Roundup
Centaurs claim ECC Div.I regular season title
It’s nice to win a divisional league title. It’s even nicer having done so after playing one of your best games of the season.
The Woodstock Academy girls’ basketball team was firing on all cylinders in the first half of its game against New London.
It resulted in an early double-digit lead that was never breached by the Whalers as the Centaurs went on to a 56-33 win.
The victory gave Woodstock the ECC Div. I regular season title.
“It’s what we’ve been working for, for four years now so it feels good. It feels like we really deserve this one. It’s been a long time coming,” said senior Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain.
Fellow senior Kaylee Saucier said: “It feels great. Four years ago, we were at New London and, honestly, we got crushed. So to come full circle and play as good as we did feels really good.”
The Centaurs wasted little time in establishing a double-digit lead as D’Alleva-Bochain, Saucier and Elise Coyle all hit early 3-pointers and Woodstock scored the first 11 points of the game.
The passing game then took over with Saucier hitting D’Alleva-Bochain with three crisp passes in the first half that resulted in easy buckets.
“A little duo action,” Saucier said. “It feels like we have played together forever so it’s come together.”
The Centaurs led 17-6 at the end of the first quarter as they forced New London to abandon the team concept of offense and just take shots when they showed, often forcing when they didn’t. As a result, the Whalers were just 4 of 18 from the field in the first half while the Centaurs were a blistering 14-for-25.
As a result, they led 33-11 at the half.
“I think we played our game,” coach Will Fleeton said. "That’s the team that we want to be. I think we defended them well. I think our offense was well-structured, focused and stable; we didn’t get out of control. We got some transition buckets as well so I thought we were pretty tough in that first half.”
Trailing by 22 made it more than difficult for New London to come back and also made it a little tougher for Woodstock to be as focused.
“It shouldn’t be but I think it was (Friday),” D’Alleva-Bochain said of the less than focused second half play. “I think we struggled offensively in the third quarter and going into the postseason, we have to work on that, by no means are we done.”
But the Whalers never got closer than 17 points and the Centaurs walked away with the divisional title.
Fleeton said: “That’s something that has been chased by these girls. They wanted that this year so that was on the board way back when the sun was out. It’s nice to be able to check one of those boxes.”
Saucier and Elise Coyle led the Centaurs with 14 points apiece while D’Alleva-Bochain added 12.
Nyarah Dudley paced the Whalers with 12 points and Jaidelis Rivera tossed in 11.
The win was the ninth in a row for Woodstock which improved to 14-4 overall.
“We’re happy but we’re not satisfied,” Saucier said. “We have many goals ahead including to make it to the Mohegan Sun. This is just one hurdle to overcome.”
The Centaurs still have two regular season games to play against Plainfield and Fitch before setting their sights on the ECC tournament and a possible Mohegan Sun appearance in a league championship game.
“It’s one of the goals.” Fleeton said of making the ECC championship game. “We talked about that over the summer so that’s another box that we have to check. This box came before and we still have to finish with Fitch because we want to finish undefeated in Div.I so there is no doubt.”
The Centaurs came into Friday night feeling pretty good as they downed Norwich Free Academy, 53-37, earlier in the week.
D’Alleva-Bochain paced the Centaurs in that contest with 17 points, including three first-quarter 3-pointers, while fellow senior Vivian Bibeau, who battled foul woes on Friday night, finished with 13 against the Wildcats.
Gymnastics
The numbers, as far as team totals, have been rising for the gymnastics team and that is certainly a good thing with the postseason now upon the Centaurs.
Woodstock competed in the ECC championship last week and the results mirrored those of the regular season.
The Ledyard Co-op took home the team title from Stonington High School with a 144.85 total followed by Norwich Free Academy (138.35) and the Centaurs (132.6).
“The girls did a really great job as a team (Wednesday),” said coach Kasey Fillmore. “We had a few little mistakes that we had to count but also a lot of great routines. It was a really great, loud atmosphere and the girls had a lot of fun.”
Anyah Oatley was tops for the Centaurs as she placed seventh in the All-Around (34.7) and had the third-best vault of the night (8.85).
