Winthrop High Sports Roundup

Lady Vikings cruise to two more victories

The Winthrop High girls basketball team stands at 5-1 at the quarter-way point of the season after easy wins of 51-35 over Salem and 60-30 over Swampscott last week. A contest with Marblehead that was scheduled for Friday was snowed out and will be made up at a later date.

Coach Ignacio Oyola’s Lady Vikings built up big leads in both victories, taking advantages into the intermission of 37-13 over Salem and 40-14 over Swampscott, from where they cruised to the “W’s.” Theresa Jones, the Lady Vikings’ leading scorer thus far this season with an average of 12 points per game, was high scorer for Winthrop in both contests with 15 and 16 points respectively.  Theresa also was a force on defense in the Swampscott game, accounting for eight steals.

“Theresa has been the most improved girl on the team thus far this season,” said Oyola. “She has been very productive for us within our offense. She doesn’t force her shots and is doing a lot of the little things that really make a difference.”

Kristen Siscamanis hit for seven points and grabbed nine rebounds vs. Salem and scored 11 points in the Swampscott game. Nina Bartlett tingled the twine for 13 points and pulled down seven rebounds against Swampscott. Nina had four points against Salem.

Other point scorers for the Lady Vikings in the two contests were Ashelyne Babb with six vs. Salem and nine vs. Swampscott; Jen Adamson (four and four)’ Nikki Tsiotis (seven and four); Maura Lanza (four and one); Poli Tsiotis (three and two); and Abby Love with a free throw in the Swampscott tilt.

The Lady Vikings were set to host Peabody last night (Wednesday) in an effort to avenge their lone loss of the season. They travel to Lynn English today (Thursday) and to Lynn Classical Tuesday.

WHS girls hockey edges Gardner, 3-2

The Winthrop High Lady Bulldog hockey team edged Gardner, 3-2, in a tightly-played contest before a full house at Larsen Rink last Monday.

The Lady Bulldogs, an amalgam of girls from Winthrop, Lynn English, and Saugus high schools, seemed to have matters well in-hand when they opened up a 2-0 lead at the end of the first frame with a pair of goals in the last 0:39 of the period. Savannah Norcross, assisted by Emma English and Olivia Shkliew, lit the lamp to make it a 1-0 Winthrop advantage. Thirty seven seconds later, Sidney Adamson ignited the crowd with another lamp-lighter with just 0:02 left before the intermission. Sidney was a Johnny-on-the-spot to put home a rebound off a shot on net by Meghan Chavis, who had hustled along the boards to throw the puck at the Gardner goalie.

However, any hopes that the Lady Bulldogs and their fans may have harbored of an easy skate to victory dissipated when Gardner got on the board midway through the second stanza and then knotted the score at 2-2 with about 7:00 to play in the third.

But less than a minute later, Norcross (an eighth grader) made a nice rush across the Gardner blue line, drew in her defender, and slid a nice backhand pass out front, where English (a fellow eighth grader) scooped up the puck and cleanly beat the Gardner netminder.

Although Gardner pressured the Winthrop goal in the final minutes, the Winthrop defense and goaltender Gretchen Howard (18 saves) held the fort to preserve the victory.

“Gretchen played really well and I can’t say enough about our defensive pairings,” said WHS head coach Anthony Martucci, referring to the blue line duos of Cat Salvetti & Chavis and Kasey Harris & Gabby Kenniston. “Our captain, Cat, has taken Meghan (who is a freshman) under her wing and Meghan has really blossomed, while Kasey and Gabby have each other’s backs as if they were sisters.”

That victory lifted the Lady Bulldogs to 5-0 and set the stage for a showdown with a 5-0 Watertown team  this past Monday. From a Winthrop perspective, the much-anticipated match-up never materialized. The refs whistled the Lady Bulldogs for 10 penalties (compared to four for Watertown), amounting to almost half the game that the Winthrop squad was left shorthanded.

“Watertown is a good team and they played well,” said Martucci of his team’s 3-0 loss, “but all of the penalties took us out of our game. We just never seemed to have a chance to get untracked.”

Martucci and his crew were set to host Matignon last night (Wednesday) They will entertain Marblehead in what promises to be a hard-fought battle Saturday afternoon with a 1:30 face off at Larsen.

WHS boys hoop falls to Swampscott, 57-45

The Winthrop High boys basketball team fell behind early and never recovered in a 57-45 loss to Swampscott Monday evening.

The Vikings had a slow start out of the gate, trailing 15-6 after the first quarter. Although Winthrop battled their Swampscott rivals evenly for the remainder of the contest, they never were able to make up that initial deficit.

“We had a tough start, but overall we played hard and we played well,” said WHS head coach Mike DiMarino. “I was proud of the team’s effort and we battled right to the end.”

Cody Wasson, whom DiMarino characterized as “playing his best game of the season,” put together a double-double night of productivity with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Jake Chiudina and Bobby Fisher were next on the point parade with eight points apiece, followed by Loran Shuka with seven, Nick Moulaison with five, Vin Sparacino with two, and Brendan Van Dalinda with a free throw.

Sparacino also earned a special shout-out from DiMarino for his gritty and tenacious defensive effort against a much taller Swampscott foe. The Vikings were scheduled to travel to Peabody last night (Wednesday) and then will host two of the big dogs of the Northeastern Conference, Lynn English tomorrow night (Thursday) and Lynn Classical Tuesday. Tip-off time for all games is 7:00.

Boys hockey team edges Gloucester, 2-1

The Wnthrop High boys hockey team improved to 4-3 on the season with a tightly-played 2-1 triumph over Gloucester Saturday afternoon at Larsen Rink.

Chris Page gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the opening frame when he sent a wrist shot past the Gloucester goalie from the top of the circle. Pat Todisco provided the assist.

Zack Deeb made it 2-0 in Winthrop’s favor in the second period when he reached the back of the Gloucester net with a wrister as he was cutting in from the circle. The assist on that goal went to Noah Hodgkins, who was back in action upon returning from an injury.

Gloucester would close the gap to 2-1 before the frame ended, from where the teams battled scorelessly the rest of the way, with the WHS defense and goaltender Ray Feeley (26 saves on the night)  preserving the victory.

“Gloucester is one of those teams that always plays tough,” said WHS head coach Dale Dunbar. “It was a well-played high school hockey game.” Dunbar also noted that the contest marked the return of junior captain Dylan Driscoll, who has been on the injured list.

“Dylan provides a real spark for us with his hard-nosed style of play,” said Dunbar. “He has a great work ethic and gives the whole team a lift.”

Dunbar also noted that Saturday’s upcoming game with Salem should mark the return of Matt Tarantino, who has been on the IR since the season started. “When Matt comes back, it will be the first time we’ve had our entire team this season,” said the coach.

Dunbar and his crew were set to take on a potent Beverly squad last night (Wednesday) and will host Salem Saturday for a 6:30 face-off at Larsen. The Vikings then will entertain Danvers next Wednesday at 6:10.

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