For Momo Cissé, the journey has been long and winding. But the focus and the goal never veer.
“I’m on this mission. I play for my momma,” said Cissé, an incoming member of the Putnam Science Academy prep basketball team. “I lost her in 2017. I will do everything I can, get better every day, to go to the NBA and take care of my family and my friends. It’s for my momma.”
Cissé started as a soccer player growing up in Dakar, Senegal, kicking the ball around with his mother, Adja Soukey Samba, and his three siblings. (He said he was the closest to his mother – and the favorite – because he was the youngest.) But when he started a growth spurt in 2017, his brother Ibrahima suggested basketball would be the path to follow. He went from 6-foot, 1-inch then, to 7-feet now.
He first participated at the SEED Academy, a basketball student-athlete academy in Senegal. He went to the NBA Africa Academy for a short time as well before heading off to Monaco, where he lived and played hoops for about a year-and-a-half. Cissé was there when Covid hit, and said the government there was sending non-citizens back to their countries. Rather than go back to Senegal, he made his way to the U.S.
He has a friend in New York City who helped get him to the States, and put him in touch with the coaches at Hillcrest Prep just outside of Phoenix, which features a national-power basketball program. After playing there during the second semester of last season, Cissé committed to Oakland University. In mid-August, he decommitted, saying he wanted to gain more exposure and more offers, then quickly landed at PSA.
The big dream, he said, is to get an offer to play in the G-League, which is the minor league organization of the NBA. That dream seemed far off as he remembered the first time he played basketball.
“I wasn’t any good. No, no,” he said. “It was very difficult. I blocked shots, that was it. I was tall, so I blocked shots. I didn’t know how to shoot the ball.”
Though Cissé said he can handle the ball with confidence and is comfortable shooting it from all the way back to the 3-point line, Mustangs coach Tom Espinosa believes his offensive game remains a work in progress. Don’t expect to see Cissé floating around the perimeter too often, as Espinosa fully anticipates using him inside.
And inside on the defensive end is where Cissé, who says he patterns his game after his favorite player Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers, figures to make his greatest impact.
“Momo is the type of player we didn’t have last year, but our championship teams have had guys like him<” Espinosa said. “Guys who can close down the lane, who can protect the rim, and block shots. We had (Mohamed Sanogo) last year, but he didn’t play a whole lot, so we were missing that defensive presence in the middle. We expect Momo to play a lot of minutes and have a big role for us. I think he can be a high Division I guy because of his ability to block shots.”
Cissé had already begun playing basketball when his mother fell ill. But she never saw him play.
“It’s OK because I know she is here,” he said, putting his hand over his heart. “She is still with me. Before she died, when she was in the hospital, I don’t know how to say it the best way in English, but she said ‘Momo, you have to prove yourself, and I want you to do it for me.’ I’ll never forget that moment. That’s why I am doing this, for my momma.”
By Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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Roundup
Centaurs find
early going
difficult
It was a little bit of an eye opener for the Woodstock Academy girls’ soccer team in the first week of the regular season.
Instead of playing the local teams, the Centaurs began the season with Waterford and NFA.
“I’m trying to make it clear that every game we play this year, even if we lose, it’s an opponent that we’re supposed to be playing,” said Woodstock Academy coach Dennis Snelling. “You can’t learn if the other team just doesn’t have enough soccer players in their school to put out what they would like to. We need to be playing these quality opponents.”
Last week Woodstock Academy opened with a pair of home matches. The Centaurs fell to the Lancers, 3-1. They finished in a 1-all overtime tie with the Wildcats.
The Academy took almost twice as many shots as Waterford did in the opening loss, but never really attacked the net.
“We had nothing for their back line at all. We had no chances inside the box,” Snelling said.
Waterford struck in the first half and added two more goals closely together in the second half.
Woodstock Academy did not walk away empty handed.
Grace Gelhaus flipped one over the top of a couple of Waterford defenders to teammate Ava Coutu who scored from 20 yards out with 7:14 to play for the first goal of the season for the Centaurs.
