Roundup
Woodstock advances in state tournament play
When a high school player scores 1000 points, it’s a career highlight and is duly celebrated.
Unfortunately, it’s a highlight that can come at the wrong time for a team.
That may have been the case for the Fitch Falcons girls’ basketball team March 7.
The Falcons were locked into a tough duel with the Centaurs in a CIAC Div. II state tournament first-round game when junior Synna Waters tied the game at 29 just 41 seconds into the third quarter.
The basket gave Waters 1000 career points and called a brief halt to the game.
When it resumed, the Centaurs went on an 11-point run that Fitch never recovered from and Woodstock went on to the 61-45 win.
The victory meant the seventh-seeded Centaurs advanced to a Div. II second-round game at home March 10 against No. 10 Bristol Central (the game ended too late for this edition).
The Rams also posted a first-round victory over No. 25 New Milford, 74-42.
“I knew we hit our stride in the third quarter but I wasn’t aware it was right after (the celebration). Maybe it slowed her down a bit, maybe she embraced the moment, I know I would and maybe that created a bit of fog and contributed to our run but I think we had something to do with that as well,” said coach Will Fleeton.
The 26th -seeded Falcons had hung with the Centaurs in the first half which ended in a 27-all tie, but suffered from four turnovers right after the third quarter stoppage and the Centaurs cashed in on all of them.
Elise Coyle took a pass from Kaylee Saucier for a layup that began the run; Vivian Bibeau hit a 3-pointer; Saucier had a bucket followed by one from Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain and Saucier closed out the run with another basket.
“We knew that we didn’t play the best that we could in the first half. We knew we had to tighten up on defense because (Fitch) has one of the best guards in the (ECC, had to push the pace and run when we could,” Saucier said.
Waters ended the Woodstock run with a 3-pointer.
She needed just 16 points to reach 1000 for her career coming into the game and had 15 in the first half alone. She finished with 28.
In the three meetings with the Centaurs, Waters eclipsed 25 points in each.
“We knew she was going to get her 1000th career point, we had a heads up, but when you see the celebration and know that everyone’s excited, we knew we had to turn it up because we knew they would be raring to go,” Saucier added.
The Centaurs opened a 16-point lead by the end of the third quarter in which they scored 25 points as a team.
“That was huge,” Fleeton said. “I told the kids let’s try to break the quarters in half and see if we can win them that way because of the fight in the first half. I think we won a couple of four-minute clumps in the first half but they did as well. We just try to take it second-by-second and try to impose our will.”
Coyle led the Centaurs with 14 points.
“We were definitely focused on trying to stay composed but still having energy at the same time. We wanted to bounce back because (of a loss in the ECC Championship game on the Monday before) was a bit of a disappointment. We’re just moving on and trying to start a new run in the States and show who we are,” Coyle said.
Both Saucier and Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain added 12 points and the other two starters, Allison Camara and Vivian Bibeau contributed 10 each.
“Elise is capable, they all are, one thing I recognized was that, I may be wrong, but I think it was the first time that we had all five (starters) in double figures and that was huge. It’s a good symbolism of who we are and how we share the ball,” Fleeton said.
Girls’ Basketball - ECC
It was an experience. The girls’ basketball team would have liked to have it end on a happier note but it did get a chance for a first-time ever to play under the bright lights of the Mohegan Sun Arena in an ECC girls’ basketball Div. 1 championship game early last week.
“It was a great opportunity,” said senior Kaylee Saucier. “We definitely wanted a different outcome but to be able to play at the Mohegan Sun with my best friends in my senior year, I can’t really ask for anything else.”
The second-seeded Centaurs took a lead into the fourth quarter but suddenly went cold.
They hit only one field goal and fourth-seeded New London took advantage, doubling up on Woodstock in the quarter and posting the 47-41 win.
“It was possibly their defense,” coach Will Fleeton said of the sudden scoring drought over the last eight minutes of the game. “I think we got some shots we liked but I think we also struggled at the same time. That’s what happens in a playoff game.”
