WHS Sports Roundup

Girls Knock Off Peabody to Lay Claim to Best in NEC

The Winthrop High girls basketball team earned the most significant victory for the Lady Viking program in many years with a 37-31 triumph at Peabody Friday evening.

The Lady Vikings entered the contest as the top team in the South Division of the Northeastern Conference with a 9-1 record, while the Lady Tanners were tied for the top spot in the NEC North with a 7-1 mark.

The teams had met three weeks previously at the Winthrop High gym, with the Lady Tanners prevailing, 42-39, in a hard-fought battle. Winthrop overcame a slow start, trailing 24-9 at the half, but took the lead early in the fourth period, only to run out of gas down the stretch.

However, the Winthrop girls avenged their only loss of the 2021 campaign, thereby asserting their claim to the title “Best in the NEC” for 2021. Peabody has entered the fray tied with Masconomet for first place in the NEC North, with Masco’s lone defeat coming at the hands of the Lady Vikings.

Two nights previously, the Winthrop girls took care of business against a Beverly squad that had given Winthrop a tough battle in their first meeting of the season at Beverly.

Beverly hung tough in the rematch, utilizing some accurate three-point shooting to stay within reach through the first half. The Lady Vikings led 13-10 after one period and 25-18 at the intermission. 

The visiting Lady Panthers sank a trey to start the second half to draw within 25-21, but that would prove to be as close as Beverly would get the rest of the way. Maura Dorr sank a lefty jump hook off a nice feed from Grace Galuris and Julia Marcoccio sank a bucket with an assist from Maddie Stiglets.

After a Beverly basket, Galuris put back an offensive rebound and Caroline Earl sank a free throw to boost the Winthrop lead to nine, 32-23.

The Lady Panthers responded with a two-pointer, but two free throws by Dorr kept Beverly at bay. The visitors sank another three-pointer to make it a six point game, 34-28, but the Lady Vikings closed out the period with a seven-point run to stretch the lead to a comfortable 41-28 entering the fourth period.

Stiglets began the Winthrop offensive display with an end-to-end drive to the basket and then drained a trey from the corner. Dorr completed the outburst with a powerful drive to the hoop.

Earl continued the Viking run to start the final eight minutes with a beautiful move inside that was reminiscent of how Celtic great Kevin McHale would torture his opponents underneath. Caroline faked to her right to get her opponent off her feet and then switched to her left hand for a layup to complete the play.

Stiglets kept the Winthrop momentum going, putting back an offensive rebound to increase the Lady Viking margin to 17, 45-28, wth 5:40 to go. After the Lady Panthers missed a pair of free throws, Stiglets then applied the coup de grace when she stole a Beverly pass at mid-court. Maddie outraced the Lady Panther defender to make the lay-up, drew the foul, and sank the free throw to leave matters at a commanding 48-28 in Winthrop’s favor with 3:39 to go.

The teams traded hoops in the final minutes for the 52-32 finale.

Maura Dorr paced the Lady Vikings in the scoring department with 13 points, followed by Stiglets with 12, Galuris with 10, Earl with eight, Jenna Dorr with three, and Kaylee Farrel, Emma Forsyth, and Marcoccio with two points apiece.

The Lady Vikings were scheduled to meet Danvers last night (Wednesday) for Senior Night and will entertain Marblehead tomorrow (Friday). They will trek to Marblehead on Saturday and wrap up their 2021 campaign with Swampscott on February 19.

Boys Hockey Posts Two More Victories

The Winthrop High boys hockey team skated to a pair of impressive victories this past week, defeating Northeastern Conference North Division rival Danvers, 3-1, on Saturday, and handily cruising past NEC South foe Swampscott, 4-0, last Wednesday.

Saturday afternoon’s encounter with Danvers was highlighted by Senior Day festivities at which eight Viking seniors — captains Joe Holgersen and Ryan Hovermale, assistant captain Chris Ferrara, Charlie Lane, Evan Smotrich, Connor Hurley, Matt Hurley, and Conlan Petersen — were honored before the game for their contributions to the WHS boys hockey program.

It was appropriate therefore, that the seniors played a huge role in the triumph over the Falcons. Holgersen gave Winthrop a 1-0 lead in the opening period with a tremendous individual effort. Capt. Joe stole the puck from a Danvers defender at mid-ice, skated past the remaining Falcon defender, and then deked the Danvers goalie for a textbook, highlight-reel goal.

Ferrara made it 2-0 at 1:09 of the next period when he took a pass from Holgersen, who was along the boards to the far right of the Danvers goal, and flipped a perfectly-placed shot past the Falcon netminder.

