Kirk Jenkins knew when the season started that his St. Bernard wrestling team was going to be a better tournament team than a dual meet team.
The Saints proved him right Saturday night at the State Open wrestling championships at the New Haven Athletic Center. Lucas Bowman captured an individual state title at 189-pounds and the Saints finished seventh, best among the local teams involved with 46 points.
That point total was far behind that of Danbury, which finished with 124 points, but Jenkins was more than happy to finish best out of the ECC schools.
“It was important,” Jenkins said. “We talked about it and I told the guys who came here — I call them my five horses — that we were going to come over here and make some noise in the State Open. They impressed me.”
Bowman was the most impressive. The East Lyme transfer who failed to make the final in the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship, came up big in New Haven.
The senior pinned his way to the final where he ran into Dillon Ritchie of Southington. Ritchie finished second in Class LL and came in sporting a 34-3 record, but Bowman scored a pair of takedowns early to grab the advantage.
“I was trying to avoid him and push him, try to get him even more open than he was,” Bowman said.
Bowman allowed Ritchie back into the match with a series of escapes before getting a neutral and a takedown to give him a four-point lead. Ritchie scored a reversal late, but ran out of time.
“I’ve been working towards this all my high school career,” Bowman said. “People have said I would never do it, so I just came out here and did whatever I could.”
Bowman finished with 22 of the Saints points. Michael Daly added the others as he scored a fourth-place finish.
The only other local champion hailed from East Lyme and it was not Ryan Clarke. Ross Spencer continued his undefeated ways as he made it 41 matches in a row without a loss, winning with a win by pin at 103 pounds over the always-difficult Rob Lonergan of Jonathan Law in two-minutes, 54 seconds. It was the only pin of the finals.
“I didn’t expect to get a pin,” Spencer said. “I didn’t expect to do as well as I did in all of my matches (Saturday).”
Thanks to Spencer’s win and Clarke’s third-place finish at 140-pounds, the Vikings finished eighth with 45 1⁄2 points, just ahead of Ledyard.
Caleb Morth made it to the Open final for the Colonels, but lost to Tucker Schaefer of Danbury, 8-0.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” Morth said. “He beat me earlier in the season.”
Just as tough a loss was suffered by Killingly senior Brandon Thuotte, who suffered a takedown and a back-point early in the match, came back to get a takedown of his own, but lost to Rob Ferrante of Shelton, 3-2.
“I made a good run at it this year, but I was surprised he got three back points and I thought I had two on the cradle in the third period,” Thuotte said.
NFA’s Pat Sawyer, who missed a month of the season with torn ligaments in his foot, came back to win the Class LL state championship a week ago and made it to the Open final, where he lost to Tim Vollaro of Somers 11-3.
“I came back refreshed and thought I was ready to go,” Sawyer said. “It was nice to get here and I did better than I thought I was going to.”
There were different ideas as to the lack of success on the team side for some, but Waterford coach Chris Gamble who saw his “M” division champion Lancers finish 14th with 39 points, said a big reason could have been fatigue for both his team and Bacon Academy, which finished with only seven points.
“The amount of matches these kids wrestle to get to this point is unbelievable and you get to this point and the mental part of it takes over,” Gamble said. “You have a sick kid out here, not on his ‘A’ game, it’s not going to get done.”
Montville coach Gary Wilcox said the competition certainly weeded out the better wrestlers from the rest of the field.
“I saw a lot of close matches here and the top six wrestlers here are definitely the top six. I didn’t see anyone sneak in,” Wilcox said.
One Montville competitor Wilcox was very happy with was Jessica Bennett, who became the first female to qualify to wrestle in State Open competition. It ended fast for the senior, as she lost to Griswold’s Ron Allen, 6-4, in her 103-pound opener. Bennett then fell to Cam Barnard of Fairfield Warde, 4-2, in a consolation match.
“I got caught having one of those tough matches where it was hard to keep your focus and score the points you need to,” Bennett said of the opening match. “All it really takes at this level is one mistake and I made that one mistake.”
Wilcox said the lack of focus on Bennett’s part could have been because of the commotion she caused just by taking to the mat.
“I know she felt a little pressure being the first girl to perform and, sometimes, that will freeze you a little bit,” Wilcox said. “I think that happened a little bit, but I’m not disappointed with what she showed at all. I think she did a marvelous job.”
Saturday, February 28, 2009
NFA boys move on to ECC basketball semifinals
When Griswold played at Norwich Free Academy earlier this season, it was the Wolverines who dictated the tempo and that was troublesome for the Wildcats. NFA decided that it couldn’t let that happen again when the two teams met in the Eastern Connecticut Conference quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at St. Bernard.
The second-seeded Wildcats were off and running early, much to the chagrin of Griswold, as the Wildcats walked away with the 56-36 win to advance to the ECC semifinals.
NFA will take on (Woodstock/Stonington) in the first semifinal game at 6 p.m. at Waterford High School. The (Centaurs/Bears) advanced with a ( - ) win in the second game of the afternoon Saturday.
"In terms of tempo, we got what we wanted early and converted some shots," NFA coach Neal Curland said. "It would have been real hard for (Griswold coach) Rob (Mileski) to have long offensive possessions which is probably what he wanted had it been a closer game early."
Indeed, that was the plan, but the Wildcats foiled that by scoring 15 of the first 20 points in the game. Six-foot-six junior Trevor Bundy had his way inside early on as he scored four of the first six points for NFA, Sharif Brown scored four of his six points and Mike Mailhot put down a 3-pointer to help the Wildcats build that 15-5 advantage.
Chris Vincent made it 21-10 at the end of the first quarter and then threw a couple of exclamation points down. The senior guard followed that up by connecting on a pair of 3-pointers to open the second quarter and then added another at the buzzer to give NFA the 35-13 halftime lead.
"The offense that they run - that stall offense - we didn’t want them to do that the whole game so we knew we had to score a few so they had to rush their offense," said Vincent who finished with a game-high 18 points."That pushed up the tempo, that’s why we pressed the whole game, too, and got out to a pretty big lead," he added.
"The last game, tempo was at our pace and it was 18-15 at the half," Mileski remembered. "This game, Neal said ‘we’re not going to do that’. They wanted to force the issue and they did."
The 22-point deficit at the half had Mileski searching for a consolation prize in the locker room.
"Our goal at halftime was not to roll over, we wanted to still compete, so I just put some numbers up on the board and said ‘let’s get it to 42-30’, try to get it to a dozen going into the fourth and see what happens," Mileski said.
The Wolverines (15-7) fell a little short of that goal although a 3-pointer by Sean Brackett (14 points) and a basket by Ray Phonthapanh late in the third did reduce the deficit to 16 points. It was to be as close as Griswold was going to get as the Wildcats quickly brought it back up to 20 points, in part, due to the play of six-foot-seven center Darryl Ferguson.
Ferguson, who had a lone jumper in the first half, scored six points in the second, but more importantly blocked five shots and altered about five others. The other NFA "big", Bundy, finished with eight points, all in the first half.
"They played well alternately," Curland said. "We do different things with them, we played them together and now we’re back to one at a time. I thought Trevor played well in the first half and Darryl played well in the second, I thought both of them took a half off. We’re not going to get very far if they don’t come for the whole game."
The second-seeded Wildcats were off and running early, much to the chagrin of Griswold, as the Wildcats walked away with the 56-36 win to advance to the ECC semifinals.
NFA will take on (Woodstock/Stonington) in the first semifinal game at 6 p.m. at Waterford High School. The (Centaurs/Bears) advanced with a ( - ) win in the second game of the afternoon Saturday.
"In terms of tempo, we got what we wanted early and converted some shots," NFA coach Neal Curland said. "It would have been real hard for (Griswold coach) Rob (Mileski) to have long offensive possessions which is probably what he wanted had it been a closer game early."
Indeed, that was the plan, but the Wildcats foiled that by scoring 15 of the first 20 points in the game. Six-foot-six junior Trevor Bundy had his way inside early on as he scored four of the first six points for NFA, Sharif Brown scored four of his six points and Mike Mailhot put down a 3-pointer to help the Wildcats build that 15-5 advantage.
Chris Vincent made it 21-10 at the end of the first quarter and then threw a couple of exclamation points down. The senior guard followed that up by connecting on a pair of 3-pointers to open the second quarter and then added another at the buzzer to give NFA the 35-13 halftime lead.
"The offense that they run - that stall offense - we didn’t want them to do that the whole game so we knew we had to score a few so they had to rush their offense," said Vincent who finished with a game-high 18 points."That pushed up the tempo, that’s why we pressed the whole game, too, and got out to a pretty big lead," he added.
"The last game, tempo was at our pace and it was 18-15 at the half," Mileski remembered. "This game, Neal said ‘we’re not going to do that’. They wanted to force the issue and they did."
The 22-point deficit at the half had Mileski searching for a consolation prize in the locker room.
"Our goal at halftime was not to roll over, we wanted to still compete, so I just put some numbers up on the board and said ‘let’s get it to 42-30’, try to get it to a dozen going into the fourth and see what happens," Mileski said.
The Wolverines (15-7) fell a little short of that goal although a 3-pointer by Sean Brackett (14 points) and a basket by Ray Phonthapanh late in the third did reduce the deficit to 16 points. It was to be as close as Griswold was going to get as the Wildcats quickly brought it back up to 20 points, in part, due to the play of six-foot-seven center Darryl Ferguson.
Ferguson, who had a lone jumper in the first half, scored six points in the second, but more importantly blocked five shots and altered about five others. The other NFA "big", Bundy, finished with eight points, all in the first half.
"They played well alternately," Curland said. "We do different things with them, we played them together and now we’re back to one at a time. I thought Trevor played well in the first half and Darryl played well in the second, I thought both of them took a half off. We’re not going to get very far if they don’t come for the whole game."
NFA boys move on to ECC basketball semifinals
When Griswold played at Norwich Free Academy earlier this season, it was the Wolverines who dictated the tempo and that was troublesome for the Wildcats. NFA decided that it couldn’t let that happen again when the two teams met in the Eastern Connecticut Conference quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at St. Bernard.
The second-seeded Wildcats were off and running early, much to the chagrin of Griswold, as the Wildcats walked away with the 56-36 win to advance to the ECC semifinals.
NFA will take on (Woodstock/Stonington) in the first semifinal game at 6 p.m. at Waterford High School. The (Centaurs/Bears) advanced with a ( - ) win in the second game of the afternoon Saturday.
"In terms of tempo, we got what we wanted early and converted some shots," NFA coach Neal Curland said. "It would have been real hard for (Griswold coach) Rob (Mileski) to have long offensive possessions which is probably what he wanted had it been a closer game early."
Indeed, that was the plan, but the Wildcats foiled that by scoring 15 of the first 20 points in the game. Six-foot-six junior Trevor Bundy had his way inside early on as he scored four of the first six points for NFA, Sharif Brown scored four of his six points and Mike Mailhot put down a 3-pointer to help the Wildcats build that 15-5 advantage.
Chris Vincent made it 21-10 at the end of the first quarter and then threw a couple of exclamation points down. The senior guard followed that up by connecting on a pair of 3-pointers to open the second quarter and then added another at the buzzer to give NFA the 35-13 halftime lead.
"The offense that they run - that stall offense - we didn’t want them to do that the whole game so we knew we had to score a few so they had to rush their offense," said Vincent who finished with a game-high 18 points."That pushed up the tempo, that’s why we pressed the whole game, too, and got out to a pretty big lead," he added.
"The last game, tempo was at our pace and it was 18-15 at the half," Mileski remembered. "This game, Neal said ‘we’re not going to do that’. They wanted to force the issue and they did."
The 22-point deficit at the half had Mileski searching for a consolation prize in the locker room.
"Our goal at halftime was not to roll over, we wanted to still compete, so I just put some numbers up on the board and said ‘let’s get it to 42-30’, try to get it to a dozen going into the fourth and see what happens," Mileski said.