The Centaurs held a 33-31 advantage through the first three quarters.
That quickly evaporated early in the fourth quarter.
Joy Schneider hit a 3-pointer 1 minute, 12 seconds into the final eight minutes which was followed by a jumper from Jadelis Rivera and a drive by Nyarah Dudley to put the Whalers up by five, 38-33.
That was followed by a parade to the free throw line for the Whalers.
New London would not hit a field goal over the last 4:40 but made nine of 14 from the charity stripe.
Rivera, who finished with a game-high 21 points, had eight of them.
On the other hand, the Centaurs didn’t hit a field goal in the fourth quarter until Saucier got a putback to fall with 11 seconds left.
“We did that to Stonington (held them to two points in the fourth quarter of the ECC semifinals) and now, they did it to us,” Saucier said.
Woodstock (18-5) had to expect a tough challenge from the Whalers.
New London made quite the splash in the semifinals as they were coming off a 52-35 upset of top-seeded Ledyard in the ECC Semifinals.
“I think they are playing good ball right now at the time that they need to,” Fleeton said.
The Centaurs downed New London, 56-33, at home on Feb. 9, but this was a different New London team.
“We saw that when they played Ledyard,” Saucier said. “They had Ledyard uncomfortable in almost every way possible and they did that to us in a lot of ways (Monday). They came out with a good game plan, their coach (Keyokah Mars-Garrick) was mixing up their defenses and we just couldn’t hit shots when we really needed to.”
New London (17-6) got a great first quarter from Joarelisse Guzman who hit a trio of 3-pointers to help the Whalers go up, 11-8, at the end of the first quarter.
Saucier hit two of her three 3-pointers in the second quarter as the Centaurs hung tough and only trailed at the half, 23-22.
The third quarter was best for Woodstock as Elise Coyle hit a pair of shots early, Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain and drove for another and Saucier hit another 3 to give the Centaurs their biggest advantage of the game, 31-25, with 4:17 left.
But the Whalers scored six of the next eight points to make it a two-point game going into the fourth.
Saucier and Vivian Bibeau finished with 12 points each and both were named to the ECC All-Tournament team.
“I was happy about that but I would rather have a championship. I will take it,” Saucier said with a smile.
Boys’ Basketball
The boys’ basketball season has come to an end but the Centaurs didn’t go down without a fight.
The 15th-seeded Centaurs duked it out with No. 18 Torrington March 7 in a CIAC Div. III state tournament first-round game only to come up short, 75-70.
The loss meant Woodstock the season at the .500 mark, 11-11.
“My guys battled every day. They came in, fought, gave me effort and that’s all you can ask for. You want to play deep into March, that’s the goal, but sometimes you have to take losses to see wins in the long run. I think the program is going in the right direction. It’s going to be a big summer for a few guys and next year, hopefully, we will play deeper into March,” said coach Donte Adams.
The Centaurs had their chance late. They had endured a scoring drought where they did not get a field goal for nearly six minutes in the fourth quarter helped Torrington build a 71-62 lead.
Drake Abdullovski ended that with a 3-pointer and a free throw by Xawier Matwiej cut the deficit to five with 23 seconds left.
The Raiders’ Owen Fenn hit a free throw with 23 seconds left but Woodstock junior guard Can Yakal kicked it into fourth gear, racing down the court for a layup to cut the Torrington lead to four.
Fenn was fouled again and again made one of two from the line. Jamie Dean Stewart pulled down the rebound for the Centaurs and again found Yakal streaking to the basket with an outlet pass that made it 73-70 with eight seconds left.
“That’s the game for him. Playing at that speed is what he does. When it came down to the wire, I told him to keep pushing and keep getting the layups and he was trying to battle us back into it,” Adams said.
Torrington did not immediately touch the ball and when they eventually did in-bound and a foul was called, only 1/10th of a second remained.
