PUTNAM — The 15th Annual Putnam Lions Volleyball Challenge will be held March 15 and 16 and the Lions are looking to recruit teams to participate in, and sponsors to support, this year’s challenge. All funds raised go back to the community.

The competition will be held at the Pomfret School Strong Field House.

There will be three co-ed divisions - A, B and C (Corporate), with cash prizes to the champion of each division.

Quality prizes will be awarded to participants for designated levels of pledge money raised.

Complimentary food, beverages and snacks will be provided for team participants. Team packets will be mailed to the team captain upon confirmation of team participation in the tournament.

The team registration fee is minimum $350 in pledges or sponsorships.

For additional information, to register a team or to receive a team packet, please contact Lion Steve Faucher by email or phone: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 860-617-4142.

 

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Coming Through

Anthony Durham, one of the players responsible for the rise of PSA basketball to number 4 in the country, blows by a defender. Photo courtesy of Mehmet Eygoren.

 

 

By Ron P. Coderre

Putnam Science Academy varsity basketball is in it eight season of competition.  During that brief period, coach Tom Espinosa has posted a winning record of 134-47, while gradually developing teams to carry the Mustangs banner to a high level.

This season, Espinosa has assembled probably the most talented group of players ever to take the Maple St. court.  The 2013-2014 edition of Putnam Science Academy basketball hasn’t disappointed, posting an impressive 17-2 (as of Jan. 27).

The talented Mustangs were recognized in the preseason post graduate basketball ranking when they cracked the poll for the first time ever, edging into  number 10 in the rankings.  Following a pair of close losses to a pair of perennial prep powers Notre Dame Prep and Wilbraham & Munson the Scientists have reeled off an impressive nine game winning streak in which they’ve catapulted from 13th in the country to the latest ranking as the  number 4 team in the country.

The team trails only #1 Brewster Academy, number 2 Fishburne School and number 3 Hargrave Academy.  Ranked teams in the Top Ten that PSA has beaten include number 5 Northfield-Mt. Hermon and #6 St. Thomas More.  Leading the team to the stratospheric ranking has been point guard Danny Upchurch, off guards Anthony Durham and Dalique Mingo, inside standouts Chaise Daniels, Jordan Butler and Jalen Terry and sixth man Kyle Menard.

Over the years the Mustangs have featured the likes of Dayshon “Scoochie” Smith, now at the University of Dayton; Shaun Lawton, now at the University of Maine; and 7-foot Rundell Mauge, at Pacific University in Stockton, Calif.  These greats and many others have paved the way in the growth of the program.

The winning history they’ve established and the legacy they’ve imparted have been the groundwork and foundation that’s helped Espinosa to put together this year’s team, which now has the opportunity to go one step further if they can qualify for the National Prep School Championships in March.

 

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By Ron P. Coderre

Marianapolis Prep, under coach Andrew Vitale, enjoyed its best week of the season racking up three consecutive wins before dropping a heartbreaker to Tilton School.  Putnam Science Academy, the area’s hottest team, continued its winning ways picking up a pair of victories and raising its record to a gaudy 17-2.  Pomfret School, Hyde-Woodstock and Marianapolis II combined for a 1-5 week.

Woodstock Academy bounced back from its out-of-state loss to Putnam Vocational by taking out its revenge on an outmanned Montville team.  The Centaurs have now accomplished their first goal of the season – qualifying for the State Tournament.  Plainfield went one-and-one for the week, while Tourtellotte, Putnam and Killingly suffered through a winless week.

Golden Knights Moving

 in Right Direction

Marianapolis opened its week on the road at Hyde-Woodstock playing one of its best defensive efforts of the season.  The Golden Knights picked up an easy 55-30 win over the lethargic Wolfpack, who scored only 10 points in the first 16 minutes of play.  Devin Springfield (12 points) and Travis Descoteaux (11) were the leading scorers for the winners.  Kenny Grant with a sub-par 12 point performance was the lone double figure scorer for Hyde.

The Knights then traveled to Boston where they took the measure of Milton Academy 58-50 behind a double-double by Bobby Ahearn who had 15 points and 13 boards.  Eric Long added 13 for the winners.  MPS picked up another road win, beating Wilbraham & Monson 56-48 behind the play of Ahearn and Eric Murdock Jr. who tallied 13 points apiece.