The Wolverines (15-7) fell a little short of that goal although a 3-pointer by Sean Brackett (14 points) and a basket by Ray Phonthapanh late in the third did reduce the deficit to 16 points. It was to be as close as Griswold was going to get as the Wildcats quickly brought it back up to 20 points, in part, due to the play of six-foot-seven center Darryl Ferguson.
Ferguson, who had a lone jumper in the first half, scored six points in the second, but more importantly blocked five shots and altered about five others. The other NFA "big", Bundy, finished with eight points, all in the first half.
"They played well alternately," Curland said. "We do different things with them, we played them together and now we’re back to one at a time. I thought Trevor played well in the first half and Darryl played well in the second, I thought both of them took a half off. We’re not going to get very far if they don’t come for the whole game."
The second-seeded Wildcats were off and running early, much to the chagrin of Griswold, as the Wildcats walked away with the 56-36 win to advance to the ECC semifinals.
NFA will take on (Woodstock/Stonington) in the first semifinal game at 6 p.m. at Waterford High School. The (Centaurs/Bears) advanced with a ( - ) win in the second game of the afternoon Saturday.
"In terms of tempo, we got what we wanted early and converted some shots," NFA coach Neal Curland said. "It would have been real hard for (Griswold coach) Rob (Mileski) to have long offensive possessions which is probably what he wanted had it been a closer game early."
Indeed, that was the plan, but the Wildcats foiled that by scoring 15 of the first 20 points in the game. Six-foot-six junior Trevor Bundy had his way inside early on as he scored four of the first six points for NFA, Sharif Brown scored four of his six points and Mike Mailhot put down a 3-pointer to help the Wildcats build that 15-5 advantage.
Chris Vincent made it 21-10 at the end of the first quarter and then threw a couple of exclamation points down. The senior guard followed that up by connecting on a pair of 3-pointers to open the second quarter and then added another at the buzzer to give NFA the 35-13 halftime lead.
"The offense that they run - that stall offense - we didn’t want them to do that the whole game so we knew we had to score a few so they had to rush their offense," said Vincent who finished with a game-high 18 points."That pushed up the tempo, that’s why we pressed the whole game, too, and got out to a pretty big lead," he added.
"The last game, tempo was at our pace and it was 18-15 at the half," Mileski remembered. "This game, Neal said ‘we’re not going to do that’. They wanted to force the issue and they did."
The 22-point deficit at the half had Mileski searching for a consolation prize in the locker room.
"Our goal at halftime was not to roll over, we wanted to still compete, so I just put some numbers up on the board and said ‘let’s get it to 42-30’, try to get it to a dozen going into the fourth and see what happens," Mileski said.
The Wolverines (15-7) fell a little short of that goal although a 3-pointer by Sean Brackett (14 points) and a basket by Ray Phonthapanh late in the third did reduce the deficit to 16 points. It was to be as close as Griswold was going to get as the Wildcats quickly brought it back up to 20 points, in part, due to the play of six-foot-seven center Darryl Ferguson.
Ferguson, who had a lone jumper in the first half, scored six points in the second, but more importantly blocked five shots and altered about five others. The other NFA "big", Bundy, finished with eight points, all in the first half.
"They played well alternately," Curland said. "We do different things with them, we played them together and now we’re back to one at a time. I thought Trevor played well in the first half and Darryl played well in the second, I thought both of them took a half off. We’re not going to get very far if they don’t come for the whole game."
Friday, February 27, 2009
NFA takes home ECC title
Call them Norwich as Bacon’s McKenzie Hyde suggested after the Bobcats advanced to the title game Wednesday or call them NFA, just call them good- Hyde and her teammates won’t argue.
The Wildcats returned to the top of the Eastern Connecticut Conference in girl’s basketball as the No. 1 seed captured the tournament championship with a 60-53 win over No. 2 Bacon Academy Friday night at Plainfield High School.
It’s the third time in four years that NFA has claimed the crown after a brief blip last year when the Wildcats fell to the Heather Buck-led Stonington Bears on NFA’s home floor.
“It’s nice, and you know, we even won a championship when it wasn’t on our court, so I guess that’s a good thing,” NFA coach Bill Scarlata said referring to the league’s decision to move the semifinals and championship game from Norwich to Plainfield this year.
What made it even more special to the players, such as tournament Most Valuable Player Kastine Evans, was that not only will all of the starters be able to bask in this year’s title, but all come back for another shot at it next year.
“Last year, we were still young and that might have been an excuse,” Evans said. “We showed this year that, even though we’re still young – all juniors and a sophomore – that we’re still able to come out and play against seniors.”
There comes a time in most games when the tide just seems to turn and Friday night was no exception as the two teams had battled through 22 ½ minutes against one another and were tied at 38.
That’s when the aspect of NFA’s game that worried Bacon coach Dave Shea the most, their famous pressure, started to take its toll.
Bacon was in the process of regrouping just a bit as Hyde (12 points, six rebounds) had been forced to the bench with her fourth foul when NFA struck. Jen Escobido hit a free throw to give the Wildcats the one-point lead. Bacon managed to get the ball down the floor, but a missed shot was followed by a travel call and Evans –who didn’t get a basket until 2 ½ minutes were left in the first half- followed a Gen Barlow miss for two of her game-high 24 points.
The Bobcats turned over the ball three more times before NFA capitalized again on an Evans basket off a nice feed from Stephanie Long. Another Bacon turnover, this time on a bad pass that landed in Escobido’s hands, resulted in two more fast break points for the Wildcats as they went up by seven, 45-38, with 6:13 left.
“We started playing defense with about three minutes left in the third period, that turned the game around,” Scarlata said. “I told them to come out and play as hard as they could from the get-go, they probably thought the game didn’t start until the end of the third period.”
NFA sophomore Jahira Smith was named to the all-tournament team despite scoring just one point in the game because of her role in causing the disruption of the Bacon offense.
“That’s where we wanted them, once we got them to that point, that was it- that was the turning point of the game,” Smith said of the defensive flurry that put the Wildcats in the lead for good.
“I think we rushed a lot, it was real intimidating and we let it get to us,” said Bacon sophomore guard Katie Mahoney who led the Bobcats with 19 points.
The Bobcats were so flustered that Shea was out of time outs with five minutes left in the game as he tried to rally his Bobcats. It almost succeeded as the Colchester squad was within four with 4:13 to play but a 7-2 NFA run took away whatever hopes the Bobcats still harbored. Long (17 points) capped it with six free throws and a basket for NFA as Bacon saw its 19-game win streak end at the hands of the last team who beat them in December.
“It’s not a disappointment,” Shea said, “it would have been a great thing had we won, but we knew it was going to be a real tough game. It would have been a disappointment if we had been blown out of here by 20 points or something, but this got us ready for the state tournament.”
Senior Brooke Bailey, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, agreed with her coach.
“(It was) Really good preparation (for the state tournament), it was good to play the game,” the forward said.
The Wildcats returned to the top of the Eastern Connecticut Conference in girl’s basketball as the No. 1 seed captured the tournament championship with a 60-53 win over No. 2 Bacon Academy Friday night at Plainfield High School.
It’s the third time in four years that NFA has claimed the crown after a brief blip last year when the Wildcats fell to the Heather Buck-led Stonington Bears on NFA’s home floor.
“It’s nice, and you know, we even won a championship when it wasn’t on our court, so I guess that’s a good thing,” NFA coach Bill Scarlata said referring to the league’s decision to move the semifinals and championship game from Norwich to Plainfield this year.
What made it even more special to the players, such as tournament Most Valuable Player Kastine Evans, was that not only will all of the starters be able to bask in this year’s title, but all come back for another shot at it next year.
“Last year, we were still young and that might have been an excuse,” Evans said. “We showed this year that, even though we’re still young – all juniors and a sophomore – that we’re still able to come out and play against seniors.”
There comes a time in most games when the tide just seems to turn and Friday night was no exception as the two teams had battled through 22 ½ minutes against one another and were tied at 38.
That’s when the aspect of NFA’s game that worried Bacon coach Dave Shea the most, their famous pressure, started to take its toll.
Bacon was in the process of regrouping just a bit as Hyde (12 points, six rebounds) had been forced to the bench with her fourth foul when NFA struck. Jen Escobido hit a free throw to give the Wildcats the one-point lead. Bacon managed to get the ball down the floor, but a missed shot was followed by a travel call and Evans –who didn’t get a basket until 2 ½ minutes were left in the first half- followed a Gen Barlow miss for two of her game-high 24 points.
The Bobcats turned over the ball three more times before NFA capitalized again on an Evans basket off a nice feed from Stephanie Long. Another Bacon turnover, this time on a bad pass that landed in Escobido’s hands, resulted in two more fast break points for the Wildcats as they went up by seven, 45-38, with 6:13 left.
“We started playing defense with about three minutes left in the third period, that turned the game around,” Scarlata said. “I told them to come out and play as hard as they could from the get-go, they probably thought the game didn’t start until the end of the third period.”
NFA sophomore Jahira Smith was named to the all-tournament team despite scoring just one point in the game because of her role in causing the disruption of the Bacon offense.
“That’s where we wanted them, once we got them to that point, that was it- that was the turning point of the game,” Smith said of the defensive flurry that put the Wildcats in the lead for good.
“I think we rushed a lot, it was real intimidating and we let it get to us,” said Bacon sophomore guard Katie Mahoney who led the Bobcats with 19 points.
The Bobcats were so flustered that Shea was out of time outs with five minutes left in the game as he tried to rally his Bobcats. It almost succeeded as the Colchester squad was within four with 4:13 to play but a 7-2 NFA run took away whatever hopes the Bobcats still harbored. Long (17 points) capped it with six free throws and a basket for NFA as Bacon saw its 19-game win streak end at the hands of the last team who beat them in December.
“It’s not a disappointment,” Shea said, “it would have been a great thing had we won, but we knew it was going to be a real tough game. It would have been a disappointment if we had been blown out of here by 20 points or something, but this got us ready for the state tournament.”
Senior Brooke Bailey, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, agreed with her coach.
“(It was) Really good preparation (for the state tournament), it was good to play the game,” the forward said.
Friday, February 20, 2009
New London stops NFA, 61-54
It was the type of game that New London sophomore Torin Childs-Harris was used to playing at his former high school in Virginia Beach. Va.
There are 12 schools within that city’s limits, according to Harris, which produced heated rivalries played in front of packed houses in games that came down to the wire.
Harris hasn’t had a chance to experience that much this season at New London where, outside of the first month of the season when they played Northwest Catholic, Manchester and Hartford Public, the games have generally been one-sided for the No. 4 team in the state.
That was until Friday night when the Whalers invaded Alumni Hall in Norwich and had a battle with their storied rival, NFA, and won their 18th-consecutive game, 61-54.
The setting was more to Harris’ liking with 1,200 fans packed inside of Alumni Hall as fans were turned away during halftime of the junior varsity game.
“The last big game was Hartford Public and this game felt good,” Harris said. “The atmosphere was great. It reminded me of Virginia and I just had to turn it up.”
The Whalers, who finished the season 19-1, have generally had it easy in their ECC Small Division schedule in between their games with Hartford Public on Dec. 29 and NFA.
“I said this before: I don’t particularly care for this league with the expansion; I like the old ECC,” New London coach Craig Parker said. “It’s not there, so we play who we play.
The scarcity of close contests hasn’t dulled the Whalers sharpness, however, as they put NFA behind quickly thanks in part to the talents of freshman Kris Dunn.
The Whalers guard scored seven first-quarter points and had three steals to help New London build a 19-10 lead after one.
“I sparked out a little bit and that just got other people involved and they started doing their thing,” said Dunn, who finished with a team-high 18 points.
New London followed that up with seven straight points to open the second quarter and the NFA faithful grew a little quiet as the Wildcats suddenly trailed, 25-10. Sharif Brown helped bring the crowd back a bit when he scored seven of his 12 points, including a three-point play in the final minute of the first half to bring NFA back to within eight, 31-23.
The Wildcats (17-3) whittled the New London lead down to five in the third quarter, but nine points from Dunn and Harris brought it back to as many as 13 before the Whalers settled for a 10-point lead, 45-35, going into the final quarter.
