick Gabechava, Tomas Pejkov, De Giorgi, Volz and Davis were all recognized.
“It’s always tough to see players leave, it never gets easy, they will move on to bigger and better things, I have no doubt about that. I’m happy for them,” Holmes said.
The Centaurs played two other games this past week. Just two days after the overtime setback, the Centaurs hosted Hoosac School and lost another heartbreaker, 65-55.
De Giorgi enjoyed himself in that contest with 27 points.
The Centaurs also hosted Broome Street Academy on Thursday and, despite having 11 of their 15 players put points on the board, fell short, 80-66.
Volz led the way in that contest with 17 points while De Giorgi added 12.
The season is not over for the Centaurs who will play in the Power 5 prep conference tournament.
Boys’ Hockey
Ending on a strong note. It’s what coach Mark Smolak was hoping for.
It’s what he got from his Centaurs.
“One of the things that we struggled with this season was the consistency of our effort and execution. I think the reality that this could be the last game for them resulted in a full-game effort, what we’ve been looking for all season, and we played one of our best games of the year,” Smolak said.
It didn’t produce a win, which were hard to come by this season, but the Centaurs challenged the Eastern Connecticut Eagles in a Nutmeg Conference tournament semifinal Friday before falling in overtime, 3-2.
The loss ended the season for the Centaurs as their 3-17-1 record meant they will not qualify for the CIAC Division II state tournament.
“We were in our own zone in the first period but we dominated the second and third periods and we had eight to 10 really good opportunities in the first five minutes of overtime. We just could not put it in,” Smolak said.
The Eagles were able to.
Sophomore Aiden Toenness scored an unassisted goal 6 minutes, 41 seconds into the extra period to vault Eastern Connecticut into the Nutmeg Conference championship game against the Suffield-Granby-Windsor Locks Co-op.
The Eagles took the 1-0 lead 8:35 into the contest when Derrick Fedikovich scored the only goal of the first period.
Carlos Rodriguez Camacho scored his seventh goal of the season for the Centaurs off an assist from Sam Desmond to tie the contest 2:21 into the second period.
The two teams then exchanged third period goals.
The Eagles took the lead just 30 seconds into the final 15 minutes and the Centaurs waited until just seconds remained in regulation to get the equalizer.
Woodstock called a time out to prepare to pull keeper Brady Hebert from the net. It was hoped that Camacho would win the face off and get it to Jayden Fuller who could use his speed to get to the Eagles’ end.
Not all things went exactly as planned but the end result was what was hoped for.
“We lost the face off, recovered it quickly — not how we drew it up — but it ended with a Jayden Fuller break that got us the goal,’ Smolak said,
Fuller’s last goal in a Woodstock uniform, his 14th of the season was a memorable one as it came with 19 seconds left in regulation and forced the overtime.
Three members of the Centaurs, Fuller, and fellow seniors Seamus Coleman and Devlin Mansolf, were named All-Nutmeg Conference.
The Centaurs were coming off a pair of losses to finish off the regular season.
Woodstock lost a game to Cheshire to start the week, 8-1, with Desmond getting the only tally of the contest.
The Centaurs failed to find the net on Wednesday in a 6-0 loss to Lyman Hall.
The big concern for Smolak as this season ends and a new one beckons next winter is that key word, “consistency.”
“If we’re moving our feet, playing determined hockey at both ends of the ice and having a willingness to attack center ice, we should be alright and there should be a lot of players who can grow. Part of the issue we had, is that we have a lot of young players who were expected to make a jump forward,” Smolak said.
Some did like Cam Perrault, who with freshman Gabe Flannery, will be two of the top scorers returning next season as Fuller, Camacho, Seamus Coleman and Desmond, who had two assists in the game on Friday, will all move on.
Defensively, Smolak thought Kellen Coleman and Kieran Shepherd made some strides and the Centaurs will have goalie Brady Hebert back as a senior.
“We’re expecting he will probably play all of the games next year. Aiden (Adams) came a long way from where he was at the beginning of the season to where he was at the end, a little more comfortable,” Smolak said.
The coach also expects another goalie to come in as a freshman next season.
Another thing the Centaurs may benefit from – a more competitive schedule.
The Centaurs played three in-state Div. I games and a couple versus Rhode Island schools.
“We had the schedule that we had based on the teams that went to the playoffs. A lot of teams, when I told them that we were not the team that we were the last five years, thought I was kidding. That made it more difficult for us to schedule games that would be more competitive for our group. I think next year, we will have a more competitive schedule that will be a little easier for us to play and give them the confidence they need to develop,” Smolak said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
2025 Olivia Aleman vault: Woodstock Academy senior Olivia Aleman owns the top spot as she captured the State Open gymnastics championship in vault at New Milford High School on Saturday (Photo by Kasey Tocchio/Woodstock Academy).
2025 Olivia Aleman All-Around: Woodstock Academy senior Oliva Aleman finished as runner-up to Trumbull’s Ana Pepin in the All-Around competition at the CIAC Gymnastics State Open championship in New Milford on Saturday. (Photo by Kasey Tocchio/Woodstock Academy).
Senior Night: The Woodstock Academy dance team and Prep Select basketball team celebrated Senior Night last week at the Alumni Fieldhouse. (Photo by Collin Singleton/Woodstock Academy).
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