Native Projects
The 5th grade students at Pomfret Community School were given a menu of options for projects at the conclusion of their Native Americans unit of study. Some projects included carving a dugout canoe out of a bar of soap, paper towel roll totem poles, marshmallow igloos, a physical map of North America made of clay, and a diorama.  Photos by the students.

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Jayden Beloti hails from Apex, N.C.
Pipe Ajayi is a native Canadian from Alberta.
The two have met in the middle so to speak, opting to come to The Woodstock Academy to play prep basketball.
But while the two come from nearly different worlds, both have come to a similar conclusion.
Playing basketball in the Northeast is not exactly what they are accustomed to.
“Basketball here is a lot different,” Beloti, a 6-foot, 3-inch wing, said. “In the couple of weeks that I have been here, I have had to adjust. There are some things here that probably wouldn’t be (allowed) in North Carolina.”
Namely, the physicality.
“It’s physical,” said Woodstock Academy prep basketball head coach Jacque Rivera. “You are going to have marks, bruises, bumps.”
Back when the Big East Conference was at the pinnacle of the collegiate basketball world, its calling card was its physical play.
Rivera remembers when Jim Calhoun was the coach at UConn; his success was built on the backs of players from the Northeast.
Syracuse and Georgetown were built in similar fashions.
It’s typical of the area as a whole.
“Basketball is football here,” Rivera said with a smile. “I don’t call fouls in practice and, as much as I give officials a hard time, I seldom complain (to his players) about a foul call. It’s usually a lack of effort or something. The physicality is what we are as a program; high-risk, high-reward. I talk about it all the time. We send two guys at the ball so you are constantly playing two guys (in practice). New England basketball is physical in nature. It’s taxing on your body, your mentality. It’s a shock to them (who haven’t played in the area). You look at Quaran (McPherson, a second-year player) and he’s fluid, Elijah Blackmon, too. They have been through it. We try to bring the guys who haven’t been through it along quickly.”
Ajayi has also found the waters a little more turbulent than north of the border.
The Canadian game is more European-style.
“We like to take 3’s more, they’re worth more than 2’s. You find kids practicing their 3’s all the time,” Ajayi said.
In the States, even guards have to learn how to mix it up underneath.
He attributes some of that to attitude.
Here in America, LeBron James is the stereotype that most players consider to be the ultimate role model.
“People here are more aggressive. They have something to fight for. In Canada, we have some star players, people are coming up but here, everybody wants it, everybody wants to go at it. That’s what I like about here,” Ajayi said.
Ajayi has the physical attributes as the frontcourt player is 6-6 and 226 pounds.
He can take a licking, and give it back. “I try my best to be physical. The coaches push me a lot to be strong; don’t let other kids bully you. I’ve taken that challenge,” Ajayi said.
Ajayi said his coach in Canada recommended he come to Woodstock Academy because it would give him a better chance to showcase his talents to American college basketball coaches.
“I’m here to get my game up, my work ethic up, my strength up and be the best player I can be,” Ajayi said. “This school has been bringing it out in me.”
The adjustment takes time.
“I’m a competitor. I’m going to give my all every single day to fit in and stand out,” Beloti said. “I knew there was going to be more physicality. I’m going to push through it.”
Beloti had a strong role model of his own.
Former NBA player and University of Virginia star Cory Alexander recommended that he play at Woodstock Academy.
Alexander suggested to Beloti’s mother that Jayden may want to look at prep school for a year after he only received interest from a couple of North Carolina Division III schools.
He considered junior college, but was receptive to the idea of prep basketball.
Beloti listened, because he like so many others, has his mind focused on one thing. “I want to go to school for free; that has always been the goal,” Beloti said.
There are 30 other prep basketball players at Woodstock Academy saying the same thing.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
 * photos by Marc Allard

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The Woodstock Academy coach Paul Rearden considers it a rite of passage.
The maturation of high school student-athletes between their junior and senior seasons.
“This is my fifth set of seniors that I have had the privilege to coach and every year, you say, ‘Those lads were something special, you won’t get another set like that.’ But every year, the next group comes in and whatever happens in those six or seven months in between seasons, they come back and it’s like ‘Wow, I didn’t expect that from these guys,’” Rearden said.
The 2020 crop of seniors is no different.
Richard Hickson, Nate Majewski, Eric Phongsa, Matt Marshall, James Phongsa, Huck Gelhaus, Stefan Chervenkov, Andrew Johnson, Colin Smith, Marco Maluf, Brandon Richards, and Gabe Geyer were all honored on Senior Day prior to their match with Parish Hill.
It’s a group that has had plenty of adversity to deal with.
The Centaurs won only one match a year ago and in March, found themselves thrust by the pandemic into a virtual learning environment that has carried over to the 2020-21 school year.
This season, they were scheduled to play 12 matches but with schools throughout the ECC postponing fall contests due to COVID-19 that number will likely be much less. There is also no league or state tournament to look forward to.
“I think they have recognized how fortunate they are to still be playing and are just making the best of it. Obviously, we haven’t seen a bad result or a bad performance that always throws a kink into the works but the way these guys are going, I don’t even see that having a negative effect,” Rearden said.
These seniors enjoyed themselves on Senior Day.
They helped the Centaurs post a 5-0 win over the Pirates and followed that up with a 4-0 win over Windham Tech Oct. 24 to raise their record to 7-0.
After the win over the Pirates, the Centaurs were beaming.
“It’s a great win,” said Gelhaus of the win over Parish Hill. “We were so fortunate to be able to play this (Wednesday) especially against (Parish Hill). We knew they would be good and we had to come out hard.”
Hickson agreed with his classmate.  “It was amazing. The fans were great. The posters that our teammates made
were amazing. It was a great time to be out there and a great team to play,” Hickson said.
The Centaurs did take the early lead when Johnson took a pass from Maluf and kicked the ball into the lower left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead just 8 ½ minutes into the match. It was Johnson’s second goal of the season.
Junior Ty Morgan put his seventh of the season in with just 11:26 left in the first half when Eric Phongsa found him in front of the net and he gave the Centaurs a 2-0 lead.
It would stay that way until the middle of the second half.
Gelhaus extended the always dangerous two-goal lead to three when he lofted a rocket from 30 yards out over the head of Parish Hill keeper Brent Freed and into the back of the net.
Maluf and Smith capped off the win with a pair of goals in the final 6:25 of the match to account for the final.
“That was the hardest game we’ve had this season,” said Rearden. “I think our depth definitely helped us. They only had 14 players while we were able to keep rotating and stay fresh. The boys had to dig deep at halftime. We were a little harder on them than we have been this season. I think we came out a half-step short of where we have been but we fixed it in the second half.”
With the Saturday shutout of the Mighty Tigers, the Centaurs have now outscored opponents this season, 44-1.
Eric Phongsa scored once in the first half and again in the second and leads the team with nine goals and five assists.
Gelhaus added his seventh goal of the season and two assists to raise his total to four while Matt Marshall scored for a second time this season. With two matches (against Montville and Killingly) cancelled the Centaurs are only scheduled to play one game this week, Tourtellotte at 11 a.m. Oct. 31 at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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