Despite using just six players much of the second half, NFA had one last gasp left in it. Brown opened the fourth with a strong drive to the basket for two. Henry Cordero stole the in-bounds pass, but was whistled for a foul. Undaunted, the Wildcat guard picked the Whalers’ pocket again and went in for a fast-break bucket to make it 45-39. That set up the loudest roar of the night when Mike Mailhot (20 points) drained a 3-pointer with 6:35 to play to make it a three-point game.
“When I heard that crowd roaring, our kids got some energy from that, but they made plays,” NFA coach Neal Curland said.
This time it was the sophomore Harris that stepped up his game as he scored the next four points, two on a drive to the basket and two from the charity stripe.
“We held them at bay and we got it back,” Parker said. “(Harris) made two big foul shots for us, settled us down a little bit, and we were able to increase the lead from there.”
The Whalers scored six of the next eight points to open the 11-point advantage and made six-of-eight free throws in the final 1:05 to send the Wildcats to their first loss in eight games.
“New London is very good and they played well, they shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half,” Curland said. “When you have quicks like that who can get by you and they can also hit outside shots — you kind of have to pick your poison. Their young guards, veteran guards and big kids all played well.”
There are 12 schools within that city’s limits, according to Harris, which produced heated rivalries played in front of packed houses in games that came down to the wire.
Harris hasn’t had a chance to experience that much this season at New London where, outside of the first month of the season when they played Northwest Catholic, Manchester and Hartford Public, the games have generally been one-sided for the No. 4 team in the state.
That was until Friday night when the Whalers invaded Alumni Hall in Norwich and had a battle with their storied rival, NFA, and won their 18th-consecutive game, 61-54.
The setting was more to Harris’ liking with 1,200 fans packed inside of Alumni Hall as fans were turned away during halftime of the junior varsity game.
“The last big game was Hartford Public and this game felt good,” Harris said. “The atmosphere was great. It reminded me of Virginia and I just had to turn it up.”
The Whalers, who finished the season 19-1, have generally had it easy in their ECC Small Division schedule in between their games with Hartford Public on Dec. 29 and NFA.
“I said this before: I don’t particularly care for this league with the expansion; I like the old ECC,” New London coach Craig Parker said. “It’s not there, so we play who we play.
The scarcity of close contests hasn’t dulled the Whalers sharpness, however, as they put NFA behind quickly thanks in part to the talents of freshman Kris Dunn.
The Whalers guard scored seven first-quarter points and had three steals to help New London build a 19-10 lead after one.
“I sparked out a little bit and that just got other people involved and they started doing their thing,” said Dunn, who finished with a team-high 18 points.
New London followed that up with seven straight points to open the second quarter and the NFA faithful grew a little quiet as the Wildcats suddenly trailed, 25-10. Sharif Brown helped bring the crowd back a bit when he scored seven of his 12 points, including a three-point play in the final minute of the first half to bring NFA back to within eight, 31-23.
The Wildcats (17-3) whittled the New London lead down to five in the third quarter, but nine points from Dunn and Harris brought it back to as many as 13 before the Whalers settled for a 10-point lead, 45-35, going into the final quarter.
Despite using just six players much of the second half, NFA had one last gasp left in it. Brown opened the fourth with a strong drive to the basket for two. Henry Cordero stole the in-bounds pass, but was whistled for a foul. Undaunted, the Wildcat guard picked the Whalers’ pocket again and went in for a fast-break bucket to make it 45-39. That set up the loudest roar of the night when Mike Mailhot (20 points) drained a 3-pointer with 6:35 to play to make it a three-point game.
“When I heard that crowd roaring, our kids got some energy from that, but they made plays,” NFA coach Neal Curland said.
This time it was the sophomore Harris that stepped up his game as he scored the next four points, two on a drive to the basket and two from the charity stripe.
“We held them at bay and we got it back,” Parker said. “(Harris) made two big foul shots for us, settled us down a little bit, and we were able to increase the lead from there.”
The Whalers scored six of the next eight points to open the 11-point advantage and made six-of-eight free throws in the final 1:05 to send the Wildcats to their first loss in eight games.
“New London is very good and they played well, they shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half,” Curland said. “When you have quicks like that who can get by you and they can also hit outside shots — you kind of have to pick your poison. Their young guards, veteran guards and big kids all played well.”
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
St. Bernard scores 3-0 win over Housy
St. Bernard/Bacon and Housatonic/Northwestern last played on Friday, and the Saints learned a couple of valuable lessons from that match up: don’t fall behind and don’t lose your cool.
The Saints didn’t fall victim to either of those pitfalls on Wednesday night and, as a result, reversed their fortune as they gained a measure of revenge with a 3-0 win at the Norwich Ice Rink.
“Intensity and consistency is what we asked of them in the locker room,” St. Bernard/Bacon assistant coach Rich Steele said as he picked up his first win as a varsity coach. Head coach Chris Avena was serving a one-game suspension after he was ejected from a game Monday night.
“The other night, up at their rink, we came out flat. We didn’t start playing until we were down 4-0 and we were up and down all night long,” Steele said. “We just wanted a nice, smooth effort from top to bottom. We kept preaching ‘15 minutes down to zero’ every period.”
Housatonic/Northwestern beat the Saints, 4-2, in their previous meeting, but had problems not only with the Saints, but with themselves from the start this time around. The Mountaineers (9-8) gave the Saints five power-play opportunities in the first period alone.
“I’m dealing with a bunch of high school kids who don’t know how to shut their mouths — it’s plain and simple,” Housatonic coach Dean Diamond said. “You play smart hockey, work hard and keep your mouth shut and you’re in the game. When you don’t stop yakking to the refs, take stupid penalties, you’re going to lose — it’s that simple.”
The Saints didn’t take advantage of the Mountaineers’ penalty box minutes until just under five minutes were left in the first period. Sam Nassetta, with help from Jack Berry and Charlie Tufo, flipped the puck over Housatonic goalie Kevin Diamond’s right shoulder and into the corner of the net for a 1-0 St. Bernard lead.
St. Bernard squandered a five-on-three chance in the second period, but came up with an insurance goal with 4:12 left. Jerry Theiler — who has accounted for more than 40 points this season for the Saints — flipped it to team captain Colin Morgan to light the lamp.
“I think I had the puck down low and I just slid it across,” Theiler described. “It got under everyone and Colin just slipped it in.”
There were some antsy moments for St. Bernard in the third period as the Saints couldn’t score despite two power play opportunities and nine shots on goal early. In the first of those short-handed episodes, the puck ended up on the stick of Housatonic center Sam LeGoyt, who had a one-on-one with Saints goalie Scott Steele (22 saves).
“I just thought I would come out, challenge the shot, take away the angle and he didn’t do anything special,” said Scott Steele, who corralled the shot with his stomach for the save.
Steele and his teammates also had to weather through a five-on-three situation where the Saints goalie turned aside three Housatonic shots.
“One of the keys (Wednesday night) was that we didn’t give them shots from in close, for the most part,” Rich Steele said. “A credit to the goalie for the shutout, but a credit to the whole team for giving him a chance to see the puck and do his job.”
Theiler put the finishing touches on the win as he found himself with a short-handed break away with 1:17 to play and didn’t miss.
“I missed one earlier in the game,” Theiler said. “I was kind of snakebit and the goalie had me on one, so I just tried to put that last one in and it was nice.”
The Saints improved their record to 9-8 and have already qualified for the state tournament.
“That takes the pressure off,” Rich Steele said. “Last couple of years, we’ve had to go right down to the wire to see if we’re in or out. Now, we can fine-tune the team a bit.”
The Saints didn’t fall victim to either of those pitfalls on Wednesday night and, as a result, reversed their fortune as they gained a measure of revenge with a 3-0 win at the Norwich Ice Rink.
“Intensity and consistency is what we asked of them in the locker room,” St. Bernard/Bacon assistant coach Rich Steele said as he picked up his first win as a varsity coach. Head coach Chris Avena was serving a one-game suspension after he was ejected from a game Monday night.
“The other night, up at their rink, we came out flat. We didn’t start playing until we were down 4-0 and we were up and down all night long,” Steele said. “We just wanted a nice, smooth effort from top to bottom. We kept preaching ‘15 minutes down to zero’ every period.”
Housatonic/Northwestern beat the Saints, 4-2, in their previous meeting, but had problems not only with the Saints, but with themselves from the start this time around. The Mountaineers (9-8) gave the Saints five power-play opportunities in the first period alone.
“I’m dealing with a bunch of high school kids who don’t know how to shut their mouths — it’s plain and simple,” Housatonic coach Dean Diamond said. “You play smart hockey, work hard and keep your mouth shut and you’re in the game. When you don’t stop yakking to the refs, take stupid penalties, you’re going to lose — it’s that simple.”
The Saints didn’t take advantage of the Mountaineers’ penalty box minutes until just under five minutes were left in the first period. Sam Nassetta, with help from Jack Berry and Charlie Tufo, flipped the puck over Housatonic goalie Kevin Diamond’s right shoulder and into the corner of the net for a 1-0 St. Bernard lead.
St. Bernard squandered a five-on-three chance in the second period, but came up with an insurance goal with 4:12 left. Jerry Theiler — who has accounted for more than 40 points this season for the Saints — flipped it to team captain Colin Morgan to light the lamp.
“I think I had the puck down low and I just slid it across,” Theiler described. “It got under everyone and Colin just slipped it in.”
There were some antsy moments for St. Bernard in the third period as the Saints couldn’t score despite two power play opportunities and nine shots on goal early. In the first of those short-handed episodes, the puck ended up on the stick of Housatonic center Sam LeGoyt, who had a one-on-one with Saints goalie Scott Steele (22 saves).
“I just thought I would come out, challenge the shot, take away the angle and he didn’t do anything special,” said Scott Steele, who corralled the shot with his stomach for the save.
Steele and his teammates also had to weather through a five-on-three situation where the Saints goalie turned aside three Housatonic shots.
“One of the keys (Wednesday night) was that we didn’t give them shots from in close, for the most part,” Rich Steele said. “A credit to the goalie for the shutout, but a credit to the whole team for giving him a chance to see the puck and do his job.”
Theiler put the finishing touches on the win as he found himself with a short-handed break away with 1:17 to play and didn’t miss.
“I missed one earlier in the game,” Theiler said. “I was kind of snakebit and the goalie had me on one, so I just tried to put that last one in and it was nice.”
The Saints improved their record to 9-8 and have already qualified for the state tournament.
“That takes the pressure off,” Rich Steele said. “Last couple of years, we’ve had to go right down to the wire to see if we’re in or out. Now, we can fine-tune the team a bit.”
Monday, February 16, 2009
Saints stop Clippers in season finale
It was a game that most thought would decide the Eastern Connecticut Conference Small Division in girls basketball. New London had other ideas.
The Whalers’ win over Putnam on Saturday took some of the starch out of the Clippers’ showdown with St. Bernard on Monday night as the Saints had already clinched the Small.
It didn’t mean, however, that either team played any less intense.
Putnam’s style of play caused the Saints some consternation, but the Clippers’ lack of offensive punch cost them in the end as they lost to the Saints, 37-28.
“We’ve been playing pretty good lately and we’ve been running, but they didn’t let us do it — they’re tough to play,” St. Bernard coach Mike Nystrom said.
The Saints (15-5, 11-1 ECC Small) looked like they were going to win their ninth in a row relatively easily as they came out and lit up the board in the first quarter. Senior Casey Brigham scored 11 of her 19 points in that opening period to give the Saints a 14-7 lead.
“I was just really excited about Senior Night and we really just came together,” Brigham said. “The JV team all wore T-shirts saying ‘We love our seniors,’ so I was just really excited about the night and felt it walking out on to the court.”
The opposite was true in the second quarter for the Saints. They cooled off rapidly and missed all eight shots from the floor, four of them from 3-point land, and scored only one second quarter point. The Clippers came up with 10 to take a 17-15 lead into the half. Putnam’s Katelyn Tarr scored nine of those and finished with 21 of the Clippers’ 28 points.