Ferrara reached the back of the Danvers net minutes later at 4:11 when he let go a hard wrist shot to the left of the Danvers goal from about 18 feet out that beat the Falcon goalie to the far post. The assist went to — who else? — Holgersen, who had given his teammate a nice feed from the Danvers goalie’s left. Billy Hayes also earned an assist on the goal.

That would prove to be the extent of the Viking offense for the afternoon, although Winthrop had many subsequent chances in an entertaining, up-and-down contest. WHS netminder Hovermale stopped a Danvers breakaway two minutes after Ferrara’s goal and held firm the rest of the way, recording 26 saves on the afternoon.

The lone Falcon lamplighter of the day came with 37.2 seconds left in the second period on a power play on which Ryan was screened on a shot from the point.

The third period featured some chippiness on the part of both teams, with the refs whistling penalties on both squads that limited 5-on-5 action for a good chunk of the final 15 minutes.

Last Wednesday’s 4-0 triumph over Swampscott was not as close as the final score might indicate. The Vikings controlled the action for about 75% of the time and the Swampscott end of the ice often resembled the proverbial shooting gallery.

Winthrop took an early 1-0 lead in the opening period and never looked back, with Holgersen tucking the puck past the Swampscott goalie on a rebound. Connor Hurley and James Sicurella earned assists on the goal.

Assistant captain Joe Hayes then made it 2-0 at 12:21 of the period with a well-placed shot from the point, with Hurley earning another assist.

Hurley upped the Winthrop advantage to 3-0 when he picked up a loose puck to the goalie’s left along the boards and skated into the slot area, from where he picked his spot to beat the Big Blue goalie to the short side.

Ferrara finished off the scoring late in the game, putting home a rebound. Holgersen and Hayes were credited with the assists.

Junior netminder Anthony Indrisano earned both the win and the shutout, making 20 saves.

Coach Dale Dunbar and his crew now have won five straight contests to improve to 6-2-1 overall on the season and have positioned themselves for a chance at an NEC North title. Both of the Winthrop losses, to Gloucester and Marblehead, were by one goal. Four teams — Winthrop, Marblehead, Masconomet, and Gloucester — all have two losses and the Vikings will meet all three of those schools to close out the season.

Winthrop presently is ranked eighth in the state in Division 2 and third in the Division 2 North.

The Vikings have five contests remaining on their pandemic-shortened season, starting tonight (Thursday) when they host Saugus. They will entertain Masconomet Saturday, Marblehead on Monday, and Gloucester on Wednesday. They will finish their 2021 campaign next Saturday (February 20) with Beverly.

WHS Girls Hockey Nets Hat Trick With Three Wins

The Winthrop High girls hockey team enjoyed a highly-successful week, defeating three opponents from the Northeastern Hockey League.

This past Monday the Lady Vikings hosted Marbelehead, traditionally their biggest rival among their NHL opponents, and skated to a dominant 5-1 victory.

Mia Martucci gave Winthrop an early lead at 5:38 of the opening period when she took the puck away from a Marblehead defender behind the net to the left of the Marblehead goalie and then skated around the net and tucked the puck inside the right post for a textbook wrap-around goal. Julia Holmes made it 2-0 with 3:50 left in the period when she deftly put home a rebound off a shot from the point by Adrianna Rizzotto.

The Lady Vikings then increased their margin to 3-0 in the final seconds (3.3 seconds to be exact) of the period. Winthrop earned a face-off to the Marblehead goalie’s left. Lly Tallent won the draw, with the puck sliding over to the goalie’s right, from where Talia Martucci quickly put a shot on goal. The Marblehead goalie made the save, but Jenna Lindinger adroitly lifted the rebound into the back of the net with just a fraction of a second (0.8) left on the clock.

““I loved seeing Jen get that goal,” said WHS head coach Anthony Martucci. “She is just a great person and a player that works so hard. It was an awesome play on her part. I loved seeing her get rewarded with a goal.”

Winthrop increased its margin to 4-0 just 1:50 into the second period when Emma Holmes redirected a shot from the point by Amelia Spencer. 

“It was a nice shot by Amelia and Emma got in great position to redirect it past the Marblehead goalie,” noted Martucci.

The visiting Lady Magicians managed to break through a few minutes later on a power play, but that would prove to be as close as Marblehead would get. Mia Martucci scored her second goal of the game at 5:40 of the third period, putting home a rebound off a shot by Emma Holmes, to put the game on ice.

