PSA’s Dean:
‘It’s about
the team’
Back in September, Arturo Dean was hearing it from one of his PSA teammates who was playing opposite him during a preseason open gym session. When the winning point was scored, the opposing player repeatedly barked at Dean that he had only scored one point in the game.
“But my team won,” Dean responded. “My team won.”
That response was quick and to the point and perfectly summed up what Arturo Dean, a postgrad from Miami, Fla., means to the Mustangs.
“I don’t care about the points,” he said. “I just try to let the game come to me and not force anything. At my old school I was The Man, but I learned very quickly here that everybody’s talented and it’s not all about you. We have so many skillful people and once I saw the roster and saw it in practice how talented we are, I realized it’s not all about me. It’s about the team. Everything I do is team, team, team.”
Dean then pours that mindset into his teammates. He is the loudest and most energetic player at every practice, and he is helping some teammates get out of their comfort zones to match what he does. It is intentional, too, as at a recent practice he half-jokingly lamented how the day was going to go by so slow, but then 10 minutes later told a teammate that “energy will make it go by faster.”
“He’s a leader,” said PSA coach Tom Espinosa. “I’ve always believed in this and I’ve always said this: When you have leaders in the locker room and the players don’t have to listen to the coach all the time, those leaders can give the message, that’s when special things happen. I felt like we had leaders in 2020, and in 2018 there is no doubt we had leaders. And those two years, we won national championships. This year we have a lot of leaders as well, and Arturo is clearly one of them.”
The 6-foot guard is no slouch on the court either. In PSA’s first two games, Dean he totaled 35 points, nine steals, seven assists, and seven rebounds. More importantly, the Mustangs went 2-0.
In the opener on Nov. 5, Dean set the tone, finishing with 20 points, six steals, five rebounds, and five assists in a 113-74 win over Lee Academy. Barry Evans added 17 points and nine rebounds, Taiga Jones drained five 3-pointers on his way to 15 points, and Darryl Simmons finished with 17 points.
The Mustangs opened the game on a 26-5 run and led by 20 at the half, then started the second half on a similar 22-6 run.
“We just wanted to come out and make a statement and bust them in the mouth every chance,” Dean said. “They slowed us down a little bit before the half, but we adjusted and kept our foot on the gas.”
Less than 24 hours later, PSA hosted Hoosac – a team it had manhandled in a preseason scrimmage – and followed a similar script. They scored the first 12 points of the game and had leads of 19-2, 39-9, and 50-16 at various points of the first half before finishing with a 111-68 victory.
Duane Thompson had a team-leading 19 points, Desmond Claude had 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists, and Josh Rivera finished with 11 points and five boards.
Because of the quick turnaround, Espinosa’s pregame message centered on bringing energy. He didn’t have to tell Dean twice.
“He’s a special kid. Holy cow,” Espinosa said. “He has all the energy in the world. The thing with Arturo, he comes out of the game (Saturday), we’re up by 40, and I hear him more than anyone else. And he’s telling others, ‘Energy, come on, clap, pick it up, stand up.’ He’s different. He’s special.”
By Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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Golden Blaze of Glory
Gingko leaves departed their perches downtown and created a gold blanket everywhere. More photos on page 4. Linda Lemmon photo.
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Fire dept.
'schools'
kids on
fire safety
WOODSTOCK — The Woodstock fire marshal and members of the Muddy Brook Fire Department, Woodstock Volunteer Fire Association, Bungay Fire Brigade and an ambulance from the Woodstock Emergency Medical Services recently held Fire Prevention & Safety Day at the Woodstock Elementary School.
Woodstock Fire Marshal Dick Baron said this event has been an annual event at the school for many years. “Unfortunately we were not able to provide this event last year due to COVID-19, so it was great to get back with the students to go over basic principles of fire prevention and safety.”
Students from grades Pre-K through 4th interacted with the fire marshal along with members from the fire departments and the ambulance on important fire prevention information and life safety skills such as stop, drop and roll, stay low under smoke, knowing two ways out of their house, having a family meeting place, smoke detectors, knowing what a firefighter looks and sounds like with all of their fire gear on and what it is like inside an ambulance. The students also go home with fire safety information based on their grade to discuss at home.
Baron said this year approximately 447 students took part in the event which the school staff strongly supports. “Without the approval from the superintendent, principal and assistance from the teachers, we would not be able to provide this very important service.
We are all looking forward to next year in working with the students on Fire Prevention & Safety Day,” he added.
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Centaurs girls
finish 2nd
in MM;
15th in State
The girls’ cross-country season came to an end for Woodstock Academy Nov. 5 — but it was a great run. Literally.
The Centaurs surprised even themselves with a second-place finish in the Class MM state championship meet. That qualified them for the State Open championship on Friday.
Woodstock finished as 15th-best in the state with a 15th-place finish at the Open.
“It was an incredible experience to be here,” said Woodstock Academy coach Joe Banas. “This is a great group of girls here. I will take 15th-place. We are now on notice. Other schools are saying, ‘Who is this Woodstock Academy?’ They’ve never had to think about us before.”
Senior Linsey Arends was hoping to crack the top 25 at the State Open and qualify for the New England championship but fell just a little short in 40th place, finishing in 20 minutes, 9 seconds.
“Honestly, I’m a little disappointed for this to be the end of the season in my senior year. I’m happy with what I did do this season and accomplished in my comeback from anemia, “Arends said.
One runner who was positively beaming was junior Lauren Brule as she finished second on the team in 68th place, finishing in a personal best time of 20:52. She termed her effort “insane.”
Brule’s effort and that of Julia Coyle (137th overall), Carah Bruce (141), Sydney Lord (156) and Tessa Brown (169) gives Banas hope for the future as he loses only Arends and fifth runner Leah Castle (151st) to graduation.
Earlier in the week, Banas was walking around Wickham Park trying to process it after the Class MM race had concluded.
Due to weather and course conditions, the event had to be moved from Saturday to Monday and his Centaurs were ready.
They finished second to Guilford (65 points), amassing only 90, and finished nine points better than ECC rival, E. Lyme.
Arends paced the Centaurs with a seventh-place finish. It was a planned finish. The first was that she wanted to qualify for the State Open individually, an honor that went to the first 12 runners in each division. “And I just wanted to make top eight to make All-State and I did so I made my goal,” Arends said. She also wanted to save a little for the State Open just three days later.
Brule was not far behind Arends, coming home in 14th. Coyle placed 21st with Bruce in 24th and Castle in 30th.
Boys
Woodstock coach Peter Lusa was hoping for a top-10 finish in the Class MM state championship and got his wish. The Centaurs finished sixth.
Senior Ian Hoffman led the way with a 16th-place finish. “It feels really good. I didn’t really get the time that I had wanted but I have to take into consideration that the course was kind of trashed (from rain and use), so overall, I’m pretty happy,” Hoffman said. Hoffman finished in 18 minutes even.
Vincente Bastura placed 24th. “I had a great race. I almost fell a couple of times but overall I’m happy with how I pushed myself (Monday),” Bastura said.
Christian Menounos placed 40th; Seamus Lippy was 54th.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
captions, page 2: Celebration
The Woodstock Academy girls celebrate after a second-place finish in the Class MM girls’ cross-country state championship meet.
Finish-Line Chute
Senior Ian Hoffman comes down the finish line chute enroute to a 16th-place finish at the Class MM boys’ cross-country state championship meet. Photos by Marc Allard.
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