“The other kids need to grow around her and it’s a learning process,” Putnam coach Willie Bousquet said. “We’re just not as multi-faceted as we were. I give them credit because the defense is just as tenacious as its been and that’s a good thing. We’re one of the only division teams to hold (St.Bernard) under 40 points twice.”
The problem for the Clippers offensively is the absence of point guard Kelsey Rybacki, who injured her knee in the first game of the year against St. Bernard and has not returned.
“We’re uncertain, the ACL is loose,” Bousquet said of Rybacki’s injured knee. His hope is that she can return in time for the state tournament.
“It’s definitely difficult; we miss her points, she’s a very good outside shooter,” Tarr said. “But we’ve been practicing a lot and are getting a little better at getting open for the ball.”
Tarr put Putnam up by four with a basket to open the third quarter, but it was the only field goal that Putnam got in the entire quarter. The Saints turned the tables to take a 25-20 lead into the final quarter as Brigham scored five of the Saints’ 10 third-quarter points.
St. Bernard extended that lead to nine early in the fourth quarter before five more Tarr points cut it to four. The Saints put it away when they scored the next seven points.
Emma Sternloff added nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds for St. Bernard, while Ashley Walenta tossed in seven.
“We’ve been playing well lately,” Nystrom said. “When we get rolling, we’re looking pretty good.”
St. Bernard’s first postseason test will come against Lyman at home on Thursday night in an ECC play-in game. Putnam plays at home against Waterford the same night.
The Whalers’ win over Putnam on Saturday took some of the starch out of the Clippers’ showdown with St. Bernard on Monday night as the Saints had already clinched the Small.
It didn’t mean, however, that either team played any less intense.
Putnam’s style of play caused the Saints some consternation, but the Clippers’ lack of offensive punch cost them in the end as they lost to the Saints, 37-28.
“We’ve been playing pretty good lately and we’ve been running, but they didn’t let us do it — they’re tough to play,” St. Bernard coach Mike Nystrom said.
The Saints (15-5, 11-1 ECC Small) looked like they were going to win their ninth in a row relatively easily as they came out and lit up the board in the first quarter. Senior Casey Brigham scored 11 of her 19 points in that opening period to give the Saints a 14-7 lead.
“I was just really excited about Senior Night and we really just came together,” Brigham said. “The JV team all wore T-shirts saying ‘We love our seniors,’ so I was just really excited about the night and felt it walking out on to the court.”
The opposite was true in the second quarter for the Saints. They cooled off rapidly and missed all eight shots from the floor, four of them from 3-point land, and scored only one second quarter point. The Clippers came up with 10 to take a 17-15 lead into the half. Putnam’s Katelyn Tarr scored nine of those and finished with 21 of the Clippers’ 28 points.
“The other kids need to grow around her and it’s a learning process,” Putnam coach Willie Bousquet said. “We’re just not as multi-faceted as we were. I give them credit because the defense is just as tenacious as its been and that’s a good thing. We’re one of the only division teams to hold (St.Bernard) under 40 points twice.”
The problem for the Clippers offensively is the absence of point guard Kelsey Rybacki, who injured her knee in the first game of the year against St. Bernard and has not returned.
“We’re uncertain, the ACL is loose,” Bousquet said of Rybacki’s injured knee. His hope is that she can return in time for the state tournament.
“It’s definitely difficult; we miss her points, she’s a very good outside shooter,” Tarr said. “But we’ve been practicing a lot and are getting a little better at getting open for the ball.”
Tarr put Putnam up by four with a basket to open the third quarter, but it was the only field goal that Putnam got in the entire quarter. The Saints turned the tables to take a 25-20 lead into the final quarter as Brigham scored five of the Saints’ 10 third-quarter points.
St. Bernard extended that lead to nine early in the fourth quarter before five more Tarr points cut it to four. The Saints put it away when they scored the next seven points.
Emma Sternloff added nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds for St. Bernard, while Ashley Walenta tossed in seven.
“We’ve been playing well lately,” Nystrom said. “When we get rolling, we’re looking pretty good.”
St. Bernard’s first postseason test will come against Lyman at home on Thursday night in an ECC play-in game. Putnam plays at home against Waterford the same night.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Bacon topples Ledyard in ECC wrestling
Ledyard High School had won five straight Eastern Connecticut Conference Large Division championships in wrestling and four consecutive ECC Championship meets.
Bacon Academy coach Mike Voiland is quick to point out that the Colonels have won 29 of the 36 ECC wrestling titles overall, so indeed it was a rare occurrence that the Colonels didn’t find themselves atop again this year.
They didn’t go down without a fight, however.
Ledyard had a chance right up until the heavyweight match in the championship finals Saturday night at Waterford High, a match that Bacon heavyweight Brian Webster won and the Bobcats dethroned the Colonels by a slim, 192 1/2 to 186 1/2 margin, to win the championship. Bacon got an added bonus as Ledyard finished second, ahead of Waterford, which also gave the Bobcats the ECC Large Division championship.
“When someone hits a home run, it just has to clear the fence, it doesn’t have to be 500-feet, so six or 60 — it doesn’t matter,” Voiland said about the narrow margin of victory.
Bacon went into the championship round with an eight-point lead over Ledyard, but both teams had four wrestlers make it to the finals. Ledyard suffered a blow, however, when Nick Polonsky couldn’t wrestle at 189-pounds due to a neck injury suffered earlier in the day.
Bacon extended its lead by four points when Ryan Quinn scored an 8-5 decision over Killingly’s Tylor Herrick in the opening match of the championship round.
“I hate it,” Quinn said of being the first out on the mat, “but hopefully it got the rest of the kids in the finals a little loosened up.”
Like Quinn, who won the 112-pound ECC title a year ago, Ledyard’s Caleb Morth captured his second straight ECC individual title by taking the 145-pound championship with a pin 4-minutes, 30-seconds into his match with Montville’s Dan Alger.
“It was definitely a goal, to win the ECCs and hopefully, the (State) Open — those were my big goals,” Morth, a senior, said.
Morth’s pin also pulled the Colonels within six of the Bobcats. A Shane Sullivan pin could have tied that up at 152, but the junior had a battle with Woodstock’s Brohen Krsulic and had to settle for a 7-2 win by decision.
Waterford’s John Millaras helped Ledyard as he defeated Bacon’s Dan Thompson at 160, 7-1, to set up what turned out to be the decisive battle three matches later. Bacon’s Webster was pitted against Ledyard junior Alex Lawrence, and everybody in the gym knew what was on the line.
“That’s a whole lot of pressure for a high school kid,” Voiland said. “The season comes down to that on both sides of the house.”
The importance wasn’t lost on Webster.
“I was just like, ‘Oh my God, I have to win this thing.’ It was overwhelming, but I knew I had beaten him before and I knew I could do it again.”
Voiland didn’t like what he saw early on as Webster took a 2-1 lead, but then found himself on his back for only the second time this season in the second period. He escaped and then changed his strategy. Webster stayed on his feet the rest of the match, scored a takedown, let Lawrence get back up and scored on another takedown. The strategy was repeated four times in the third period and produced a 13-6 win.
“I knew it was coming,” Ledyard coach Jason Lanoue said. “I knew exactly it was going to be the strategy. I was loving it because the Bacon coaches had kind of forgotten about it in the beginning, but when (Lawrence) hit those two dangerous rolls, they were like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s right, we told you to let (Lawrence) up last time.’ ”
The team that was on top last week, Waterford, ended up going home empty-handed as the Lancers finished in third with 182 points.
“It’s a disappointment — clearly a disappointment,” Waterford coach Chris Gamble said. “You’re hoping that you will get some 3, 4, 5, 6th-place finishes and we didn’t get them. It’s a tough tournament and that’s what happens, we didn’t make our breaks.”
The other team that went home with a title was Montville as it finally untangled itself from Killingly and beat the Redmen by seven, 133 1/2 to 126 1/2, to capture the Small Division crown. The two teams had to go to criteria in their two regular-season encounters.
“We’ve been sick all week, and we didn’t wrestle as well as we should have, but my compliments to our kids because they came through in the end and did enough to win the ECC outright,” Montville coach Gary Wilcox said.
East Lyme senior Ryan Clarke, the 140-pound champion, was named the Most Outstanding wrestler in the tournament.
Bacon Academy coach Mike Voiland is quick to point out that the Colonels have won 29 of the 36 ECC wrestling titles overall, so indeed it was a rare occurrence that the Colonels didn’t find themselves atop again this year.
They didn’t go down without a fight, however.
Ledyard had a chance right up until the heavyweight match in the championship finals Saturday night at Waterford High, a match that Bacon heavyweight Brian Webster won and the Bobcats dethroned the Colonels by a slim, 192 1/2 to 186 1/2 margin, to win the championship. Bacon got an added bonus as Ledyard finished second, ahead of Waterford, which also gave the Bobcats the ECC Large Division championship.
“When someone hits a home run, it just has to clear the fence, it doesn’t have to be 500-feet, so six or 60 — it doesn’t matter,” Voiland said about the narrow margin of victory.
Bacon went into the championship round with an eight-point lead over Ledyard, but both teams had four wrestlers make it to the finals. Ledyard suffered a blow, however, when Nick Polonsky couldn’t wrestle at 189-pounds due to a neck injury suffered earlier in the day.
Bacon extended its lead by four points when Ryan Quinn scored an 8-5 decision over Killingly’s Tylor Herrick in the opening match of the championship round.
“I hate it,” Quinn said of being the first out on the mat, “but hopefully it got the rest of the kids in the finals a little loosened up.”
Like Quinn, who won the 112-pound ECC title a year ago, Ledyard’s Caleb Morth captured his second straight ECC individual title by taking the 145-pound championship with a pin 4-minutes, 30-seconds into his match with Montville’s Dan Alger.
“It was definitely a goal, to win the ECCs and hopefully, the (State) Open — those were my big goals,” Morth, a senior, said.
Morth’s pin also pulled the Colonels within six of the Bobcats. A Shane Sullivan pin could have tied that up at 152, but the junior had a battle with Woodstock’s Brohen Krsulic and had to settle for a 7-2 win by decision.
Waterford’s John Millaras helped Ledyard as he defeated Bacon’s Dan Thompson at 160, 7-1, to set up what turned out to be the decisive battle three matches later. Bacon’s Webster was pitted against Ledyard junior Alex Lawrence, and everybody in the gym knew what was on the line.
“That’s a whole lot of pressure for a high school kid,” Voiland said. “The season comes down to that on both sides of the house.”
The importance wasn’t lost on Webster.
“I was just like, ‘Oh my God, I have to win this thing.’ It was overwhelming, but I knew I had beaten him before and I knew I could do it again.”
Voiland didn’t like what he saw early on as Webster took a 2-1 lead, but then found himself on his back for only the second time this season in the second period. He escaped and then changed his strategy. Webster stayed on his feet the rest of the match, scored a takedown, let Lawrence get back up and scored on another takedown. The strategy was repeated four times in the third period and produced a 13-6 win.
“I knew it was coming,” Ledyard coach Jason Lanoue said. “I knew exactly it was going to be the strategy. I was loving it because the Bacon coaches had kind of forgotten about it in the beginning, but when (Lawrence) hit those two dangerous rolls, they were like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s right, we told you to let (Lawrence) up last time.’ ”
The team that was on top last week, Waterford, ended up going home empty-handed as the Lancers finished in third with 182 points.
“It’s a disappointment — clearly a disappointment,” Waterford coach Chris Gamble said. “You’re hoping that you will get some 3, 4, 5, 6th-place finishes and we didn’t get them. It’s a tough tournament and that’s what happens, we didn’t make our breaks.”
The other team that went home with a title was Montville as it finally untangled itself from Killingly and beat the Redmen by seven, 133 1/2 to 126 1/2, to capture the Small Division crown. The two teams had to go to criteria in their two regular-season encounters.