“This game was big for Julia Holmes,” added Martucci. “She had four points on a goal and three assists. Our goalie, Summer Tallent, was great once again, making some great stops in the win. Defensively I thought that everyone played great. Elle English, Fallon Hurley, Taya Schlichting, Amelia Spencer, Casey Petersen, Adrianna Rizzotto, and Abby Holmes did a great job keeping Marblehead at bay.”

On Saturday coach Anthony Martucci’s crew displayed their offensive firepower with a 9-1 romp over Gloucester at Larsen Rink.

The Lady Vikings drew first blood, scoring at 5:01 of the first period when a Lady Viking tucked home the puck amidst a scramble in front of the Newburyport net.

However, when the visitors brought the contest back to level later in the period with a goal off a rebound, the Lady Vikings appeared to be headed for a tough battle.

Freshman Hannah Parker reinstated Winthrop back into the lead when she took a shot from along the boards to the right of the Lady Fisherman goalie and the puck deflected off a Gloucester defender’s skate to slide in between the goalie’s pads.

Julia Holmes made it 3-1 moments later with a beautiful goal, but Gloucester threatened two minutes after that with a pair of rebound shots in succession, only to be thwarted by WHS netminder Tallent.

The floodgates then opened for the Lady Vikings, who added two more lamplighters before the period ended.

The Lady Vikings quickly put the game away at the start of the third period. Mia Martucci added a goal off a rebound in the opening minute and a minute after that, Mia’s sister Talia, an eighth-grader, put home a rebound of a shot from the point by Lily Tallent. 

Within another minute, Emma Holmes stole an errant Gloucester pass and beat the goalie cleanly. Parker completed the Winthrop scoring for the day, assisted by Abby Holmes.

“This one belonged to the line of Mia Norris, Hannah Parker, and Sami DiMento,” said Martucci. “All three finished with goals. Parker had two and Norris and DiMento scored two of the prettiest goals that I have seen here. Norris scored a beauty on a picture-perfect deke, and DiMento scored on a backhander top shelf.”

Other highlights for Winthrop included the first career high school goal by eighth grader Talia Martucci. Tallent once again held down the fort in goal, making 14 saves. The defensive standouts cited by Martucci were Abby Holmes and Fallon Hurley. 

The Lady Vikings had begun their week of victories last Wednesday when they traveled to Medford and came home with a 6-2 triumph. 

“It was a good game,” said Martucci.  â€œIt was highlighted by the play of Julia Holmes, Emma Holmes, and Mia Martucci. Summer Tallent played well in net, and Adrianna Rizzotto, as well as Casey Petersen, were excellent on defense.”

Martucci and his crew now stand at 7-1 on the season and have a busy few days ahead. They were scheduled to host Peabody yesterday (Wednesday) and entertain Beverly tomorrow (Friday) before making the long-trek to Newburyport on Saturday.

Boys Basketball Fades in Fourth Period vs. Danvers

The Winthrop High boys basketball team played hard in their contest with Danvers this past week, but came up on the short end of a 54-46 decision.

The Vikings held a 27-23 midway through the third period, but a crucial stretch at the very end of the third period and the start of the fourth saw Danvers take a 45-35 lead that the  Vikings proved unable to overcome.

Despite starting the game with a 9-2 deficit and committing 12 turnovers in the first half, Winthrop stayed close, 22-19, at the intermission. Freshman George Galuris ( a team-high 13 points, including 4-for-4 from the free throw line) started the Vikings on the comeback trail with a pair of free throws.

That was followed by a jump shot in the lane from Luca Zanelli, who had just come into the game, and a fast-break, press-break bucket by Tyler Rockefeller off a feed from Zack Bogusz, drawing the Vikings within two, 10-8.

Danvers scored the final four points of the period, including a buzzer-beater off an offensive rebound, but Rockefeller opened the second period by drawing a charge (his first of two on the night) and then sank a 12-footer off a nice pass from Galuris to make it 14-10.

Four Viking free throws, one each from Cam Conway and Bogusz and a pair by Zanelli, offset a Danvers bucket to draw Winthrop within two points, 16-14. 

After a Peabody offensive rebound and putback, Bogusz drained a trey to make it an 18-17 contest with 2:57 left in the half. After a Danvers hoop, Galuris drove the lane and banked a runner to make it 20-19. Danvers sank the final bucket of the half and a Viking missed a pair of free throws to leave matters at 22-19 in favor of the visitors at the intermission.