The Golden Knights couldn’t take advantage of home cooking as they lost to perennial power Tilton School 62-48 in front of the home crowd.  Ahearn was once again the top scorer with 20 markers, while Eric Long chipped in 10 points for Marianapolis which appears headed in the right direction with a 7-6 record.

The Putnam Science Academy offensive machine continued to roll, picking up an 84-71 victory over Redemption Christian Academy and an 87-65 win over McDuffie School.  Balanced scoring was the key to both victories.  In the Redemption win five players reached double figures, led by Anthony “Bull” Durham with 21 points.  Other double digit scorers were Danny “Up tempo” Upchurch (11), Dalique Mingo and Chaise Daniels with 12 apiece and Jordan “Man Mountain” Butler 11.  Upchurch with 24 points was tremendous in the win over McDuffie, while Durham and Daniels had 10 each and Mingo produced 18 for the winners. 

Pomfret School lost a pair when it was beaten by Loomis Chaffee 70-54 and Suffield Academy 52-50.  The losses dropped the Griffins below .500 at 5-6.  Pomfret blew a big 14-point lead in its loss to Loomis Chaffee despite 17 points from Cam Winston and 14 apiece from Jeff Iyalekhue and Isaiah Henderson.

A valiant second half offensive effort fell short against Suffield as the Griffs lost by a mere two points.  Winston and Iyalekhue with 15 points each were the lone double-digit scorers for Pomfret.  The Griffs righted the ship with a 63-48 win over Canterbury School in the Hall of Fame Classic.  Winston (20) and Iyalekhue (16 & 12 rebounds) were once again Pomfret’s top guns as it leveled its record at 6-6.  Marianapolis II fell to 7-4 with losses to Oxford Academy (50-49) and Worcester Academy (59-55). 

Woodstock Qualifies

for State Tourney Play

After almost a week away from the hardwood, Woodstock Academy traveled to Montville and opened up the offensive flood gates on poor Montville, beating the Indians 91-65.  The Centaurs took a 35-14 first period lead and followed that up with 28 points in the second quarter to go off at intermission comfortably ahead 63-27.  Big Adam Converse had his best offensive varsity performance as he poured 25 points through the nets.  Long-range bomber Trent Peters and Will Bourgeois chipped in with 12 points apiece for the 10-2 Acads of coach Greg Smith.

Plainfield and Killingly got entangled in a donnybrook before the contest was finally settled with the Panthers emerging with a 51-48 home victory.  High scoring Ryan Pambuku led the Panthers with 15 points as his first two points of the evening gave him 1000 in his high school career.  Corey Anderson added 14 points for the winners while Will Robinson had 10.  Austin Taylor (16), Nick Hewitt (10) and James Saritelli (12) were in double figures for Killingly.

Plainfield let a halftime lead slip through its fingers as it was beaten 66-54 by Bacon Academy, dropping the Panthers to 5-6 overall and 3-1 in the ECC Medium Division.  Pambuku was the scoring leader for Plainfield with 22 points.

Killingly, which was a decided underdog to NFA, gave the Wildcats a scare before succumbing 52-45.  Saritelli (20) and Hewitt (18) combined for 38 of the Redmen’s 45 points.  Killingly is 6-5 overall and 2-2 in the ECC Medium Division.

Tourtellotte was beaten 70-63 despite a herculean 29-point performance by Kaevon Safford and 10 points from Shawn Houle.  The Tigers are struggling at 5-6 on the season and 1-3 in the ECC Small Division. Despite 16 point performances from the trio of Steve Dakai, Jordan Tetreault and Jacob Guertin, Putnam fell to 2-8 on the year as they lost to visiting Goodwin Tech 69-59 in a CSC confrontation.

Scoring Leaders: Ryan Pambuku – Plainfield - 22.3; Kaevon Safford – Tourtellotte – 21.1; Anthony Durham – Putnam Science Academy – 18.9; Kenny Grant – Hyde-Woodstock – 17.9; Nick Hewitt – Killingly – 15.6.

Three-point Leaders: Mike Jezierski – Tourtellotte – 38; Jalen Terry – Putnam Science Academy – 30; Kyle Menard – Putnam Science Academy – 28.

 

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