“We’ve been sick all week, and we didn’t wrestle as well as we should have, but my compliments to our kids because they came through in the end and did enough to win the ECC outright,” Montville coach Gary Wilcox said.
East Lyme senior Ryan Clarke, the 140-pound champion, was named the Most Outstanding wrestler in the tournament.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Caron, NFA win ECC titles
Fitch/Waterford senior Allie Black knew she had her work cut out for her from the start as she glanced over from the floor exercise to see Killingly junior Christine Caron compete on her opening apparatus, the bars.
Caron nailed her routine and the judges responded, giving Caron the top individual score of the night, a 9.65. She used that momentum to capture her second- consecutive Eastern Connecticut Conference individual gymnastics championship. Caron finished with a 37.4, while Black finished with a 36.95 on Friday night at Deary’s Gymnastics.
As happened last year, Caron’s individual win didn’t result in an ECC Championship meet title for the Redgals. Instead, NFA walked away with its fourth title in five years, 137.85 to Killingly’s 133-point total. The Fitch/Waterford cooperative actually finished with the highest points total (139.3), but wasn’t allowed to compete for the team title as it didn’t meet league criteria for the season.
“She’s awesome on bars,” Black said of Caron’s routine to open the championship meet. “There’s no competition there. I give her props — that’s a sick routine. I really enjoy it; I wish I could do it.”
The key for Caron on that bars came from a stunt that she’s been working on for awhile but has just started hitting consistently.
“I’ve been trying to get that release move for so long now and I finally got it,” Caron said. “I was having trouble actually making it in meets, but I finally started hitting it every meet.”
The release move, as described by Caron, is when she goes backwards around the upper bar to a handstand, let’s go, and then catches the lower bar.
Caron also finished first in the beam with a 9.3, was second in the vault (9.35) and tied for second on the floor (9.1).
“I’m happy, I just came out and tried my best as usual and whatever happens, happens — it’s in the judges’ hands from there,” Caron said.
Kathrin Lewis of Tourtellotte was third with a total of 36 points.
NFA won the championship thanks to Courtni McFarlane’s fifth-place finish, a sixth-place tie by Allie Sullivan and a seventh by Cindy Briggs.
“Part of me expected this, part of me wasn’t sure,” NFA coach Sue Hopkins-Terrell said of the title. “Fitch/Waterford has a heckuva group, but we’ve been pretty loose the past couple of days thanks to some goofy things we’ve been doing at practice.”
The Fitch/Waterford girls fully expected to compete as a team coming in, but were disallowed from doing so as they didn’t compete against NFA over the course of the season and had just one meet versus Killingly, thus not meeting the league’s criteria for eligibility.
“We don’t follow the (ECC) rules,“ Black said. “It’s hard being a gym that isn’t at the school. Our coaches do so much for us. They do it on their own, they’re not getting paid for this — our high schools don’t have a budget. We buy everything, like our leotards. We were fortunate just to come here and compete as individuals.”
Fitch/Waterford coach Carl Cavrell said he thought that the ECC athletic directors had agreed to relax the rules and allow the co-op to compete, as a team, in the ECC championship.
“That’s how the girls and I understood it. Whether it was real or not, I wasn’t a part of that (athletic director’s decision), I wasn’t in the loop,” Cavrell said by phone Friday night as he didn’t attend the championship.
“It’s my personal decision (to not meet the league criteria),” Cavrell said. “I have scheduling issues and it was our choice not to do, but we understand the consequences and if that’s the decision of the ADs, that’s fine.”
Caron nailed her routine and the judges responded, giving Caron the top individual score of the night, a 9.65. She used that momentum to capture her second- consecutive Eastern Connecticut Conference individual gymnastics championship. Caron finished with a 37.4, while Black finished with a 36.95 on Friday night at Deary’s Gymnastics.
As happened last year, Caron’s individual win didn’t result in an ECC Championship meet title for the Redgals. Instead, NFA walked away with its fourth title in five years, 137.85 to Killingly’s 133-point total. The Fitch/Waterford cooperative actually finished with the highest points total (139.3), but wasn’t allowed to compete for the team title as it didn’t meet league criteria for the season.
“She’s awesome on bars,” Black said of Caron’s routine to open the championship meet. “There’s no competition there. I give her props — that’s a sick routine. I really enjoy it; I wish I could do it.”
The key for Caron on that bars came from a stunt that she’s been working on for awhile but has just started hitting consistently.
“I’ve been trying to get that release move for so long now and I finally got it,” Caron said. “I was having trouble actually making it in meets, but I finally started hitting it every meet.”
The release move, as described by Caron, is when she goes backwards around the upper bar to a handstand, let’s go, and then catches the lower bar.
Caron also finished first in the beam with a 9.3, was second in the vault (9.35) and tied for second on the floor (9.1).
“I’m happy, I just came out and tried my best as usual and whatever happens, happens — it’s in the judges’ hands from there,” Caron said.
Kathrin Lewis of Tourtellotte was third with a total of 36 points.
NFA won the championship thanks to Courtni McFarlane’s fifth-place finish, a sixth-place tie by Allie Sullivan and a seventh by Cindy Briggs.
“Part of me expected this, part of me wasn’t sure,” NFA coach Sue Hopkins-Terrell said of the title. “Fitch/Waterford has a heckuva group, but we’ve been pretty loose the past couple of days thanks to some goofy things we’ve been doing at practice.”
The Fitch/Waterford girls fully expected to compete as a team coming in, but were disallowed from doing so as they didn’t compete against NFA over the course of the season and had just one meet versus Killingly, thus not meeting the league’s criteria for eligibility.
“We don’t follow the (ECC) rules,“ Black said. “It’s hard being a gym that isn’t at the school. Our coaches do so much for us. They do it on their own, they’re not getting paid for this — our high schools don’t have a budget. We buy everything, like our leotards. We were fortunate just to come here and compete as individuals.”
Fitch/Waterford coach Carl Cavrell said he thought that the ECC athletic directors had agreed to relax the rules and allow the co-op to compete, as a team, in the ECC championship.
“That’s how the girls and I understood it. Whether it was real or not, I wasn’t a part of that (athletic director’s decision), I wasn’t in the loop,” Cavrell said by phone Friday night as he didn’t attend the championship.
“It’s my personal decision (to not meet the league criteria),” Cavrell said. “I have scheduling issues and it was our choice not to do, but we understand the consequences and if that’s the decision of the ADs, that’s fine.”
Thursday, February 12, 2009
ECC Wrestling championship begins tonight
The fun is just beginning in Eastern Connecticut Conference wrestling.
Waterford has won the first set of battles, but the war is far from lost for programs such as Bacon Academy and Ledyard going into this weekend’s ECC championship at Waterford High School. The tournament begins tonight and continues through Saturday with the championship finals slated to begin around 4:30 p.m., that afternoon.
The championship tournament counts toward the regular season standings and even though Waterford swept through the first six matches against its Large Division foes, the Lancers still haven’t won anything yet. The same could be said for the Small Division title as Montville and Killingly have one more opportunity to decide things.
“If we’re not on our ‘A’ game, we’re not going to be challenging for anything,” Waterford coach Chris Gamble said after his now-No. 7 Lancers upset the No. 5 team in the state, Bacon, last weekend in Colchester.
“I tell my guys what really matters is the ECC and state tournament because if you go there and fall on your face, all of a sudden that (6-0) record means nothing, because you don’t have anything to show for it.”
Waterford had a battle with both Ledyard and Bacon, needing a point to move past the Colonels and two to beat the Bobcats. Bacon had it a little easier with the Colonels in handing them a 35-21 loss on Jan. 29.
“I’m just hoping that Jason’s (Ledyard coach Lanoue) premonition of what’s to come, (Ledyard) not being counted out, actually comes true,” Bacon Academy coach Mike Voiland said after his team’s loss to Waterford. “But I hope we finish ahead of them.”
Just like Gamble was telling his team that it hadn’t won anything yet, Voiland was telling his team that it hadn’t lost anything yet either.
“It’s always a battle in the ECC (Championship) and we’re just hoping to place as many guys as we can in the top four,” the coach said.
In a tournament setting, it’s not always how many weight-class championships a team take, but rather, how many wrestlers place that determines a squad’s fate.
“Last year, we only had two champions, (Ryan) Quinn and (Sean) Burgess, and we placed second above Windham and were just a few (points) away from Ledyard,” Voiland said. “I don’t see anyone dominating it this year. I think it’s pretty open.”
One thing going against Bacon is that it doesn’t have a full complement of wrestlers, as it will have a forfeit in the middle of its lineup in the 135-140 pound range.
“That’s a gimme,” Voiland said. “We realized the second week of practice that it was a hole.”
Waterford had a hole of its own last week when Reggie Allen was out due to sickness. Mental fatigue, meanwhile, could plague all the teams involved this weekend.
“Wrestling is mental and there are probably kids right now that are cashing out, because it’s a grind, (and) it’s hard to go to practice every day now,” Gamble said. “You’ve been sick, coach has been nagging you and telling you that you have to hold it together. The mental part is huge right now.”
While the Large Division will be a battle between Waterford, Ledyard and Bacon with other teams and wrestlers having their say, the Small Division championship will likely come down to Montville and Killingly.
The teams have met twice this season and on neither occasion was there a clear-cut winner, although Montville was declared the winner twice by criteria. The Indians won, 40-39, at the Killingly New Year’s duals on Jan. 3 (which didn’t count toward the league standings) and, in the regularly scheduled league match, they beat the Redmen, 34-33, at home.
Montville senior Jessica Bennett will be making her final appearance at the championship and thinks the Indians are going in with high hopes.
“Our record for the ECC Small is looking pretty good,” she said. “Generally speaking, we’re a pretty good tournament team, although this late in the season we do have a lot of injuries and illness. It should be a great tournament.”
Waterford has won the first set of battles, but the war is far from lost for programs such as Bacon Academy and Ledyard going into this weekend’s ECC championship at Waterford High School. The tournament begins tonight and continues through Saturday with the championship finals slated to begin around 4:30 p.m., that afternoon.
The championship tournament counts toward the regular season standings and even though Waterford swept through the first six matches against its Large Division foes, the Lancers still haven’t won anything yet. The same could be said for the Small Division title as Montville and Killingly have one more opportunity to decide things.
“If we’re not on our ‘A’ game, we’re not going to be challenging for anything,” Waterford coach Chris Gamble said after his now-No. 7 Lancers upset the No. 5 team in the state, Bacon, last weekend in Colchester.
“I tell my guys what really matters is the ECC and state tournament because if you go there and fall on your face, all of a sudden that (6-0) record means nothing, because you don’t have anything to show for it.”
Waterford had a battle with both Ledyard and Bacon, needing a point to move past the Colonels and two to beat the Bobcats. Bacon had it a little easier with the Colonels in handing them a 35-21 loss on Jan. 29.
“I’m just hoping that Jason’s (Ledyard coach Lanoue) premonition of what’s to come, (Ledyard) not being counted out, actually comes true,” Bacon Academy coach Mike Voiland said after his team’s loss to Waterford. “But I hope we finish ahead of them.”
Just like Gamble was telling his team that it hadn’t won anything yet, Voiland was telling his team that it hadn’t lost anything yet either.
“It’s always a battle in the ECC (Championship) and we’re just hoping to place as many guys as we can in the top four,” the coach said.
In a tournament setting, it’s not always how many weight-class championships a team take, but rather, how many wrestlers place that determines a squad’s fate.
“Last year, we only had two champions, (Ryan) Quinn and (Sean) Burgess, and we placed second above Windham and were just a few (points) away from Ledyard,” Voiland said. “I don’t see anyone dominating it this year. I think it’s pretty open.”
One thing going against Bacon is that it doesn’t have a full complement of wrestlers, as it will have a forfeit in the middle of its lineup in the 135-140 pound range.
“That’s a gimme,” Voiland said. “We realized the second week of practice that it was a hole.”
Waterford had a hole of its own last week when Reggie Allen was out due to sickness. Mental fatigue, meanwhile, could plague all the teams involved this weekend.