Galuris opened the third period with another exceptional drive through traffic to make it a one-point game once again, 22-21. A free throw by Bougusz brought the Vikings back to level at 22, and after a Peabody free throw, Galuris found Zanelli for a bucket to give the Vikings their first lead of the game, 24-23, with 6:00 to go in the period. Zanelli, who seems to provide the Vikings with instant offense a la John Havlicek when he comes in off the bench, sank another bucket off an assist from Conway, and then hit a free throw to move Winthrop out to a 27-23 lead.

However, Danvers soon deflated the Vikings’ building momentum with a three-pointer. Although Rockefeller popped in a 13-footer, another Falcon trey evened the count at 29-29 with 30 seconds left in the half.

The Vikings then committed two costly mistakes, the first when a Winthrop player moved too early into the lane to take away a free throw by Conway, and the second when a Viking fouled a Danvers player on a desperation three-point shot at the buzzer.

The Falcon made two of his three attempts from the charity stripe, so instead of a 30-29 lead at the end of the period, the Vikings trailed, 31-29.

The teams battled evenly to start the final eight minutes, with Rockefeller completing a Winthrop press-break and Zanellli and Conway each sinking a free throw, leaving the score at 35-33 with 6:25 remaining.

However, over the ensuing three minutes, Danvers outscored the Vikings 10-2, with the lone Viking response coming from Conway on a 15-foot jumper, leaving matters at 45-35 with 3:25 on the clock.

Winthrop drew within five points on two occasions. Galuris hit two free throws and then drained a trey to slice that deficit in half to 45-40 with 2:28 to go.

After a Danvers hoop, Conway drove in for a basket to make it 47-42 with 1:55 remaining.

However, the Falcons scored the next four points before Galuris hit a 15 footer to make it 51-44 with 54.9 to go. But it proved too little, too late and Danvers prevailed, 54-46.

Galuris ended up as Winthrop’s high scorer with 13 points and Zanelli reached double figures with 10. Rockefeller and Conway hit for eight points apiece followed by Bogusz with seven.

The Vikings were scheduled to play at Swampscott this past Tuesday. They will trek to Marblehead today (Thursday) and then host Marblehead tomorrow (Friday). They will wrap up their season by entertaining Saugus next Tuesday and making the long ride to Glucester next Friday.

WHS Gymnasts Handily Defeat Marblehead

The Winthrop High gymnastics team improved to a 3-1 on the season with a commanding 135.15-99.05 victory over Marblehead in a meet held at the Marblehead YMCA this past Saturday.

Winthrop started off on uneven bars with freshman Shannon Abbott hitting her routine. 

“Shannon has been a reliable routine that we’ve grown to depend on,” said WHS coach Pete Gobiel. “It’s important to get the team off on the right foot.”

Eighth-grade standout Isabella Rice followed with a perfect routine, setting the stage for the rest of the team. 

Captain Danielle Carter stepped up and didn’t disappoint, hitting her routine and scoring a 7.7. Megi Zogasi and Brandi DiCicco followed with no mistakes, scoring an 8.1 and 8.2. 

Anchoring the uneven bar lineup, junior Mary O’Donnell performed a mistake-free routine to score an 8.5.

The vault was next for Winthrop, with Rice leading off with an 8.3. Captain Rachel Farley did her twisting handspring, scoring an 8.45. Carter did her twisting vault, earning a mark of 8.6. Alayna Ronan scored an 8.5 and DiCicco finished up with her somersaulting vault for a first-place, scoring an 8.75.

The floor exercise went well for the Lady Vikings, with Ronan scoring an 8.0, Ellie O’Donnell an 8.2, Gabriella Giuffre an 8.3, DiCicco an 8.2, Rice an 8.45, and Carter taking first place with a perfect routine, scoring 8.7.

 The last event, the balance beam, started with outstanding ninth-grader Ellie O’Donnell scoring a 7.95. Not to be outdone, sister Mary O’Donnell, back from doing her sprinting routine on vault, scored an 8.0. Zogasi and DiCicco tied with scores of 8.6, followed by Ronan with an 8.7.

Closing out the meet, Carter completed the best performance of the evening, scoring an 8.8. 

“We had a few mistakes tonight — clearly not our best meet,” said coach Pete Gobiel. “But we learned to rely on our captain, Danielle Carter, to lead by example and she’s been amazing this year.”

The Lady Vikings’ next meet is this Saturday at home versus Peabody at 4:30. They will travel to the Yellow Jackets facility in Middleton to meet Danvers on Sunday. The last meet  of the season is set for next Saturday, February 20, when Winthrop will host Bishop Fenwick.