Vikings Hook Fishermen To Claim the NEC North; Now Ranked #1 in D-4
The Winthrop High boys hockey team delighted a capacity crowd at Larsen Rink with a 4-2 victory over Gloucester, their closest rival in the North Division of the Northeastern Conference, Saturday afternoon.
Combined with the Fishermen’s subsequent loss to Marblehead on Monday night, coach Dale Dunbar and his crew are the undisputed 2023 champions of the NEC North.
In addition, the victory over the highly-ranked Fishermen (12th in Division 2) nudged the Vikings ahead of Norwell for the first time this season to move into the #1 spot of the MIAA’s Division 4 power rankings,
The Vikings led all the way in a contest that had a playoff atmosphere from the drop of the puck on the opening face-off, with both teams playing a fast-paced and physical game.
Viking senior captain Jack Hayes, assisted by junior captain Petey Silverman and senior Colin Banfield, gave Winthrop an early 1-0 lead.
Phil Boncore, assisted by the captaincy duo of Hayes & Silverman, made it 2-0 before the period ended.
Gloucester got on the board in the middle of the middle period to cut the lead to 2-1, but a power play goal by Jackson Andy, assisted by Hunter Fife, late in the period restored the Winthrop lead to two goals entering the final 15 minutes.
The Fishermen lit the lamp within the opening minute of the third period to make it 3-2, but before the Viking faithful could begin to settle in for what loomed as a nail-biting finish, Boncore responded just 15 seconds later, with Silverman providing the assist, to re-up the lead to two goals, 4-2.
The Winthrop defense and goalie Nico Babine took it from there, shutting down the Gloucester offense the rest of the way to preserve the big win.
The Vikings now stand at 9-0-1 against all NEC opponents (6-1 against their North Division rivals) and 14-2-1 overall. They were set to trek to Haverhill last night (Wednesday) to face NEC North foe Masconomet and will journey to NEC South rival Peabody for a contest Saturday at 4:00.
Dunbar and his crew will wrap up their regular season next Tuesday (Feb. 21) when they host non-league opponent Dedham, which is ranked 21st in D-4, at Larsen for a 2:00 face-off.
Lady Vikings Ground the Falcons, 40–22; Turm Swampscott Blue; Then Tame Panthers; Earn Co-Share of NEC South
The Winthrop High girls basketball team was on a roll this past week, defeating three Northeastern Conference rivals in succession and attaining a co-championship of the South (Lynch) Division of the Northeastern Conference.
Last Tuesday coach Anthony Hatzisavas and his crew traveled to Danvers to take on the Falcons. After the long bus ride, the Lady Vikings found themselves trailing by a score of 20-12 at the end of the first half.
“They made some shots and we just came out flat,” said Hatzisavas. “At halftime we talked about picking it up on defense which would lead to easy offense and that’s exactly what happened.”
The Lady Vikings executed their coach’s strategy to about as near-to-perfection as possible, limiting Danvers to just two points — that is not a typo — through the entirety of the second half to cruise to a 40-22 victory.
Grace Fleuriel led the way for Winthrop with a powerful double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds. Kaylee Farrell reached double figures with 11 points and Lilly Conway “gave us tremendous minutes off the bench contributing six points and being a big factor on the defensive end,” noted Hatzisavas.
This past Friday, the Lady Vikings hosted Swampscott on Senior Night and celebrated the occasion in appropriate fashion with a 51-34 triumph over the Big Blue.
“We kept the defense going from the Danvers game and held them to nine points in the first half,” said Hatzisavas. “We controlled the game for the most part.”
Senior Maddie Stiglets led Winthrop in the scoring department with 16 points. Maddie, who has been a varsity player for four years, and fellow senior Malin Flatner, who is an international student from Norway, were honored before the game for their contributions to the WHS girls basketball program.
Fleuriel achieved another double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, a feat that Grace attained despite playing only 15 minutes because of foul trouble.
This past Tuesday, the Lady Vikings made the long bus ride to Beverly a worthwhile endeavor, bringing home a 46-41 victory from the Panthers’ lair.
The Winthrop defense once again was solid to start the game. The Lady Vikings grabbed a 9-4 advantage after one period, but the Lady Panthers closed the gap to 23-21 at the half.
The teams battled back-and-forth after the intermission, but Winthrop received some clutch performances down the stretch to hold on for the win.
“We needed someone to step up and that was captain Maddie Stiglets,” said Hatzisavas. “Maddie had nine of her 22 points in the fourth quarter, hitting clutch free throws in the end to pull away, and she also had 10 rebounds.”
Fleuriel chipped in with 11 points and Farrell also hit for double figures with 10 points.
Prior to their run of victories, the Lady Vikings played well against a strong Masconomet squad (which sports a 10-2 record in the North Division of the NEC, second only to undefeated Peabody), but came up short by a score of 62-52.
“Masco is a very good team,” said Hatzisavas. “We were down 40-20 at the half and we battled back and cut it to within six with about four minutes to go. We really picked it up on the defensive end and had some great contributions on offense.”
Fleuriel once again was a force for Winthrop with yet another double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds.
“Grace has been playing phenomenally this season and really controlling the paint,” added Hatzisavas.
Stiglets struck for 14 points and Reese Brodin reached double figures with 11 points.
“We can now say we are co-NEC Lynch champions along with Saugus,” said Hatzisavas. “I couldn’t be more proud of the girls. They deserve this. It’s been a long year for all of us and they were able to stick together and earn this.”
