Thur. March 4
Foodshare
PUTNAM --- A free Foodshare will be held at 11 a.m. at the Farmers Market Pavilion on Kennedy Drive for veterans and spouses only. 30-pound boxes of food. Drive-thru. Please wear masks. Presented by the Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse, the Town of Putnam, American Legion, Post 13, Putnam, and the Albert J. Breault VFW Post 1523.

Sat. March 6
Regional Foodshare
PUTNAM --- The Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse, the Town of Putnam, the Putnam VFW Post 1523 and the Putnam American Legion Post 13 will host a Foodshare at 10 a.m. at the Putnam Elementary School. It is open to all towns. Almost 1,500 30-pound boxes of food are due to be distributed. Drive-thru. Masks must be worn by all.

Sat. March 14
Fund-raiser Dinner
THOMPSON --- The American Legion Post 67 on Thompson Hill Road will hold a Corned Beef Dinner from 4 to 6:30 p.m. $10.  Takeout only. Come inside and place order and it will be brought out to you.

Sat. March 20
Foodshare
PUTNAM --- The Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse, the Town of Putnam, the Putnam VFW Post 1523 and the Putnam American Legion Post 13 will host a Foodshare at 10 a.m. at the Putnam Elementary School. It is open to all towns. Almost 1,500 30-pound boxes of food are due to be distributed. Drive-thru. Masks must be worn by all.

Tues. March 23
Coffeehouse
PUTNAM --- The Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse will be held at 9 a.m. at the Putnam Elks Lodge 574 on Edmond Street. Sign in is required. No more than 4 members to a table. You will be required to wear your mask except when actually seated and engaged in eating and drinking.

Sat.  April 3
Foodshare
PUTNAM --- The Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse, the Town of Putnam, the Putnam VFW Post 1523 and the Putnam American Legion Post 13 will host a Foodshare at 10 a.m. at the Putnam Elementary School. It is open to all towns. Almost 1,500 30-pound boxes of food are due to be distributed. Drive-thru. Masks must be worn by all.

Sat.  April 17
Foodshare
PUTNAM --- The Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse, the Town of Putnam, the Putnam VFW Post 1523 and the Putnam American Legion Post 13 will host a Foodshare at 10 a.m. at the Putnam Elementary School. It is open to all towns. Almost 1,500 30-pound boxes of food are due to be distributed. Drive-thru. Masks must be worn by all.

Sat.  April 24
Wall of Honor
PUTNAM --- The Putnam High School Wall of Honor ceremony will be held today.

Fri.  June 12
Golf Tournament
KILLINGLY --- The Killingly-Brooklyn Rotary’s 28th annual Nick Haines Memorial Golf Tournament will be held at Connecticut National Golf Course. Benefits local charities. For info: 860-230-3530.

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Rules & Tips
Policy for photos: We follow the COVID-19 rules.  Unrelated people must be wearing face masks or be at least 6 feet apart.
Space tip: Since space is at a premium, you'll find extended versions of some stories and the calendar on the Putnam Town Crier online at: www.putnamtowncrier.com.