The offense was a bit more crisp against the Wildcats.
Gelhaus got her first goal of the season from 30 yards out in the first half.
“She has that foot where she can strike a ball and it must be going 70 miles an hour. It’s something that not many athletes can do,” Snelling said.
Unfortunately for the Centaurs, the Wildcats were able to keep pressing closer to the Centaurs net and with 15 minutes left in regulation, a ball deflected off a Woodstock defender and found the back of the goal.
“It seemed like it was just going to happen for them. They had everyone pressing and maybe we didn’t realize that they were sending extra players forward. We got caught watching them go up the sidelines five times in a row and next thing you know, they’re in our end, bombing the ball at the box,” Snelling said.
The Centaurs did have some good chances in the two overtimes but could not convert.
Boys’ soccer
While the girls’ soccer team was at home, the boys’ soccer team got on the bus.
The Centaurs opened with two away matches against the likes of Fitch and Windham and wound up with a split.
Woodstock fell to Fitch 2-0 last week but later beat Willimantic, 2-1.
The win over the Whippets came down to the final minute. With 50 seconds left, a shot by Austin Byers was blocked by a Windham defender’s arm in the box and the Centaurs were awarded a penalty kick. Noah Page converted to give the Centaurs the win.
Sophomore striker Beltran Velasco scored Woodstock’s first goal of the season off an assist from Manuel Vidal in the first half but the Whippets tied the match before halftime.
The Centaurs played well in their season opener. They just couldn’t find the net in Groton.
“We just need to knit together as a team,” said Centaurs coach Paul Rearden.
Volleyball
The academy volleyball team knew it was in for a fresh start this season. That means some ups and some downs. The team experienced both in the just the first two matches.
Woodstock opened with a 3-0 win over Killingly last week and then traveled to Darien to face a good Class LL program and fell by that same score.
“It was nice to win the first match. You get the jitters out of the way,” said coach Adam Bottone.
The Centaurs swept the three sets against Killingly, 25-12, 25-17 and 25-13.
Senior Aurissa Boardman led the way with five kills while setter Annarose Avery added five assists.
But it was the service game that made it easy for the Centaurs. They recorded 27 aces with Boardman leading the way with 10 while Avery had five and both Morgan Bonin and Sophie Gronski added four.
Against the Blue Wave, though: “As big as our serving was a strength against Killingly, I think it was Darien’s strength against us. They had a good defense and some girls who could hit but it was their serving that just completely took us out of our game. We couldn’t receive at all. It was hard to get an estimate of their capabilities when we couldn’t return the ball,” Bottone said.
Darien posted straight set wins of 25-9, 25-12, and 25-16. Boardman had three kills and two aces while Gronski had four assists and six service points.
Field Hockey
The Centaurs field hockey team opened its season with a 6-2 loss to East Catholic in Manchester last week. Caroline Harris scored the first goal of the season for the Centaurs off an assist from senior Elaina Borski.
Borski later got her first goal of the year off a pass from Ella Musumeci.
Prep Soccer
The boys’ prep soccer program raised its record to 2-1 on the season with a 4-1 victory over the Pomfret School Sept. 11. Ricardo Mora scored a pair of goals for the Centaurs against the Griffins while Pol Saiz Barbancho and Marc Ballart Gisbert also tallied.
Jordi Sanabra, Gisbert, Barbancho and Tiago Assis all had assists in the win on the road.
The Centaurs opened the week with a 2-1 loss at Avon-Old Farms.
Due to injuries and other concerns, the Centaurs were playing shorthanded with only 14 players able to make the trek out to the Hartford area.
The Centaurs took the early lead when Assis put home a free kick from 30 yards out.
Avon-Old Farms tied the match and then won it with a tally in the final minute of play.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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The following charges were listed in the Putnam Police Department logs. The people charged are innocent until proven guilty in court. The Town Crier will publish dispositions of cases at the request of the accused. The dispositions must be accompanied by the proper documentation. The Putnam Police Department confidential Tip Line is 860-963-0000.