Winthrop presently stands at 10-10 overall and is scheduled to wrap up the regular season this week against two non-league opponents. The Lady Vikings traveled to Bishop Fenwick last night (Wednesday) and will trek to Woburn next Wednesday.
Hatzisavas and his crew, who are ranked 13th in the MIAA power ratings in Division 4, then will await word of their first round opponent in the state tourney.
WHS Boys Play Well vs. Beverly
Although the Winthrop High boys basketball team came up short in its contest with a powerhouse Beverly squad this past Tuesday, WHS head coach Mike Triant saw some positive signs from his Vikings, who remain on course to qualify for the post-season state tourney.
“Beverly is a phenomenal team,” said Triant of the Panthers, who are ranked ninth in the MIAA’s Division 1 power rankings and who are the undisputed champions of the North Division of the Northeastern Conference with an 11-1 record. “We lost the game, but I liked the way we played. We were down 21-16 after the first quarter, but I explained to the team that it wasn’t the scoreboard I was worried about.
“We wanted to execute sets and make stops and at times we did just that against an excellent D-1 state champion contender,” added Triant. “I’m hoping that this prepares us for our last two games of the season and then for the state tournament.”
George Galuris struck for 14 of the Vikings’ 52 points in the 94-52 finale. Teammate Vasili Tsiotis also reached double figures with 10 points and Alex Daigneault hit for eight.
Triant and his crew are ranked 31st in the MIAA D-4 power ratings, a spot that automatically qualifies them for the state tourney.
They are scheduled to wrap up their regular season this week against non-league rivals Northeast Regional tonight (Thursday) and Bishop Fenwick next Wednesday, February 22. The Fenwick contest will tip off at the Holland gymnasium at 2:00 in the afternoon and will be highlighted by Senior Night festivities.
WHS Gymnasts Do Well vs. Top-Rated Masco
The Winthrop High gymnastics team hosted defending state champion Masconomet Friday evening at the Winthrop Gymnastics Academy (WGA). Although the Lady Vikings came out on the short end of a 144.7-135.75 decision, their total of 135.75 points marked their highest score of the season.
Winthrop started the night off on uneven bars with Brooklyn Banfield scoring a 6.2 on a well- executed routine. Brooklyn was followed by captain Shannon Abbott, who added a few more difficult moves to her routine to the pleasure of her teammates and scored a 6.6.
Captain Ellie O’Donnell, who has been taking over for her sister and becoming a bar specialist, performed a routine, shooting to a handstand, a difficult maneuver that only a few of the team can perform.
“Ellie scored a 7.5 from one of the toughest-scoring judges we’ve seen this season,” said WHS co-coach Christa Vaccaro.
Freshman Zoe Rey, with her high flying back uprise, scored a season high of 7.8. Isabella Rice, despite suffering from a bad sinus infection, still scored an 8.25. Captain Alayna Ronan, competing in her last meet as a WHS senior, hit her routine, scoring an 8.55 to take third place on bars.
After the first event, the Vikings trailed the state champs, 35-4-32.1.
On the vault, the Winthrop team came back and completed their best vaults of the season. First up was Banfield, doing a handspring, scoring an 8.4. She was followed by Sarah Jurovich doing the same vault and getting an 8.35.
Julia Hurley, performing her new twisting vault, scored a season high of 8.6. Abbott, performing a new half-on, full twist-off, received a personal best of 8.7, tying her for third place.
“Isabella Rice had trouble with her twisting vault, sending her head-first into the warning mat,” noted co-coach Pete Gobiel. “But she shook it off and ended up on her feet for her second attempt.”
Ronan did her full twisting handspring, scoring an 8.5, and the Vikings came up just short to Masco, 35.45-34.2, in that event.
At this point, the Vikings knew that if they wanted to make a run at the state champs, they would have to hit their beam routines.
Freshman Jillian Buonopane led the way, sticking her beam routine and scoring a season high of 7.8. That put some pressure on Hurley to stay on the beam and keep it going.
“Julia has the least number of falls on the beam this season,” noted Vaccaro, and Hurley came through once again. “Julia fought hard and stayed on, scoring her season-high and personal best of an 8.8.”
“You could feel the pressure building on the sidelines before Zoe Rey did her routine,” said Gobiel.
Handling herself like a seasoned-veteran, the freshman stayed on the beam, scoring an 8.1.
The Vikings were on a roll and everyone in the gym could feel it. O’Donnell was next up and delivered one of the best performances of the night, staying on the beam and scoring an 8.9.
Ronan, competing in her last meet on the balance beam for her high school career, didn’t disappoint her fans and delivered a stuck routine, scoring a season-high of 9.05.
That left sophomore all-around Rice to try for the Vikings to become one of only a handful of teams that go 6-for-6 in a competition on the beam.
Isabella dealt with the pressure and delivered a solid routine, staying on the beam and scoring an 8.9. Winthrop tallied a season-high of 35.65 in the beam, just behind Masco’s score of 36.55 (only the top four scores of each team are counted).
“You can’t ask for more than that,” said Vaccaro. “Six up and six stuck routines. The Masco coach commented that her team hasn’t performed that way all season.”
Heading into the final event, the floor exercise, Buonopane tied Hurley with a score of 7.65. Abbott and Rey also tied with scores of 8.15.
Rice pushed through her routine, scoring an 8.2, and O’Donnell performed her routine “with hardly any deductions,” noted Vaccaro, scoring an 8.4.
That left senior captain Ronan to perform the last routine of her six-year high school career. Alayna hit every skill, displaying the ability and cool of a veteran gymnast, and turned in a season-high score of 9.4.
“Alayna went out on top, like the true champion she is,” said Gobiel.