“Wrestling is mental and there are probably kids right now that are cashing out, because it’s a grind, (and) it’s hard to go to practice every day now,” Gamble said. “You’ve been sick, coach has been nagging you and telling you that you have to hold it together. The mental part is huge right now.”
While the Large Division will be a battle between Waterford, Ledyard and Bacon with other teams and wrestlers having their say, the Small Division championship will likely come down to Montville and Killingly.
The teams have met twice this season and on neither occasion was there a clear-cut winner, although Montville was declared the winner twice by criteria. The Indians won, 40-39, at the Killingly New Year’s duals on Jan. 3 (which didn’t count toward the league standings) and, in the regularly scheduled league match, they beat the Redmen, 34-33, at home.
Montville senior Jessica Bennett will be making her final appearance at the championship and thinks the Indians are going in with high hopes.
“Our record for the ECC Small is looking pretty good,” she said. “Generally speaking, we’re a pretty good tournament team, although this late in the season we do have a lot of injuries and illness. It should be a great tournament.”
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
CIAC, Mohegan Sun announce partnership
It’s been well known for a couple of months that the boys and girls high school basketball state championship games were coming to the Mohegan Sun in March.
The two parties, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and Mohegan, just made that official on Tuesday morning at Mohegan Sun Arena.
For the first time, the girls and boys championship games will be held on the same weekend, in the same venue.
The first session, consisting of two games, will be played on Friday, March 20 at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. That will be followed by six games on Saturday, March 21, beginning with the second session at 9 a.m. Two other games will follow at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. before an intermission. The last session will be played at 4:30, 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. on that Saturday.
The CIAC will wait and see what kind of match-ups take place before it makes a decision as to who plays when. Admission will be a flat rate for each session with a $10 ticket granting admission to all games in that session.
The big question on the mind of CIAC Executive Director Mike Savage on Tuesday was not whether there will be fall-out about having high school games played in a casino venue, but rather how many seats of the 10,000 in the Mohegan Sun Arena will be filled.
“We are always worried about that, because it’s an issue of our draws,” Savage said. “If we get quality draws, highly competitive teams with large spectator draws, it won’t be a problem. If we don’t, it could be.”
It’s not like the CIAC is on the hook for a lot of money. It’s more of a case of whether or not Mohegan will continue to host the games beyond this March. The two sides have agreed on a one-year deal and Savage is hoping that if the March games are successful, a multi-year deal could be struck.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to negotiate a financial package that is of minimal risk to the CIAC based on past attendance,” Savage said. “Our use of the Mohegan Sun is not a financial risk to us.”
The CIAC has come to Mohegan for several reasons, according to Savage. One was that the member of the state’s educational hierarchy have become less concerned about the casino’s gambling activities as proms and other high school activities are held regularly on the site. The Eastern Connecticut Conference actually opened the door to negotiations when its superintendents and principals approved the league’s championship games to be played at the arena, something that was eventually displaced by the state championship games.
There was also the fact that the CIAC had nowhere else to go. Central Connecticut State University in New Britain — a facility that the CIAC “loves,” according to Savage — holds only 2,800 people. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs was not available either, and frankly, according to Savage, the “time was right to re-kindle negotiations with the Sun,” which had been smoldering for about 12 years.
Since the announcement was originally made, Savage said he has received just one negative e-mail.
“Our biggest concern is hosting an event at a substantial distance from many of our member schools and the travel,” Savage said. “We are not particularly concerned about the issue of exposing our kids to a gambling facility because we’ve been assured that can be handled in a limited way.”
The senior vice-president of sports and entertainment at the Mohegan Sun, Paul Munick, expects more will be said about the partnership between the two and the issue of gambling, but he doesn’t expect it will be a long-term discussion.
“The colleges came in and that caused an uproar for a day or two,” Munick said. “I remember we were having a Nike clinic and I was standing next to (Duke coach Mike) Krzyzewski, (UConn coach Jim) Calhoun and the Marquette coach and the press asked me a few questions and I said, ‘If you really think there’s more gambling going on here — because the issue is about gambling on basketball — than on the campuses of these three schools, I think you’re all nuts.’ ”
The coming of high school basketball to Mohegan could pave the way for another athletic opportunity for the facility as it’s actively engaged in negotiations with two college basketball conferences to bring their postseason tournaments to Mohegan.
Although Munick declined to name the conferences, he did say another conference looked eager to come to the arena but the Sun turned them down out of fear of a lack of attendance.
“If high schools can do it, why can’t colleges do it?” Munick said.
The two parties, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and Mohegan, just made that official on Tuesday morning at Mohegan Sun Arena.
For the first time, the girls and boys championship games will be held on the same weekend, in the same venue.
The first session, consisting of two games, will be played on Friday, March 20 at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. That will be followed by six games on Saturday, March 21, beginning with the second session at 9 a.m. Two other games will follow at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. before an intermission. The last session will be played at 4:30, 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. on that Saturday.
The CIAC will wait and see what kind of match-ups take place before it makes a decision as to who plays when. Admission will be a flat rate for each session with a $10 ticket granting admission to all games in that session.
The big question on the mind of CIAC Executive Director Mike Savage on Tuesday was not whether there will be fall-out about having high school games played in a casino venue, but rather how many seats of the 10,000 in the Mohegan Sun Arena will be filled.
“We are always worried about that, because it’s an issue of our draws,” Savage said. “If we get quality draws, highly competitive teams with large spectator draws, it won’t be a problem. If we don’t, it could be.”
It’s not like the CIAC is on the hook for a lot of money. It’s more of a case of whether or not Mohegan will continue to host the games beyond this March. The two sides have agreed on a one-year deal and Savage is hoping that if the March games are successful, a multi-year deal could be struck.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to negotiate a financial package that is of minimal risk to the CIAC based on past attendance,” Savage said. “Our use of the Mohegan Sun is not a financial risk to us.”
The CIAC has come to Mohegan for several reasons, according to Savage. One was that the member of the state’s educational hierarchy have become less concerned about the casino’s gambling activities as proms and other high school activities are held regularly on the site. The Eastern Connecticut Conference actually opened the door to negotiations when its superintendents and principals approved the league’s championship games to be played at the arena, something that was eventually displaced by the state championship games.
There was also the fact that the CIAC had nowhere else to go. Central Connecticut State University in New Britain — a facility that the CIAC “loves,” according to Savage — holds only 2,800 people. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs was not available either, and frankly, according to Savage, the “time was right to re-kindle negotiations with the Sun,” which had been smoldering for about 12 years.
Since the announcement was originally made, Savage said he has received just one negative e-mail.
“Our biggest concern is hosting an event at a substantial distance from many of our member schools and the travel,” Savage said. “We are not particularly concerned about the issue of exposing our kids to a gambling facility because we’ve been assured that can be handled in a limited way.”
The senior vice-president of sports and entertainment at the Mohegan Sun, Paul Munick, expects more will be said about the partnership between the two and the issue of gambling, but he doesn’t expect it will be a long-term discussion.
“The colleges came in and that caused an uproar for a day or two,” Munick said. “I remember we were having a Nike clinic and I was standing next to (Duke coach Mike) Krzyzewski, (UConn coach Jim) Calhoun and the Marquette coach and the press asked me a few questions and I said, ‘If you really think there’s more gambling going on here — because the issue is about gambling on basketball — than on the campuses of these three schools, I think you’re all nuts.’ ”
The coming of high school basketball to Mohegan could pave the way for another athletic opportunity for the facility as it’s actively engaged in negotiations with two college basketball conferences to bring their postseason tournaments to Mohegan.
Although Munick declined to name the conferences, he did say another conference looked eager to come to the arena but the Sun turned them down out of fear of a lack of attendance.
“If high schools can do it, why can’t colleges do it?” Munick said.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Bennett brings home 100th career victory
It came a lot easier for Montville senior wrestler Jess Bennett than the previous 99 victories.
Bennett became the first female wrestler in Connecticut history to record 100 career victories Monday when she stepped to the middle of the mat and accepted a forfeit from New London in the 103-pound match of the Indians’ 77-6 win.
“I would rather have had it be an actual match,” Bennett said. “It’s nice to reach that kind of milestone, but at the same time, I wish it were a true win. Just the fact that I made weight makes it feel like I haven’t achieved much (Monday night).”
Her coach, Gary Wilcox, begged to differ.
“This girl has more than earned her 100 career wins,” Wilcox said. “She hasn’t had many forfeits, because most all teams have a 100-pounder, and if they don’t, we usually bump her up to 112. So she doesn’t get it too easy.”
Wilcox and Bennett both believe her feat to be a first in the state; the records listed on the Connecticut Sportswriters Alliance web site indicate the same thing.
That’s not a surprise, according to Wilcox, as Bennett has been able to do something that’s a must for female wrestlers: Maintain her weight over the four years of her career.
“I believe it’s going to be awhile before we get another one, because if a girl goes up too high on her weight, the testosterone and the strength (of males) really becomes different,” Wilcox said. “A girl has to remain at 103 and wrestle varsity for four years and average (more than) 25 wins a season to do this. It’s really quite a feat.”
It’s one that Wilcox feels compares favorably to a girl scoring 2,500 points in basketball.
Bennett began wrestling when she was 7-years-old, inspired by her brother Dylan, although it wasn’t exactly her mom’s choice of sport.
“I’m extremely proud of her and amazed, too,” Kim Bennett said. “She first told me that she wanted to do this, and I just so didn’t want it for obvious reasons. I was unfamiliar with the sport and it’s rough, but she’s quite the little firecracker and she was right and I was wrong.”
Bennett’s role started as a little sister on the wrestling team, according to her mother, but that role has gradually changed as she is now, as a senior, more like a mother to some of the younger Montville wrestlers. Her teammates, however, respect what Bennett accomplished Monday night.
“It’s pretty special,” junior captain Dustin Wilcox said. “Girls hardly can compete in this sport most of the time. Most of the time they’re lucky to be a good varsity wrestler, and she’s been great.”
Bennett said she knew there was a possibility she could reach the 100-win plateau when she was trying to consider whether she could reach 28 wins for the extra seeding point in state competition.
“I realized if I did that, I would reach 100,” Bennett said. “My goal in wrestling has always been to do the best that I can. This milestone means you’re a fairly accomplished wrestler.”
Bennett is making the most of her final year of high school wrestling. Her future plans have changed and they don’t include the sport. She has been offered an academic scholarship to Purdue University where she plans to pursue veterinary medicine.
“My ultimate goals in life are bringing me in a different direction,” she said. “I still want to be an active athletic person, but on a less competitive level. Women’s wrestling and veterinary medicine didn’t really mesh too well.”
Bennett became the first female wrestler in Connecticut history to record 100 career victories Monday when she stepped to the middle of the mat and accepted a forfeit from New London in the 103-pound match of the Indians’ 77-6 win.
“I would rather have had it be an actual match,” Bennett said. “It’s nice to reach that kind of milestone, but at the same time, I wish it were a true win. Just the fact that I made weight makes it feel like I haven’t achieved much (Monday night).”
Her coach, Gary Wilcox, begged to differ.
“This girl has more than earned her 100 career wins,” Wilcox said. “She hasn’t had many forfeits, because most all teams have a 100-pounder, and if they don’t, we usually bump her up to 112. So she doesn’t get it too easy.”
Wilcox and Bennett both believe her feat to be a first in the state; the records listed on the Connecticut Sportswriters Alliance web site indicate the same thing.
That’s not a surprise, according to Wilcox, as Bennett has been able to do something that’s a must for female wrestlers: Maintain her weight over the four years of her career.
“I believe it’s going to be awhile before we get another one, because if a girl goes up too high on her weight, the testosterone and the strength (of males) really becomes different,” Wilcox said. “A girl has to remain at 103 and wrestle varsity for four years and average (more than) 25 wins a season to do this. It’s really quite a feat.”
It’s one that Wilcox feels compares favorably to a girl scoring 2,500 points in basketball.