The return of Oatley to the Centaurs lineup has certainly paid dividends.
“Having Anyah back has been great. She has helped out our team in every event and will help give us a shot at doing even better at States,” Fillmore added.
Rhea Desota was sixth best on the bars (8.75) and Emma Long was 12th in the All-Around.
“Both captains (Desota and Long) really helped lead the team. Emma’s bar routine stood out; it was her best of the season. Watching her jump in celebration after saluting (the judge) was the icing on the cake and Rhea also placed on bars which was great,” Fillmore said.
Woodstock is ranked 11th in the state and will be involved in either the Class S or M state championship meet.
“Depending on the Division we’re in, we could do really well and we’re excited to compete one more time as a team,” Fillmore said.
Boys’ Basketball
Playing on the road. High school basketball teams may have to get used to it as the postseason looms.
The boys are certainly not afraid of it as they proved the past week.
The Centaurs went on the road for three games and came away with two wins and almost a third as they lost the week’s opener to Somers in overtime.
“It just shows that we’re road warriors, can win on the road,” said coach Donte Adams.
The Centaurs may have fallen short against the Spartans but found ways to win at Windham and East Lyme.
It was an up-and-down night against the Vikings before Woodstock could wipe their brow and be happy with a 64-53 win over the Vikings.
Woodstock scored the first 15 points of the game and enjoyed a 50-29 advantage by the end of the third quarter.
Most would think, ‘game over’. The Vikings did not.
East Lyme rallied and scored the first 17 points of the final eight minutes to cut the deficit to four with four minutes left.
“We’ve been in close games throughout the season and we know how to finish out,” Adams said.
Instead of panic, resolve set in. The Centaurs answered the Vikings with an 11-4 run of their own to go back up by 11 with a minute to play.
“We went on that run and it shut everything down. We made plays, got stops and made free throws down the stretch to finish it,” Adams said.
For example, junior forward Xawier Matwiej may not have made a field goal in the second half but made eight of nine from the line.
“Sometimes, we struggle at the free throw line but getting into March and the tournament; we have to make free throws especially on the road. It was great to see him make eight of nine,” Adams said.
Matwiej finished with a team-best 18 points with Drake Abdullovski close behind with 17 and Jamie Dean Stewart added 15.
Karch Kaczor led all scorers with 25 for the Vikings.
The Centaurs had to fight back a bit to pick up the 56-47 win over Windham.
Woodstock had a two-point lead at the half, 28-26, thanks in part to an 18-point effort from Abdullovski.
Unfortunately, the sophomore cooled off and did not score in the third quarter and the host Whippets took advantage.
Windham took a 35-32 lead halfway through the quarter and led by one going into the fourth.
Abdullovski regained his touch in the final eight minutes, going four-for-four from the line and scoring 11 points to finish with 28 for the game and help the Centaurs claw back for the win.
“That was just a testament to our season; close games. We’re able to win close games and that’s what we predict the tournament will be like. If we get these close wins now, we will be fine in March,” Adams said.
Matwiej was the only other player in double figures with 10.
Francisco Alvarado had 22 points for the Whippets and Anden Gonzalez had 10.
Earlier in the week, Abdullovski watched as his shot circled the rim twice before falling in at the buzzer to force overtime.
Unfortunately, the sophomore guard’s heroics went for naught as Somers outscored the Centaurs 11-3 in the extra four minutes to post the 82-74 non-league win.
Andrew Czerwinski led all scorers with 40 points for the host Spartans.
Abdullovski finished with 28 for the Centaurs with four 3-pointers. Matwiej contributed 11 and Stewart added nine.
The Centaurs came out of the week with a 10-7 record but it’s far from over. A big final week of the regular season awaits Woodstock.
The Centaurs hosted Plainfield on Monday and then took on Killingly on Senior Night Tuesday. A win over the Trailblazers would give the Centaurs a likely share of the ECC Div. II title.
“A division title would be big. It would be my first in four years with the program and the school’s first in a couple of years. Even though it would be a tie, it would be a great way to continue to build the program and just show how far the players and program have come,” Adams said.