Aug. 26
Letitia Curtis, 34, Hartford Pike, Dayville; operating under the influence.
Sept. 4
Roger Desreuisseau, 35, Fire Tower Road, Eastford; operating under the influence, starting vehicle.
Scott Walker, 51, Battey Street, Putnam; disorderly conduct.
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captions:
Returning
Woodstock Academy junior Grace Gelhaus returns this season for Woodstock Academy. The All-State player scored 16 goals and had 10 assists last season.
Leader
Senior Addy Smith is a four-year starter and will be counted on for leadership both on and off the field. Marc Allard photos.
Right up the middle. Woodstock Academy girls’ soccer coach Dennis Snelling had little worries last season.
From the back where Brynn Kusnarowis and Caroline Wilcox resided to the middle where Gillian Price was, few opponents could penetrate.
It’s a good memory. But this year, that’s all it will be.
“They were like a wall of really strong kids that opponents had to get through and because of them, our goalies haven’t really been tested for the last couple of years. We haven’t given up many shots. In particular, Brynn’s leadership with her voice in the back, is something we will need to replace. I know we can do it, it’s just something we haven’t had to do in four years. It’s like losing a coach on the field,” said Snelling.
The three all graduated last year along with Peyton Saracina, Sydney Couture, Lucy McDermott, whom Snelling considered the best wing layer in the ECC, and Sophia Mawson.
But Woodstock and its surrounding sending towns are soccer towns. The talent pool doesn’t all of a sudden dry up, only the faces change.
“We have a lot of talented kids but the experience level is low since not a lot of (returning) players got a lot of varsity playing time last year,” Snelling said. “I’m confident with the talent level. We just need experience,”
The season was short. The Centaurs played only 11 games, including five increasingly bruising matches with Killingly, and finished 8-2-1.
The Centaurs will be able to score. Junior All-State player Grace Gelhaus returns after scoring 16 goals and assisting on 10 others a year ago.
Some of the responsibility for that will fall on the shoulders of senior Addy Smith. She finished with three goals and seven assists and will be counted on to be the one who often delivers the ball to Gelhaus.
Smith thinks the midfield will be the strength of the Centaurs with players like senior Ava Coutu, sophomores Emma Massey and Kayla Leite and freshmen newcomers Bella Mawson and Macy Rawson.
“Addy has been a leader for four years and she will be the set- up player. She will make that final pass that we need and she will score some goals too. She is so smart and both on and off the field she is the kind of leader that every sports team needs. She’s a great role model,” Snelling said.
Stella Brin, Magdalena Myslenski, and Lennon Favreau return in the backfield with freshman Haley Whitehouse making a strong bid for a starting spot. Sophomore Rebecca Nazer and junior Fiona Rigney are “brilliant” in goal according to Snelling. The schedule will be much tougher than a year ago when the Centaurs played only teams from northeastern Connecticut and the Windham area.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Girls’ Soccer schedule: Thursday, Sept. 9: vs. Waterford, 4 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 11: vs. NFA, 11 a.m.; Monday, Sept. 13: at Fitch, 4; Wednesday, Sept. 15: at Plainfield, 4; Saturday, Sept. 18: at Cumberland (R.I.), 11; Tuesday, Sept. 21: vs. Killingly, 3:45; Saturday, Sept. 25: vs. E. Lyme, 11; Wednesday, Sept. 29: at Stonington, 4:15; Saturday, Oct. 2: at Burrillville, 4; Tuesday, Oct. 5: vs. Bacon, 4; Saturday, Oct. 9: vs. Ellington, 11; Tuesday, Oct. 12: at NFA, 7; Saturday, Oct. 16: at Valley Regional, 6; Tuesday, Oct. 19: at Fitch, 4; Tuesday, Oct. 28: at E. Lyme; 6:30; Saturday, Oct. 30: at Killingly, 5:30.
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