David Green Memorial Hoop Tourney This Week; Title Contests Set for Today
The Winthrop High boys and girls basketball teams are hosting the third annual David Green Memorial Basketball Tournament this week.
On the girls’ side, Hamilton-Wenham and Stoneham opened the tourney yesterday (Wednesday) morning and Gloucester and Winthrop met at 2:00.
For the boys, North Reading met Greater Lawrence at noon and Winthrop met Saugus at 4:00.
Today (Thursday) will feature the girls’ consolation contest at noon and the girls’ championship game at 4:00. The boys’ consolation match will be at 10:00 and the boys championship game is set for 2:00.
WHS Girls Hockey Blasts Marblehead; Hosts Gloucester Sat.
The Winthrop High girls hockey team cruised to its third win in as many games this season with a 9-0 victory over Northeast Hockey League (NHL) rival Marblehead last Wednesday at Salem State College.
“We started off a little but slowly,” said WHS head coach Anthony Martucci. “The bigger ice surface at Salem State is always an adjustment for us. It is a warm barn, and the ice is soft. So it takes us a bit to get acclimated to the place.”
However, once the Lady Vikings made the adjustment, it was a nightmare for Marblehead. Sami DiMento started the scoring, assisted by Izzy Cash and Hannah Parker. “Sami has been on fire for us so far this year,” lauded Martucci. “She is playing great hockey and it has resulted in her scoring goals.”
After DiMento got the puck rolling, Winthrop rattled in two more goals, the first being a bomb of a shot from sophomore defenseman Tegan Periera. “We are very lucky to have a bunch of defensemen who can really hammer a puck, but that shot by Tegan was an absolute bullet,” said Martucci.
Izzy Cash then made it 3-0 with an all-out effort goal. “Izzy was flying around and disrupting everything Marblehead was trying to do, until she finally got them to make a huge mistake,” said Martucci. “Sami DiMento picked off a pass and slid the puck across to Izzy for a tap-in goal. We love the tap-in goals because it means that they found each other in open space. Sami does that a lot, and this time ‘Bones’ was rewarded for her forechecking effort.”
The Lady Vikings’ stifling forechecking continued to make life difficult for the Lady Magicians in the second period, resulting in goals by Hannah Parker (two gems), Angela Coscia, and Reese Ferrara, extending the Winthrop lead to 7-0.
“Senior captain Hannah Parker led the way in this period with her size, speed, and strength,” noted Martucci. “She was able to pretty much dominate and it led to two beautiful goals. Ang’ Coscia is only a freshman, but she is a tireless worker who has excellent skills, and her goal showed that. Reese Ferrara is that player every coach needs on their team. She works so hard and never says a word. Her goal was a great one, and it was nice to see her hard work pay off.”
With the clock in running-time mode in the third period because the goal differential was six, the final 15-minute stanza went by quickly, with the Lady Vikings adding two more goals, one from Chloe Couture and the other from Talia Martucci. Both goals were scored off excellent passes, with Couture’s goal coming on a 2-on-1 break in which Martucci was able to get her the puck and Chloe was in great position to pound it home. Talia’s goal came off a brilliant feed from Izzy Cash (her fourth assist and fifth point of the game). “Both goals were the result of unselfish passing plays,” said Martucci.
“The story of this period though, was the play of Avery Shea, Stella Pelletier, Claudia Alquinta, and Fran indresano,” Martucci continued. “All four of these players played great.”
Their performance also earned some praise from assistant coach Chris Palmer. “I was very impressed with Fran Indrisano in this one,” said Palmer. “She skated well, made some great moves, and made a few excellent passes.”
Assistant coach Sean Carleton also chimed-in about this forward group. “I thought that the trio of Avery Shea, Stella Pelletier, and Claudia Alquinta gave us some big shifts in the third period. They went out there and worked hard. I was impressed.”
Assistant coach (and former WHS great) Caroline McKinnon was equally impressed with some of the forwards and the defense.
“This was a very good effort from a lot of players, but I am going to have to say it was Avalina Coffey, Izi Hain, and Tori Bates whom I noticed having a very good game”.
WHS goalie Riley Towse posted the shutout, making 12 saves on the evening. “Riley has been great for us,” said Martucci. “She is focused and driven. It has really been on display early on.
“Overall it was a great team win and we are now looking forward to a huge week when we play both Peabody and Gloucester, two of the top teams in our conference,” said Martucci.
Winthrop, which is 3-0 in the NHL, was set to play at Peabody/Lynnfield/No. Reading (which also is 3-0 in the NHL) yesterday (Wednesday) and will return home to host Gloucester (which is 4-1 in the NHL) this Saturday for a 1:00 faceoff at Larsen Rink.
Boys Basketball Tops Fenway, 49-37
The Winthrop High boys basketball team earned its second win of the season with a 49-37 triumph over Fenway High last Thursday evening in the WHS gym.
“It was a great defensive effort from the whole team,” said first-year WHS head coach Quinton Dale II, whose squad improved to 2-3 on the season.
Spencer Parco led the Vikings, who once again turned in a balanced scoring attack, in the scoring column with 12 points. Noah Bayersdorfer reached double figures with 11 points, while George Galuris struck for nine points and Matt Reardon hit for eight.
Dale and his crew, who are competing in the third annual David Green Memorial Tournament this week at Winthrop High, will make the long treks to Northeastern Conference rivals Salem next Tuesday (January 2) and Gloucester next Friday (Jan. 5).
WHS Girls Basketball Hosts Salem Tuesday
After wrapping up the third annual David Green Memorial tournament today (Thursday), the Winthrop High girls basketball team will swing back into action next Tuesday when they host Northeastern Conference rival Salem at the WHS gym. The opening tip is set for 6:00.
Boys Hockey Defeats Boston Latin, 5–2, As Silverman Nets Four Goals
Petey Silverman, the reigning MVP of the Northeastern Conference, scored four goals and assisted on the fifth to pace the Winthrop High boys hockey team to a 5-2 victory over Boston Latin in the opening round of the Michael Giordano Christmas Classic at Murphy Memorial Rink in South Boston this past Tuesday.
The Vikings were scheduled to meet Hanover, which defeated Lynnfield 2-1 in overtime in its prelIminary contest, in the championship game yesterday (Wednesday).
Coach Dale Dunbar and his crew, who stood at 4-0 after the win over Latin, are off until their next encounter on Saturday, January 6, when they will take on Northeastern Conference opponent Marblehead at Salem State College at 5:30.