#3 WHS Boys Hockey Awaits Tourney Seeding, Foe
The Northeastern Conference North (Lynch) Division champion Winthrop High boys hockey team, presently ranked third in Division 4 with a record of 16-3-1, wrapped up its regular season this past week with three contests.
This past Tuesday, the Vikings hosted Dedham, which is ranked 21st in D-4, and skated to a 2-0 victory. On Saturday, Winthrop had little trouble disposing of NEC South (Dunn) Division rival Peabody/Saugus, 9-1. Last Wednesday, the Vikings made the long trek to the Haverhill Valley Forum to take on NEC North foe rival and dropped a 5-2 decision.
The loss marked the lone setback for the Vikings in NEC play this season. Winthrop won the North (Lynch) title with a 9-1-1 record, with Marblehead in second place at 8-3, Gloucester in third at 7-3-1, Masconomet in fourth at 7-4, and Danvers in fifth at 3-7-1.
Dunbar and his crew now will await word of their final seeding and first-round opponent in the upcoming D-4 state tourney. If the Vikings maintain their third-ranked status (which appears fairly certain) and the other teams retain their present ranking (and assuming there are no bracket-busting upsets), Winthrop would take on #30 Northeast Regional in the Round of 32.
Their next opponent would be #14 Boston Latin Academy in the Sweet 16 and then #6 Shawsheen Tech in the quarterfinals.
After that, Winthrop’s likely opponent would be #2 Sandwich in the semifinals. Norwell, the defending D-4 state champion, is the top-seeded team once again in the division.
Silverman is NEC MVP, Dunbar Coach of the Year
The Winthrop High boys hockey team, the 2023 champion of the Northeastern Conference’s North (Lynch) Division, dominated the NEC’s all-star team selection that was announced this
week.
Viking forward Petey Silverman, who recorded an outstanding year with 25 goals and 27 assists, was named the NEC’s Most Valuable Player and head coach Dale Dunbar was named the league’s Coach of the Year.
Senior captain Jack Hayes (19 goals, 24 assists) and senior goalie Nico Babine (14-2-1 record with a GAA of 1.70) were chosen for the prestigious all-conference team, which recognizes only the top eight players among all of the eight NEC schools.
In addition, junior defenseman Billy Hayes (five goals, 22 assists), sophomore forward Phil Boncore (14 goals, 13 assists), and freshman defenseman Colin O’Leary (two goals, five assists) were named to the 16-member NEC all-star squad.
12th Ranked WHS Girls Await Word of Tourney Opponent
The Winthrop High girls basketball team, which wrapped up its regular season last night (Wednesday) with a contest at Woburn (the third-ranked team in Division 1), will await word of its opening round opponent in the upcoming MIAA Division 4 state basketball tournament.
The Lady Vikings currently appear locked into the 12th seed in the D-4 power ratings, which means they will host the opening round game on the Chris Tsiotos Floor at the WHS gym.
If the present seedings hold up, Winthrop would entertain #21 Monomoy in the opening round and then travel to #5 Malden Catholic in the Round of 16.
The MIAA is expected to announce the final seedings and the schedule of preliminary-round games on Saturday.
Coach Anthony Hatzisavas and his crew took on Bishop Fenwick, the third-ranked team in Division 3, in their only contest of the past week and came out on the short end of a 49-38 decision.
Reese Brodin led Winthrop in the scoring department with 14 points and teammate Maddie Stiglets reached double figures with 11 points.
The Lady Vikings fell into an early hole, trailing 17-5 in the opening part of the contest, but sliced the deficit to 24-21 at the half. The contest remained a one-possession game until about five minutes were left to play, but Fenwick’s star player, a junior who already has 1000 career points, caught fire down the stretch, ending up with 30 points and 15 rebounds.
“Fenwick is the #3 team in Division 3 and they are as advertised,” said Hatzisavas. “We battled throughout the whole game. If we had played Fenwick back in December, I don’t know how we would have done, but I don’t think we would have played as well as we did the other night.
