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While the high school fall sports season officially concluded last week with the playing of the Super Bowl championship games at Gillette Stadium, the winter sports teams have been going at it since the Monday after Thanksgiving, when practices began across the board for all teams.
It’s now their turn to take over the fan spotlight, and it all begins tomorrow night (Friday, Dec. 12) on the basketball courts throughout the state.
Locally, Coach John Fleming’s boys team will play host to Middlesex League rival Stoneham at 6 p.m. The Red & Black will then hit the road for Melrose to take on the Red Storm Tuesday night at the same time. They will be at Woburn next Friday night (Dec. 19) to face the Tanners at 7 p.m. in the second half of a doubleheader between the two schools.
The girls game will kick things off at 5 p.m.
While the Winchester boys open up at home, Coach Sam Mosley’s girls basketball team will board the bus for Stoneham tomorrow night (Dec. 12) to take on the Spartans at 6 p.m. They will then host Melrose Tuesday night also at 6 p.m., before a quick turnaround to Billerica, where they will go up against non-league Shawsheen Tech the very next night at 5:30 p.m.
The Winchester girls will then meet up with the boys team for the aforementioned doubleheader in Woburn against the host Tanners next Friday night.
The boys hockey team, coached by Gino Khachadourian, will be at Woburn’s O’Brien Rink Saturday afternoon (Dec. 13) to go up against Stoneham at 2 p.m. They will then head to Kasabuski Arena in Saugus to faceoff against Melrose Wednesday night at 7:40 p.m., followed by a trip to the Stoneham Arena next Saturday afternoon (Dec. 20), where they will be taking on Wakefield at 4 p.m.
Coach Tommy Scarpa’s girls hockey team will precede the boys team on the Woburn ice to open up their season also against Stoneham on Saturday at noon. They will then be at Medford’s Flynn Rink on Dec. 17 for a game against Melrose at 6 p.m., and will close out the week as the nightcap to the boys game against Wakefield in Stoneham at 6 p.m.
The boys swim team, coached by Kristen Harper, will dive into the season at Malden High School against Melrose on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 6 p.m. It’s their lone meet of the month. They will resume the schedule on Jan. 9 against Arlington at the Woburn Boys & Girls Club at 4:30 p.m.
Wrestling to host Glen Doherty Memorial Tournament Saturday morning
Coach Ryan Errico’s wrestling team opens up the Middlesex League season at Reading this coming Wednesday night, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m., but not until after hosting the first annual Glen Doherty Memorial Invitational Tournament at the WHS gym on Saturday at 10 a.m.
A total of 16 teams throughout New England will be participating in the event. Team introductions and the playing of the National Anthem will precede it at 9:45 a.m. Suggested donation to watch the matches is $10, and all proceeds will go to the Glen Doherty Memorial Foundation.
For more information, go to glendohertyfoundation.org.
Next Saturday, Dec. 20, the wrestlers will be in Leominster for a tri-meet against Franklin and the host team, starting at 10 a.m. They will then be off until New Year’s Day, when non-league Wellesley comes to town for a 4 p.m. match at the WHS gym.
The gymnastics (Jan. 8, against Reading at Woburn, 4:30 p.m.) and ski teams won’t begin their seasons until the calendar flips to 2026.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News last November.
