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Boys basketball rebounds with blowout win over Reading
After dropping a 69-66 decision to Lexington on Feb. 7 at home, the Winchester High School boys basketball team (15-2) bounced back right away in a blowout win over visiting Reading four days later, 85-63. Before the win over Reading, the Red & Black were seeded seventh in the Division 1 power rankings.
“We lost to a very talented and athletic (Lexington) team,” said Coach John Fleming. “Unfortunately, we were playing catch up for most of the game. We dug a little hole in the second quarter, but then fought back to keep it close going into halftime. We were then outplayed in the third quarter, because we didn't necessarily help ourselves out on some of our defensive coverages and missed rotations. But give Lexington tons of credit, they shot it very well from the three, but we also missed far too many shots.
“However, we showed plenty of grit and fight to trim a 15-point deficit all of the way down to three with still multiple chances to take the lead after that,” added Fleming. “Our press really gave them some difficulty, but we couldn't make that next play to take the lead or get the extra stop in the last 1:30 or so.
“I was still really proud of the resiliency of the team, when it could have gotten out of hand. Lexington hit really tough shots, and it seemed like it was slipping away. But our guys responded with help from the fans,” he concluded. “As Lexington coach Reggie Hobbs said afterwards, ‘I have coached for a while, and I’m not sure I have heard a louder gym than it was tonight. That’s what playing for your school and town should feel like.’”
Alex Casey led the Red & Black in scoring with 18 points. Dawson English was next in line with 16. Jack Charchaflian was close behind with 15. Carson Sarpong chipped in with eight points, 14 rebounds and one blocked shot.
“When Carson is on the court and flying around with energy, he is so disruptive to an offense,” said Fleming. “Even if it wasn't a blocked shot (against Lexington), it was a shot that either wasn't taken or had to be adjusted, but ultimately it was a miss.”
But it didn’t take them long to regroup against the Rockets.
“It took us until the second half to really get going (against Reading),” said Fleming. “It was a four-point game at the half (34-30), before we were able to turn it on in the third quarter. It might have been a bit of an emotional letdown after the close loss to Lexington.
“Our defensive pressure really picked up, and it led to some easy transition hoops,” added the veteran Winchester coach. “Dawson (English) had probably his best game of the year, and was insanely efficient. I think he missed just one shot, but still ended up scoring 25 or 27 points.
“Once again, it was great to see so many guys make plays,” he added. “Ryan (Harding) came in and hit three threes, which forced (the Reading) defense to change up on what (it was) doing.”
Fleming went on to say, “I think this game once again showed our depth as we were down two players, who were out sick. This has been a theme throughout the year of having guys step up into bigger roles when needed. It’s such a benefit to have such depth at this level.”
The Red & Black took on host Belmont last night (Feb. 13) to wrap up the regular season. They will then be getting ready for the postseason next week, while school’s out for winter vacation. The state tournament pairings will be tentatively announced next weekend.
Girls hockey skates by Lexington in critical late season win
The Winchester High School girls hockey team (8-8-2) took a giant step toward a Division 1 postseason berth (the Top 32 teams automatically qualify for the state tournament, regardless of record) with two straight late regular season wins. The first one came against Woburn, a 2-1 victory on Feb. 8. They then exploded past Lexington to the tune of 7-1 in a home game at Woburn on Feb. 12.
“The girls played a great game (against Lexington),” said Coach Tommy Scarpa.
It all started in goal for the Red & Black in this game against Lexington, which evened its overall record with only two games left on the schedule. As of Feb. 11, the Winchester girls were seeded 19th in the Division 1 power rankings, but that was before the Lexington blowup. There are 45 teams statewide that makeup this division.
It was a combined effort in goal that turned the Lexington game into a blowout.
“Claire Zhang started the game in net, and (she) ended up making 11 saves, before giving up one goal on a deflection. Freshman Riley Pimentel then took over (the goaltending chores) in the third period, and (she) came up with seven saves (to prevent any chance of a comeback by Lexington),” said Scarpa.
Junie McCabe (2 goals), Scarlett Gustafson (2 goals) and Amelia Corvi (1 goal, 1 assist) were the team’s scoring leaders against Lexington. Lulu Murphy and Madeleine Jones accounted for the other two markers. Chloe Goldberg and Josie Chang were the assist leaders with two apiece.
The Red & Black have two regular season games left, before state tournament pairings are announced next weekend. They will take on host Reading Saturday night (Feb. 15) at the Burbank Arena, starting at 6 p.m., and then non-league host Milton on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. as a postseason warmup.
Boys hockey beats Reading in OT to eclipse double digits in wins
Lately, the Red & Black boys hockey team (10-10) has been breaking even for the most part the last couple of weeks, but that’s fine for the bigger picture with the state tournament right around the corner.
The Winchester boys began the month with a 4-1 win over non-league Concord-Carlisle on Feb. 2. Three days later, they fell to Arlington, 6-1, before beating Woburn in overtime on Feb. 7, 3-2.
They then lost to non-league Division 1 top seed Pope Francis (16-2) at home Wednesday night (Feb. 12), 4-1, before wrapping up the regular season next week on the road against Tewksbury in Watertown on Feb. 17 at 3 p.m., and Catholic Memorial (12-5-1), the third seed in Division 1, at home in Woburn two days later at 5 p.m.
As of Feb. 11, they are seeded 11th in the Division 1 power rankings, which consists of 41 teams statewide. The Top 32 clubs automatically qualify for the state tournament.
Axel Osborn (1), Griffin Lynch (1), Jonnie Garmey (1) and Chris McCarthy (1) scored the goals in the Concord-Carlisle Patriots game. Greg Winn (1), Jack Burkhart (1), Dayton Ogden (2) and Garmey were credited with the assists. Graham Emerick helped secure the win in net.
“This was the second game of the Ed Burns Memorial Tournament, and we were up against a good Concord-Carlisle team,” said Coach Gino Khachadourian. “It took us a little while to get our feet going, but we were able to capitalize on a few offensive opportunities that gave us the lead.
“Concord-Carlisle pushed back, and certainly gave us everything we could handle, but our goalie Graham Emerick was up for the challenge,” added Khachadourian. “He played well, stopping every puck he saw, except for one.”
But it was a different story against Arlington. Max Vozella notched the team’s lone lamplighter assisted by McCarthy on the power play. Emerick was in goal, once again.
“We came into this game shorthanded, as we were missing five players due to sickness,” said Khachadourian. “We started off the game establishing a strong forecheck, but ultimately ran out of gas. Our power play goal in the second period gave us some life, but we just couldn’t get any further momentum after that.”
Last Friday night, it was back on the winning side of things against the Tanners.
The overtime thriller on Senior Night featured goals by Garmey (2) and Osborn (1). Garmey’s second tally was the OT game-winner. Caiden Brady (1), Thomas Casey (1), Vozella (1) and Burkhart (1) helped setup those scores. Macklin O’Flynn was between the pipes in this game.
“This game went back and forth. We had the lead late in the third, but Woburn tied it up with just over a minute to go to send it to overtime,” said Khachadourian. “This was a terrific Middlesex League game, and fortunately, we were able to gain possession of the puck to start the extra frame, and took no longer than 17 seconds to get the win, when Caiden Brady found Jonnie Garmey all alone in front of the net to successfully convert on a 2-on-1 opportunity.
“There was a lot of positives that we can take from this game, but we still know we can play better,” added Khachadourian.