“Going into their place where the gym is small and it’s really loud was a great prep for the state tournament,” Hatzisavas continued. “To me, this is the most exciting time of the year, getting ready for the state tournament. I’m just telling the girls to really enjoy the moment and take it all in. There’s nothing better than making a run and I believe we are capable of doing so.
“I also want to acknowledge the other winter sports teams in Winthrop for having excellent seasons,” added Hatzisavas, who played a key role on the 2011 Winthrop High boys state championship team that defeated Cohasset to win the title in the TD Boston Garden. “Everyone is putting the work in and getting great results. To have three NEC championship teams (his girls team, plus the boys and girls hockey teams) and four teams who are ready to make runs in the state tournament in one season is a great accomplishment.”
WHS Boys Basketball Tops Northeast, 68–61; Awaits Word of Tourney Foe
The Winthrop High boys basketball team earned a 68-61 victory over Northeast Regional Vocational School in its only contest of the past week.
WHS head coach Mike Triant was pleased with his team’s performance in the victory.
“We played well and really moved the ball well vs. their zone,” said Triant, who noted the individual efforts of many of his players.
Captain Zach Bogusz led the Viking offense with 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Zach’s scoring included four old-fashioned three point plays.
“At the end of the day, as I’ve said all year, we go as the captain goes,” said Triant. “Zach was immense. His leadership and on-floor communication is invaluable to us. He has done a great job all year of attacking the rim and getting downhill. Another stat we love watching is deflections. Zach had six of them, which really speaks to his effort and awareness at the defensive end. We are a much better scoring team in transition and that starts with deflections.”
George Galuris reached double figures with 12 points and pulled down six rebounds. George hit a big three-pointer late in the game to keep Northeast at bay.
Andrew Faretra also reached double figures, hitting for 12 points.
“Andrew came out piping-hot for us,” noted Triant. “Drew got us going early at the offensive end. Game play dictated that we play two bigs down the stretch and limited his minutes a little down the stretch, but I was really proud of the energy that he continued to bring his teammates from the bench. That’s been a focus all year, that on different nights, different guys may get more opportunity than others and we all need to sacrifice for the betterment of our team and trust our coaches.”
Triant lauded the play of his forward trio of Vasili Tsiotos, Jeremy Matias (who had a powerful double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds), and Eddie Ramadani, who were called upon to battle with Northeast’s big men underneath.
“Northeast had two or three bigs who were very physical with us,” said Triant. “Vasili started and played well. Vas’ had seven rebounds and one big bucket during a third quarter run. He is always game to take on the opponent’s starting center and he never backs down.
“Jeremy and Eddie came off the bench and played very well,” the coach continued. “Jeremy had in my opinion his best game as a Viking, ending with 10 points, 14 total rebounds (seven offensive), and five assists.
“Eddie was a huge physical presence who cleared a ton of real estate for Jeremy to attack rebounds,” said Triant. “Eddie ended with four points and seven rebounds. He has been such an amazingly-coachable kid over these past couple of years. He hasn’t complained once all season about playing time or touches. He has just waited for his time and earned opportunities by practicing hard and he has really seized the moment. I couldn’t be more proud of the young man he is.”
Triant also praised the major contribution of Alex Daigneault, whom Triant referred to as “the human stat-stuffer.”
“Alex ended with four points, nine rebounds, four assists, four steals, and two blocks. He is just always around the play,” noted the coach.
Triant and his crew, who presently appear to be locked into the 31st seed in the MIAA’s Division 4 power rankings, were scheduled to conclude their regular season last night (Wednesday) against Bishop Fenwick.
They then will await word on Saturday of their opening round opponent in the D-4 state tourney. If the present rankings hold up, Winthrop will host #34-ranked Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational in the preliminary round early next week at the WHS gym.
If the Vikings are successful in that contest, they will travel to second-seeded Wareham for a Round of 32 matchup later next week.