Sports Roundup: Boys Hoops Earns Home Victory Over Dennis-Yarmouth
David Creed •
This Whaler sports roundup includes an update on the boys basketball team following a blowout victory at home, the girls basketball team following a road win, and the boys hockey team following a frustrating road defeat.
Boys Hoops Cruises To Convincing Win Over DY
The boys basketball team earned a 79-40 victory at home Wednesday evening against the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins to improve their record to 8-5 this season.
"That was good win for us," Whaler head coach Willis Ferreira said. "We haven't played a whole lot of basketball in the last month. We lost three in a row there and on the road, it's not easy. It's good to come back (home) and the kids played with a little more energy. You don't have to travel. It's just so much easier. I was really proud of our effort. I thought defensively we were really good, and then we made shots early and got a big lead and kind of controlled the game right in the first quarter.”
The Whalers strung together four strong quarters - including a first quarter where they outscored the Dolphins 26-10 and then held DY to just four points in the second quarter to take a 47-14 lead into halftime.
"Just happy for the kids to finally get back home and finally play like we were capable of playing," Ferreira said. "We practice a lot, we practice together, and it gets really stagnant, and it gets kind of old. You guard the same guy, you know everyone's moves. So it becomes a little tricky. Offensively, we were good. We haven't been real good offensively on the road.”
Burke Lombardi led the team with 19 points while Gaven Smith had 13 points.
"I thought Gav played real good," Ferreira said. "Burke had another good half early. Vallon (Jeanty, 15 points) was scoring. When those guys are making shots, we are tough – especially when our defense is good like it was tonight.”
The Whalers will be back in action on Friday, at home against the Nauset Warriors at 5 p.m. Friday’s game starts a stretch of four games in five nights, all of which are at home. Nantucket will be hosting East Boston on Saturday, February 7th at 12:30 p.m., hosting Falmouth High School on Sunday at 11 a.m., and then hosting Bourne High School at 5 p.m.
Girls Hoops Earns Win Over Rising Tide
The girls basketball team understands that in order to qualify for the MIAA Division 4 state tournament this winter, they will need to piece together a win streak in this final two week stretch of regular season play.
After beating Sturgis East 52-27 at home last weekend, the Whalers extended their win streak to two games following a 40-16 win over the Rising Tide Herons on the road Wednesday evening with freshman point guard Ruby Steadman leading the team with 12 points.
Whaler head coach Angela Paterson said that offensively, her team made shots but had some issues with turning the ball over – adding that they need to continue working on cleaning up that area of their game on the offensive end of the court.
Defensively, Paterson said her team created a lot of turnovers themselves but allowed a lot of offensive rebounds. She said overall, there are a few things they need to clean up as they close out the rest of the season with some tough competition coming up and her team essentially in must-win territory from here on out.
The Whalers are 6-9 with five games remaining – meaning Nantucket must finish 4-1 or 5-0 to earn a record of .500 or better, which automatically clinches a play-in spot in the tournament.
Nantucket’s next game is scheduled for Friday, February 6th on the road against Cape Cod Academy at 3:30 p.m.
Boys Hockey Loses To Dennis-Yarmouth
The boys hockey team lost to the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins 8-3 Wednesday evening on the Cape at Tony Kent Arena. Seniors Jeremy and Canton Jenkinson each tallied one goal and one assist while senior defenseman Soren Edwardes scored Nantucket’s other goal.
Whaler head coach Jack Moran said he felt his team took too many penalties, which led to their strong start disappearing and a subpar final 20 minutes of the game following suite. The Whalers committed 10 penalties in the final two periods, and it allowed Dennis-Yarmouth to pull away later in the game.
“We gave up some shorthanded goals all because of stupid, unnecessary penalties,” Moran said. “I thought we had a game going pretty well the first couple of periods, but then carelessness cost us the game. I wish I had an explanation on why we played like this, but it happens every once and a while. We just have to be better if we want to get into the playoffs.”
Moran remains confident in his team as they remain in the playoff picture despite having a 3-7 record. They will try to earn their fourth win of the season on Saturday, February 7th when they travel to play North Quincy at 2 p.m.
Current MIAA Power Ranking Positions (Top 32 make the state tournament + any teams with a record of .500 or better):
Boys hockey is at #24 in the Division 4 bracket and has a 3-7 record.
Boys basketball is at #29 in the Division 3 bracket and has a 8-5 record.
Girls hockey is at #34 in the Division 2 bracket and has an 0-7 record.
Girls basketball is at #51 in the Division 4 bracket and has a 6-9 record.
SCHEDULE AHEAD:
Friday, February 6th:
The girls swim team will be on the road for their sectional meet today at 1:15 p.m.
The girls basketball team will be on the road playing Cape Cod Academy at 3:30 p.m.
The boys basketball team will be at home playing Nauset High School at 5 p.m.
Saturday, February 7th:
The boys basketball team will host East Boston at 12:30 p.m.
The boys hockey team will be on the road playing North Quincy at 2 p.m.
The girls basketball team will be on the road playing Sturgis West at 3:15 p.m.
Sunday, February 8th:
The boys basketball team will host the Falmouth Clippers at 11 a.m.
The boys swim team will be on the road for their sectional meet at 1:45 p.m.