Bennett began wrestling when she was 7-years-old, inspired by her brother Dylan, although it wasn’t exactly her mom’s choice of sport.
“I’m extremely proud of her and amazed, too,” Kim Bennett said. “She first told me that she wanted to do this, and I just so didn’t want it for obvious reasons. I was unfamiliar with the sport and it’s rough, but she’s quite the little firecracker and she was right and I was wrong.”
Bennett’s role started as a little sister on the wrestling team, according to her mother, but that role has gradually changed as she is now, as a senior, more like a mother to some of the younger Montville wrestlers. Her teammates, however, respect what Bennett accomplished Monday night.
“It’s pretty special,” junior captain Dustin Wilcox said. “Girls hardly can compete in this sport most of the time. Most of the time they’re lucky to be a good varsity wrestler, and she’s been great.”
Bennett said she knew there was a possibility she could reach the 100-win plateau when she was trying to consider whether she could reach 28 wins for the extra seeding point in state competition.
“I realized if I did that, I would reach 100,” Bennett said. “My goal in wrestling has always been to do the best that I can. This milestone means you’re a fairly accomplished wrestler.”
Bennett is making the most of her final year of high school wrestling. Her future plans have changed and they don’t include the sport. She has been offered an academic scholarship to Purdue University where she plans to pursue veterinary medicine.
“My ultimate goals in life are bringing me in a different direction,” she said. “I still want to be an active athletic person, but on a less competitive level. Women’s wrestling and veterinary medicine didn’t really mesh too well.”
Friday, February 6, 2009
Windham/RHAM gets past NFA
Things got a little too close for comfort for Windham/RHAM coach Carlos Flores, so he had to do a little lineup shuffling late in a swim meet against NFA at the Norwich YMCA Friday afternoon.
The shuffling worked as a slim eight-point lead blossomed into a 98-72 win for the cooperative program, but NFA coach Tom Theve took it as a compliment. After all, Windham/RHAM is in second place in the Eastern Connecticut Conference with a 7-2 record and NFA (2-8) has struggled.
Windham/RHAM broke out to a 46-32 lead behind the talents of junior Rob Husta. Husta captured the 50-yard freestyle in a swift 23.40 — just shy of his personal best. He followed that with a 59.22 to win his favorite event, the 100-yard butterfly. Prior to those two first-place finishes, Husta teamed with James Flores, Kevin Philips and Kevin Gryk to take first in the 200-yard medley relay.
Despite those Windham/RHAM victories, NFA hung tough. Senior Dan Carroll won both the 100 and 200-yard freestyle (2:01.91) races. Jason Depina captured the 200-yard individual medley and NFA only trailed, 59-51, going into the 200-yard freestyle relay.
“I didn’t really prepare the kids for NFA,” Carlos Flores said. “The lineup was pretty much matched up to see how (we) would do against another team and I was getting those times. At the end, I had to do a little switch to make sure we had it in the bag.”
Flores took Hustus off his first 200-yard relay team and installed him as the anchor leg on his No. 2 squad. The moved worked, as Philips, Elliott Mitchell, Derek Johnson and James Flores captured first in 1:43.93 and Windham/RHAM’s second team touched the wall just behind them to outscore NFA 12-2 in the event and give the Whippets a 71-53 lead.
Windham/RHAM also outscored NFA 9-7 in the 100-yard backstroke, despite a first-place finish by NFA’s Justin Paz. ook the first two spots in the 100-yard breaststroke to finish off the Wildcats.
“It was real close,” Husta said, “but they’re a pretty good team. Everyone underestimates them, but they have some good swimmers.”
Carroll was one of the best for the Wildcats as he not only won his two individual events, but also joined Matt Exley, Paz, and Depina to finish first in the meet-ending, 400-yard freestyle relay.
“We felt good, really good, coming into this meet,” Carroll said. “It’s our home pool, we had all of our friends and family here, there was a general air of really good will, and we felt really strong and confident.”
Carroll wasn’t the only one who was feeling the hint of upset in the air coming into the meet, Theve put in some overtime to try and make that happen.
“They’ve beat some real good teams and we wanted to make them earn it — actually, we wanted to win,” Theve admitted. “I spent two hours looking at their lineup, looking at their times, what they did the first meet (vs. NFA). I know the guys here have been working, Waterford beat us by 31 (points) the first time and the second by eight. Maybe by the ECC’s, we’ll be there, and be in the mix.”
The shuffling worked as a slim eight-point lead blossomed into a 98-72 win for the cooperative program, but NFA coach Tom Theve took it as a compliment. After all, Windham/RHAM is in second place in the Eastern Connecticut Conference with a 7-2 record and NFA (2-8) has struggled.
Windham/RHAM broke out to a 46-32 lead behind the talents of junior Rob Husta. Husta captured the 50-yard freestyle in a swift 23.40 — just shy of his personal best. He followed that with a 59.22 to win his favorite event, the 100-yard butterfly. Prior to those two first-place finishes, Husta teamed with James Flores, Kevin Philips and Kevin Gryk to take first in the 200-yard medley relay.
Despite those Windham/RHAM victories, NFA hung tough. Senior Dan Carroll won both the 100 and 200-yard freestyle (2:01.91) races. Jason Depina captured the 200-yard individual medley and NFA only trailed, 59-51, going into the 200-yard freestyle relay.
“I didn’t really prepare the kids for NFA,” Carlos Flores said. “The lineup was pretty much matched up to see how (we) would do against another team and I was getting those times. At the end, I had to do a little switch to make sure we had it in the bag.”
Flores took Hustus off his first 200-yard relay team and installed him as the anchor leg on his No. 2 squad. The moved worked, as Philips, Elliott Mitchell, Derek Johnson and James Flores captured first in 1:43.93 and Windham/RHAM’s second team touched the wall just behind them to outscore NFA 12-2 in the event and give the Whippets a 71-53 lead.
Windham/RHAM also outscored NFA 9-7 in the 100-yard backstroke, despite a first-place finish by NFA’s Justin Paz. ook the first two spots in the 100-yard breaststroke to finish off the Wildcats.
“It was real close,” Husta said, “but they’re a pretty good team. Everyone underestimates them, but they have some good swimmers.”
Carroll was one of the best for the Wildcats as he not only won his two individual events, but also joined Matt Exley, Paz, and Depina to finish first in the meet-ending, 400-yard freestyle relay.
“We felt good, really good, coming into this meet,” Carroll said. “It’s our home pool, we had all of our friends and family here, there was a general air of really good will, and we felt really strong and confident.”
Carroll wasn’t the only one who was feeling the hint of upset in the air coming into the meet, Theve put in some overtime to try and make that happen.
“They’ve beat some real good teams and we wanted to make them earn it — actually, we wanted to win,” Theve admitted. “I spent two hours looking at their lineup, looking at their times, what they did the first meet (vs. NFA). I know the guys here have been working, Waterford beat us by 31 (points) the first time and the second by eight. Maybe by the ECC’s, we’ll be there, and be in the mix.”
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Beaudreault, Partosan sign on dotted line
Spencer Beaudreault had to stop in the hallway for one last bit of advice from the man who has guided him through the last four years.
Beaudreault, heading into the Windham High School gym, handed football coach Brian Crudden his tie, neatly folded in his hand, and Crudden took it and showed his quarterback how to tie a “Windsor” knot.
Fortunately, Crudden’s teaching on the football field was much more effective than it was in tie-tying 101 as Beaudreault was lost on the second step of the process.
What was not lost on Crudden, Beaudreault, or teammate Chaz Partosan was the significance of the moment. This is what the conditioning drills in the August heat the games in the November mud and the summers of weightlifting are all about; a cold day in February with flashes going off around the two of them as they signed on the dotted line of ceremonial Letters of Intent to play football for Sacred Heart in Fairfield next fall.
“I went on my official visit a couple of weeks ago and I really liked it,” Beaudreault said, “plus, it was the only Division-I offer I had.”
Partosan wasn’t sure about his future until a week or two ago when Sacred Heart came forward with an offer for both Whippet players.
“It was quick because I hadn’t talked to them before that,” said Partosan who will play on the defensive line for the Pioneers, “I talked to a lot of colleges before that and I was most likely going to go to a different college, then they came up.”
Not every high school football player gets the chance to play at the next level, Beaudreault and Partosan are two of the chosen few who got to put the ink to the paper on National Signing Day.
“I think it’s a dream come true for those guys,” Crudden said. “I know that their intent for four years has been to work every day to get better, be a better football player at this level to move on to the next level and they’ve accomplished that.”
Together.
Partosan moved to Willimantic from Norwich when he was in the eighth grade and quickly struck up a friendship with Beaudreault. The two played youth football together and moved on to high school where Beaudreault threw the passes and Partosan chased down opposing quarterbacks for the first couple of years. Partosan then began catching those Beaudreault passes as a junior tight end and the two, according to Crudden, are like “peas in a pod.”
“It’s fitting,” Chaz’s mom, Linda, said of the two moving on to the same college.
“If either of them went without the other,” Partosan added before quickly re-thinking that statement, “it wasn’t going to happen, they were going to go (together), regardless.”
Partosan said the Division-I AA Pioneers plan to use him on the defensive line while Beaudreault may get a shot at quarterback early as an injury could slow down the progress of Sacred Heart’s incumbent quarterback. If not, Beaudreault hopes to get a shot at either slot receiver or in the backfield where Beaudreault could utilize his biggest weapons, his legs.
Just as important; the classroom. Partosan plans to use his scholarship to study political science at Sacred Heart, Beaudreault was going to enter the criminal justice program, but went to a criminal justice class on a second visit to the institution and may have already changed his mind.
“I like the psychological part of it, criminology, forensic science — I want to be in the FBI,” Beaudreault said.
Beaudreault, heading into the Windham High School gym, handed football coach Brian Crudden his tie, neatly folded in his hand, and Crudden took it and showed his quarterback how to tie a “Windsor” knot.
Fortunately, Crudden’s teaching on the football field was much more effective than it was in tie-tying 101 as Beaudreault was lost on the second step of the process.
What was not lost on Crudden, Beaudreault, or teammate Chaz Partosan was the significance of the moment. This is what the conditioning drills in the August heat the games in the November mud and the summers of weightlifting are all about; a cold day in February with flashes going off around the two of them as they signed on the dotted line of ceremonial Letters of Intent to play football for Sacred Heart in Fairfield next fall.
“I went on my official visit a couple of weeks ago and I really liked it,” Beaudreault said, “plus, it was the only Division-I offer I had.”
Partosan wasn’t sure about his future until a week or two ago when Sacred Heart came forward with an offer for both Whippet players.
“It was quick because I hadn’t talked to them before that,” said Partosan who will play on the defensive line for the Pioneers, “I talked to a lot of colleges before that and I was most likely going to go to a different college, then they came up.”
Not every high school football player gets the chance to play at the next level, Beaudreault and Partosan are two of the chosen few who got to put the ink to the paper on National Signing Day.
“I think it’s a dream come true for those guys,” Crudden said. “I know that their intent for four years has been to work every day to get better, be a better football player at this level to move on to the next level and they’ve accomplished that.”
Together.
Partosan moved to Willimantic from Norwich when he was in the eighth grade and quickly struck up a friendship with Beaudreault. The two played youth football together and moved on to high school where Beaudreault threw the passes and Partosan chased down opposing quarterbacks for the first couple of years. Partosan then began catching those Beaudreault passes as a junior tight end and the two, according to Crudden, are like “peas in a pod.”
“It’s fitting,” Chaz’s mom, Linda, said of the two moving on to the same college.
“If either of them went without the other,” Partosan added before quickly re-thinking that statement, “it wasn’t going to happen, they were going to go (together), regardless.”
Partosan said the Division-I AA Pioneers plan to use him on the defensive line while Beaudreault may get a shot at quarterback early as an injury could slow down the progress of Sacred Heart’s incumbent quarterback. If not, Beaudreault hopes to get a shot at either slot receiver or in the backfield where Beaudreault could utilize his biggest weapons, his legs.