Many in the gym were pleading for a five-second violation. Including Adams, which would have given the ball back to the Centaurs.
“I learned something new (Saturday), it goes on the officials’ count (not the clock), it’s alright,” Adams said.
Fighting back is something the Centaurs had to do against the Raiders (11-11) most of the game.
Torrington held a 13-point lead after the first eight minutes of the game only to see Abdullovski, who finished with a team-high 24 points for the Centaurs, complete a four-point play and Stewart follow with a more traditional three-point play to pare the lead down to four early in the second quarter.
The Raiders responded with seven straight points of their own to go back up by 11 but two late treys by Abdullovski left Torrington with only as narrow 34-32 edge at the half.
The hot shooting continued into the third quarter for the Centaurs who made four of their first six attempts from the floor and went up by as many as seven before coming down to earth.
Torrington rebounded in the latter half of the third quarter to re-take a five-point advantage going into the fourth.
Yakal finished with 15 points and Matwiej added 14 to back up Abdullovski’s scoring.
“Drake, Xawier and Can will all be back and we have a few other guys too so it will be a big summer for all of them to get better, especially to get better defensively,” Adams said with a smile.
Boys’ Hockey
It was a little bit of an experience with postseason play. The boys’ hockey team got to play one more game as it traveled to Simsbury March 4 to play the Suffield-Granby-Windsor Locks-East Granby co-op in a Nutmeg Conference tournament semifinal game.
“It wasn’t as high stakes as a state tournament game but I think it was important to have that moment where you speak to everyone beforehand and go ‘If you guys want the season to be longer, you have the potential to do that right now.’ That is certainly a message that will carry over into next season,” said coach Drew Beaupre.
Unfortunately for the Centaurs, it was a case of one-and-done as they lost to SGWL, 4-1.
The Wildcats did come up with a pair of goals in the first period but Woodstock found the net as well.
Patrick Griswold tied for the team lead in points for the season with Gabe Flannery, both finished with 11, as Griswold scored his sixth goal of the season off an assist from Owen Murdock.
“They just worked hard for the goal, to be honest,” Beaupre said. “Patrick Griswold had an excellent season for us and he carried the puck out of the defensive zone, had Owen Murdock in the mix crashing on everything and it worked. We need dirty goals like that, it needs to happen. Everybody wants the pretty play but, sometimes, you just have to go to the net and see what happens.”
The host team did pull away as they added a third goal in the second period and another in the third despite 50 saves by junior Brady Hebert in net.
“We gave him a shout out in the locker room afterwards,” Beaupre said of the Centaurs’ netminder. “Every coach I’ve spoken to has raved about (Brady) after a game. We’re very fortunate that he is coming back for another season, that’s a big part for us.”
The Centaurs did suffer from some typical problems that have beleaguered them throughout the season in the game including a number of penalties.
The loss meant Woodstock finished with a 2-19 record.
“We know what to work on for next season,” Beaupre said. “The message at the end was ‘This is not the way we wanted to see the season end’, but there were moments throughout the season and in the (semifinal game) where you see the potential and we’re very lucky to only be losing three seniors, coming back with basically the same group. The freshmen should come back a year bigger, stronger and faster. It’s exciting for us.”
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
captions:
Vivian Bibeau
Vivian Bibeau (24) tries to drive past New London’s Joarelisse Guzman in the ECC girls’ basketball Div. I championship game.
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Elise Coyle, top, and Joy Schneider engage in a battle for the ball in the paint in the ECC championship game.
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Kaylee Saucier launches one of her three successful 3-pointers for Woodstock Academy against New London in the ECC girls’ basketball Div. I championship game.
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Allison Camara drives past New London defender Joy Schneider.
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Vivian Bibeau and Kaylee Saucier (fourth and fifth from left) joined New London’s (from left to right) Nyarah Dudley, Joarelisse Guzman and Jadelis Rivera on the ECC Div. I All-Tournament team following the Div. I championship game. Photos by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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