The Centaurs would need not only a win over Killingly on Tuesday to make that happen but also a win on the road over Waterford in their final regular season game on Friday.
Wrestling
The ECC portion of the high school wrestling season has come to an end.
The ECC championship tournament was held on Saturday and two days prior to that, the ECC held its girls’ wrestling championship.
Senior Olivia DiGregorio had a memorable outcome in the girls’ tournament. She finished runner up in the 132-pound division.
DiGregorio was seeded fifth going into the event, won her first two matches by pin before being pinned in the second round of the championship match.
“I was really happy for Olivia,” said coach Cahan Quinn. “She’s been wrestling tough all year in our starting lineup, never quits and always puts up a great fight. Seeing her take second is a testament to her hard work over the past three years.”
Jake Henderson started out well with a pair of victories in the ECC championship on Saturday.
His good fortune ran out in the third-round match and he was sent to the consolation round where both he and teammate Aiden Soukaloun wound up with sixth-place finishes.
Soukaloun lost his battle for fifth place, 5-4, and Henderson was on the wrong side of a 6-3 decision.
“Seeing them get medals was awesome considering each only has three years’ experience in the sport,” Quinn said.
Owen Hamilton did get a first-round victory but fell into the consolation bracket in the second. A.J. Landreville did win a consolation round match before going out.
“I was extremely happy with the team’s performance across the board,” Quinn said. “Getting great matches for everyone and getting them more mat experience against high-caliber opponents was good. This will definitely help with States. Just being ready to wrestle anyone at any time regardless of seed placement and being able to still have confidence.”
The Centaurs will compete in the Class M championship at Guilford on Friday and Saturday.
Boys’ Hockey
It was an unusual break. The boys’ hockey team last played 10 days before on Feb. 4 when they finally got back on to the ice on Saturday.
What made it even a little odder was that the last team they had played, Tri-Town, was the team they had to play again.
The combination did not work in the Centaurs favor.
Tri-Town took a page out of the Woodstock, got on the board early, and held on for a 3-1 victory.
It was the first win of the season for the TerrorCats (1-12-2) and dropped the Centaurs to 1-14 on the year.
Tri-Town wasted no time in making a statement as it scored just 30 seconds into the game when Kade O’Connor found himself open in front of the net, took a pass from Jacob Jenkins and converted.
“We did the same exact thing to them (in Enfield on Feb. 4 when the Centaurs posted a 3-0 win), we scored just 28 seconds in, put them on their heels and never let go,” said coach Drew Beaupre.
Tri-Town followed the same recipe. Theo Grzelek got the puck in his own end in a 4-on-4 battle, outskated the field and won the 1-on-1 battle with Woodstock keeper Brady Hebert to make it 2-0 at the 6:21 mark of the first period.
The first period was marred by penalties; the second period was worse and it resulted in neither team being able to put the puck in the net.
“I think not being on the ice for a while may have played a role but we had to take advantage of that layoff, it was probably the last long stretch of practice we will have this season,” Beaupre said.
The third period was quiet until the final minute. Down by two goals, the Centaurs pulled Hebert and Wesley Rossi took advantage, sending the puck in from center ice into the unprotected net.
Woodstock avoided the shutout when senior Alex Haggerty scored off a Cam Perreault assist with 18 seconds left. It was the third goal of the season for Haggerty.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
captions:
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The girls’ basketball team captured the ECC Div. I regular season title with a 56-33 win over New London. Photo by Joshua Hernandez / actionframe_media.
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The Woodstock Academy bench erupts at the end of Friday night’s game after the Centaurs claimed the ECC Div. I regular season girls’ basketball title. Photo by Joshua Hernandez / actionframe_media.
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Olivia DiGregorio (shown in file photo) finished runner up in the 132-pound division at the ECC girls’ wrestling championship tournament. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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Wrestlers Aidan Soukaloun, left, and Jake Henderson have their bling on as they display the hardware for taking a sixth-place finish at the ECC wrestling championship tournament. Photo by Cahan Quinn/Woodstock Academy.
WA Gymnastics
The gymnastics team gathered after a third-place finish at the ECC gymnastics championship. Photo by Kasey Fillmore/Woodstock Academy.
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