Just as important; the classroom. Partosan plans to use his scholarship to study political science at Sacred Heart, Beaudreault was going to enter the criminal justice program, but went to a criminal justice class on a second visit to the institution and may have already changed his mind.
“I like the psychological part of it, criminology, forensic science — I want to be in the FBI,” Beaudreault said.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
New football playoff system proposed
The first step to another round of high school football playoffs has been taken.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s football committee passed forward a proposal to the CIAC’s Board of Control calling for an expansion in the playoff system with a quarterfinal round to be added to the existing semifinal and championship games in all six CIAC divisions. The proposal raises the number of playoff qualifiers from 24 to 48.
“It’s good for high school football and good for the athletes,” Ledyard High School football and CIAC football committee member Jim Buonocore said.
“I’m a strong supporter because it’s a positive for the kids,” he added, “I’ve been fortunate to have participated in the playoffs four times, including a state championship this year, and it’s exciting. It’s exciting to experience the playoff talk and the fever and this affords more opportunity without diminishing or tarnishing anything. There will be some very, very good teams and some very, very good games.”
The proposal now goes to the superintendents, athletic directors and coaches of the 142 CIAC member schools to give them a chance to comment on it before the Board of Control votes. The Board of Control will be briefed on the proposal on February 26, but the CIAC said in a press release that final action will not be taken until all constituent groups have had the ability to respond.
The plan calls for teams to play nine regular season games (10 in an 11-game year) with the quarterfinal round played on the Thursday night prior to the week of Thanksgiving, no regular season games will be played that week.
The playoffs then take a break to allow for the traditional Thanksgiving Day games prior to the semifinals. Those games will continue to be held the follwing Tuesday, and the championships will remain on the following Saturday.
“It’s a good thing, but it’s a tough time frame; that’s a lot of games in a short amount of time,” Windham coach Brian Crudden said.
Montville coach Tanner Grove shuddered, however, at the thought of what could have happened this past season. His Indians could have played either Wolcott Tech or Plainfield in a quarterfinal, followed by St. Bernard on Thanksgiving Eve, then New London the following Tuesday. That’s part of the reason why he didn’t support the proposal.
“I like where we are because when you make the football playoffs, it’s a big deal, an accomplishment in itself,” Grove said.
Windham principal Gene Blain, who sits on both the Board of Control and the football coaches committee, agreed that the prestige of current system may be a stumbling block. When the coaches proposed the plan and a mock-up of the past several years was done, several teams with 6-4 and 7-4 records would have made the quarterfinals.
“Football has always been different,” Blain said. “It changes philosophy and, something that we have to be aware of at the Board level, it sets a precedent.”
That precedent is having teams play a state tournament game, followed by a regular season game, followed by another state tournament game. In all other CIAC sports, regular season games must be completed prior to the start of the state tournament.
There is also the question of Thanksgiving and the big rivalries that exist on the national holiday. Could this playoff plan diminish the meaning of those games, some with traditions older than all of us who watch them?
“Every team, every coach is a competitor and Thanksgiving will continue to shine as a great day for high school football,” Buonocore said.
The Ledyard coach added that he had to play a semifinal game this year, four days after a Thanksgiving Day game, and it didn’t change his prep or his starting lineup.
Grove agrees that coaches will continue to want to win on Thanksgiving, but those who have already won a quarterfinal game and are prepping for a semifinal may think a bit about how long certain players will be on the field.
“Knowing that you have to play the following Tuesday, you may start doing things that you wouldn’t normally do in a game,” Grove said.
No matter what, this is a decision that won’t be take lightly.
“The football committee passing it forward gives it integrity,” Blain said, “but I’m going to need some time to look at it and think about it.”
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s football committee passed forward a proposal to the CIAC’s Board of Control calling for an expansion in the playoff system with a quarterfinal round to be added to the existing semifinal and championship games in all six CIAC divisions. The proposal raises the number of playoff qualifiers from 24 to 48.
“It’s good for high school football and good for the athletes,” Ledyard High School football and CIAC football committee member Jim Buonocore said.
“I’m a strong supporter because it’s a positive for the kids,” he added, “I’ve been fortunate to have participated in the playoffs four times, including a state championship this year, and it’s exciting. It’s exciting to experience the playoff talk and the fever and this affords more opportunity without diminishing or tarnishing anything. There will be some very, very good teams and some very, very good games.”
The proposal now goes to the superintendents, athletic directors and coaches of the 142 CIAC member schools to give them a chance to comment on it before the Board of Control votes. The Board of Control will be briefed on the proposal on February 26, but the CIAC said in a press release that final action will not be taken until all constituent groups have had the ability to respond.
The plan calls for teams to play nine regular season games (10 in an 11-game year) with the quarterfinal round played on the Thursday night prior to the week of Thanksgiving, no regular season games will be played that week.
The playoffs then take a break to allow for the traditional Thanksgiving Day games prior to the semifinals. Those games will continue to be held the follwing Tuesday, and the championships will remain on the following Saturday.
“It’s a good thing, but it’s a tough time frame; that’s a lot of games in a short amount of time,” Windham coach Brian Crudden said.
Montville coach Tanner Grove shuddered, however, at the thought of what could have happened this past season. His Indians could have played either Wolcott Tech or Plainfield in a quarterfinal, followed by St. Bernard on Thanksgiving Eve, then New London the following Tuesday. That’s part of the reason why he didn’t support the proposal.
“I like where we are because when you make the football playoffs, it’s a big deal, an accomplishment in itself,” Grove said.
Windham principal Gene Blain, who sits on both the Board of Control and the football coaches committee, agreed that the prestige of current system may be a stumbling block. When the coaches proposed the plan and a mock-up of the past several years was done, several teams with 6-4 and 7-4 records would have made the quarterfinals.
“Football has always been different,” Blain said. “It changes philosophy and, something that we have to be aware of at the Board level, it sets a precedent.”
That precedent is having teams play a state tournament game, followed by a regular season game, followed by another state tournament game. In all other CIAC sports, regular season games must be completed prior to the start of the state tournament.
There is also the question of Thanksgiving and the big rivalries that exist on the national holiday. Could this playoff plan diminish the meaning of those games, some with traditions older than all of us who watch them?
“Every team, every coach is a competitor and Thanksgiving will continue to shine as a great day for high school football,” Buonocore said.
The Ledyard coach added that he had to play a semifinal game this year, four days after a Thanksgiving Day game, and it didn’t change his prep or his starting lineup.
Grove agrees that coaches will continue to want to win on Thanksgiving, but those who have already won a quarterfinal game and are prepping for a semifinal may think a bit about how long certain players will be on the field.
“Knowing that you have to play the following Tuesday, you may start doing things that you wouldn’t normally do in a game,” Grove said.
No matter what, this is a decision that won’t be take lightly.
“The football committee passing it forward gives it integrity,” Blain said, “but I’m going to need some time to look at it and think about it.”
Monday, February 2, 2009
Wolverines heating up
What Griswold needed was something to lift their confidence.
What it got was a win over Montville last Friday.
Will it be enough of a boost for the Wolverines girls basketball team to make the postseason remains to be seen, but Griswold took another step in that direction on Monday night as it dropped New London, 56-36.
“I think we’re a new team now,” senior Cailin Sorder said. “We didn’t have a good record before that (Montville) game. We know we have to win the next three-out-of-five to make states and, hopefully, we can accomplish it.”
Griswold coach Tim Lagace stepped back and rolled his eyes a bit when he considered the question of making the state tournament. He has to hope to steal a win against two of the top 15 teams in the state as the Wolverines play Windham tonight and Bacon Academy on Friday. If that doesn’t happen, they would have to win out against the likes of Stonington, Killingly and Woodstock.
“Who knows?” Lagace said. “Anything can happen. We beat Montville and, with a little bit of luck, who knows? It, obviously, has to be our goal now.”
But the Wolverines (5-10) have to take it one game at a time and the first hurdle was the much-improved Whalers.
The problem for New London on Monday night was poor shooting. The Whalers made just 17-of-57 attempts from the floor.
“We had a lot of attempts, a lot of nice shots —the shots we wanted them to take,” New London coach Linda Pfeiffer said. “We just couldn’t put it in the basket.”
Still, the Whalers (8-7) hung around and trailed by only five points at the beginning of the fourth quarter, 36-31. Griswold’s Cailin Sorder (nine points) and New London’s Kendra Ferraro (nine points, eight rebounds) traded baskets before Griswold caught fire.
Katherine Pearce sank a free throw and Taylor McGrath put one in from outside to make it 41-33 Griswold. Catlyn Hughes added all six of her points on the night to put the Wolverines up 13 with 2:59 left. Samantha Rentz (who scored a team-high 13 points) finished off the Whalers as her four consecutive points gave Griswold a 15-point lead with two minutes to play.
“We just wanted to settle it down, control our offense, run our plays and get good looks,” Rentz said of the fourth quarter rally. “We were just going for open shots and open layups and if we had a fast break, we were just going for it.”
It’s a good thing the Wolverines got the points from the floor, because the foul shots were a whole other issue. The Wolverines helped keep the Whalers in the game a bit longer by making just 8-of-25 from the charity stripe.
“I was a big part of that,” Sorder said. “Next practice, definitely, a lot of foul shooting.”
Lagace just turned and shook his head when he thought about the free-throw shooting.
“I don’t know what to say about that, it’s not like we don’t shoot free throws,” Lagace said. “You don’t what it is; it could be that we were working hard on defense and didn’t have the legs, but you know how free throws go — it can be up and down.”
What it got was a win over Montville last Friday.
Will it be enough of a boost for the Wolverines girls basketball team to make the postseason remains to be seen, but Griswold took another step in that direction on Monday night as it dropped New London, 56-36.
“I think we’re a new team now,” senior Cailin Sorder said. “We didn’t have a good record before that (Montville) game. We know we have to win the next three-out-of-five to make states and, hopefully, we can accomplish it.”
Griswold coach Tim Lagace stepped back and rolled his eyes a bit when he considered the question of making the state tournament. He has to hope to steal a win against two of the top 15 teams in the state as the Wolverines play Windham tonight and Bacon Academy on Friday. If that doesn’t happen, they would have to win out against the likes of Stonington, Killingly and Woodstock.
“Who knows?” Lagace said. “Anything can happen. We beat Montville and, with a little bit of luck, who knows? It, obviously, has to be our goal now.”
But the Wolverines (5-10) have to take it one game at a time and the first hurdle was the much-improved Whalers.
The problem for New London on Monday night was poor shooting. The Whalers made just 17-of-57 attempts from the floor.
“We had a lot of attempts, a lot of nice shots —the shots we wanted them to take,” New London coach Linda Pfeiffer said. “We just couldn’t put it in the basket.”
Still, the Whalers (8-7) hung around and trailed by only five points at the beginning of the fourth quarter, 36-31. Griswold’s Cailin Sorder (nine points) and New London’s Kendra Ferraro (nine points, eight rebounds) traded baskets before Griswold caught fire.
Katherine Pearce sank a free throw and Taylor McGrath put one in from outside to make it 41-33 Griswold. Catlyn Hughes added all six of her points on the night to put the Wolverines up 13 with 2:59 left. Samantha Rentz (who scored a team-high 13 points) finished off the Whalers as her four consecutive points gave Griswold a 15-point lead with two minutes to play.
“We just wanted to settle it down, control our offense, run our plays and get good looks,” Rentz said of the fourth quarter rally. “We were just going for open shots and open layups and if we had a fast break, we were just going for it.”
It’s a good thing the Wolverines got the points from the floor, because the foul shots were a whole other issue. The Wolverines helped keep the Whalers in the game a bit longer by making just 8-of-25 from the charity stripe.
“I was a big part of that,” Sorder said. “Next practice, definitely, a lot of foul shooting.”
Lagace just turned and shook his head when he thought about the free-throw shooting.
“I don’t know what to say about that, it’s not like we don’t shoot free throws,” Lagace said. “You don’t what it is; it could be that we were working hard on defense and didn’t have the legs, but you know how free throws go — it can be up and down.”
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