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Roundup
Centaurs
finish week
on up note
After just the first full week of the high school boys’ basketball season for the Woodstock Academy Centaurs, it’s already almost half over.
The Centaurs raised their record to 3-1 with victories over Lyman Memorial and Tourtellotte but suffered their first defeat of this 10-game mini-campaign with a loss in Plainfield.
“We like what we’re seeing,” said Woodstock Academy coach Marty Hart said. “We know we have the shooting, the balance, and the toughness. We just have to continue to find ways to incorporate all three and stay a little more connected on the defensive end so that we’re communicating and getting important stops.”
The Centaurs finished off the week with a 67-36 win over Tourtellotte in Thompson Feb. 26. A fast start helped Woodstock Academy. The Centaurs broke out to a 16-4 lead in the first quarter and extended that lead to 23 points by halftime which allowed Hart to go to the bench early and often.
Woodstock Academy junior Logan Talbot came out with the hot hand. He scored four points in the first quarter before adding 12 more in the second, half coming off a pair of 3-pointers, to account for all of his 16 points in the game.
Center Dmitrii Zinchenko added 12 of his 16 points in the first half , six of those from the free throw line.
The 6-foot, 5-inch senior finished 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.
“It’s very reassuring,” Hart said of Zinchenko’s free throw shooting ability. The Centaurs, as a team, have been very effective from the line thus far this season.
They made 20-of-23 in the loss to Plainfield and 13-of-16 against Tourtellotte.
Senior Andrew Johnson added nine points for the Centaurs in the win over the Tigers while Parker Anderson added eight.
The Centaurs fell behind early to the Panthers in Central Village, fought back, but fell short in the end, 67-58.
Plainfield broke out to a 33-25 first half lead as it held Talbot and Zinchenko to just three field goals combined.
Jaden Arriaga, meanwhile, scored 11 of his 16 points in the first half.
The Centaurs fought back thanks to a 13-point effort from Talbot (24 points) in the third quarter that propelled Woodstock Academy to a 46-44 lead going into the final quarter.
But Tyler Nordstrom scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth and the Panthers hit all 10 of their free throws to retake the lead and pull out the win.
There really wasn’t a need for a ton of offense considering the way the defense was playing against the Lyman Memorial Bulldogs earlier in the week.
The Centaurs held the Bulldogs to two points in both the second and third quarters, nine in total through the first three and easily posted a 62-24 win at the Alumni Fieldhouse.
“Our defense was amazing,” said Woodstock Academy senior Jacob Hernandez. “The intensity we brought from start-to-finish helped us. Holding them to nine points in the first half helped us transition into our offense, get those fast-break points, which helps us score quickly.”
The Centaurs also lit it up from the outside early.
Zinchenko showed off his range with a pair of 3-pointers.
Those accounted for half of his team-high 12 points, all coming in the first half.
Talbot and Hernandez also buried 3-pointers as the Centaurs were able to get out to a 20-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
They extended that to 23 points by halftime with Talbot getting nine of his 11 points in the first half.
Hart went to the bench quickly in the second half which led to a balanced scoring night.
Anderson added nine points while Ethan Davis tossed in eight.
In such a short season, there is little time to improve, not that any coach is ever satisfied and Hart thinks there is room for the Centaurs to get better.
“I think when transition is done, we’re working on getting re-organized and running a play,” Hart said. “Transition doesn’t continue once the defense is back so going from full speed, downshifting, setting hard screens, and getting a good shot that we want.”
Hernandez said it’s unfortunate that this season is only 10 games long with no state tournament because he likes the makeup of this year’s Centaurs’ team.
“With the guys we have on this roster, if we had a tournament, we could have gone really far,” Hernandez said. “We have the depth, the speed, the shooting, we even have the big guys. We have everything you need for a good, deep playoff run.”
But Hernandez is just happy to be out there especially since he had to sit on the sidelines and be a team manager a year ago due to a torn labrum in his shoulder.
“It’s great. A little emotional (versus Lyman) because it was the first game back (for him on his home floor) in two years. It’s definitely a great feeling to be out here and get a win,” the senior said.
Boys’ Hockey: Centaurs fall short twice
Going into the third period Sunday, Woodstock Academy trailed E.O. Smith by three goals.
In hockey, that’s not an easy deficit to recover from.
But Centaurs coach Kevin Bisson wasn’t ready to give up.
Fortunately, neither was his team.
“We told the team that the game was far from over. We had a real chance to pour it on and get after the (E.O. Smith) goalie. Sure enough, some of these kids started to do that,” said Bisson.
The Centaurs did force overtime, only to see the Panthers skate away with a 6-5 win.
The Centaurs kept the pressure on the Panthers but could not break through until less than three minutes remained.
Evan Haskins scored his first career varsity goal, off a Noah Sampson assist, with 2 minutes, 25 seconds left to play to cut the deficit to two.
Just 18 seconds later, Guerin Favreau swept in and scored.
Favreau then helped tie the contest, sending a pass to Nick Chubbuck who knotted things up with a goal with 48 seconds left.
Woodstock Academy (2-2) had its chances in overtime but Cameron Sterling ended them with a goal for E.O. Smith with 3:15 left in the extra period.
Bisson did some experimentation early in the game since the season is rapidly coming to an end.
Sampson was moved to center on his line and was paired with wings Don Sousa and Haskins.
Sampson joined Haskins in scoring his first career varsity goal.
The Centaurs first goal was by Zach Girard and it was also the junior’s first career goal.
The Centaurs also played Feb. 26 and suffered their first loss of the season, 3-1, to the Suffield-Granby-Windsor Locks cooperative.
Favreau was the only Centaur with a goal.
Woodstock Academy finishes up the hockey season this weekend with a game against Rocky Hill at 7:20 p.m. March 6 at the RoseGarden Ice Arena in Norwich and a contest at Xavier March 7.
“I’m still very cautious as to how to approach it because I’m still very nervous that this week could very well not exist (due to the pandemic),” Bisson said. “These kids have been told over and over that every game and practice is precious and, hopefully, we get to finish this. Saturday is really our one and only home game, it’s going to be our Senior Night, and these guys deserve that. Then, we have a big opportunity to play Division I Xavier to finish it up. Their coach has even said to me that our guys will probably be approaching it like a state championship and I certainly think we will.”
Prep Basketball: Centaurs Blue split with St. Thomas More
The Woodstock Academy Blue prep basketball team scored a win in Oakdale Feb. 26, but couldn’t make it two in a row Feb. 27 at home.
The Chancellors took the lead from the start and never fell behind, scoring a 62-55 win.
Ethan Edwards scored 16 for the Centaurs in the loss while Levi King and Mark Heber added nine points apiece.
The Woodstock Academy Gold prep basketball team played a three-half scrimmage against the Chancellors prior to the Blue game.
“Obviously, you would like to have a winner and loser at the end, but (St. Thomas More) coach (Jere) Quinn and I and other opponents agree that it’s kind of an unusual year and (the first priority) is college placement. To be able to give our kids 20 more minutes of play, to give them more (film) footage, or to be seen more, outweighs (wins and losses). We never know if we will have a game next week,” said Woodstock Academy prep coach Jacque Rivera. The Centaurs won the first half, 29-28, but lost the next two, 35-30, and 34-21. Woodstock Academy was playing without two of its big men, Dominic Strothers and Justin Cross, due to injury. Dashon Gittens also went down in the second half of the scrimmage.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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