Sports Roundup: Girls & Boys Hoops Lose, Swim Preparing For Sectionals, Track Competes In League Championship
David Creed •
We are entering the final stretch of the winter sports season with state tournament play, as well as sectional and state swim meets, not so far away.
The girls basketball team lost at home but is still in position to secure a spot in the state tournament, the track team competed in their first ever league championship last weekend and we have a full report with the help of head coach Chris Miemiec to break down how it went, the psych sheets for the boys and girls swimming sectional meets this weekend was released on Tuesday – check out which Whalers will be representing the island and in what event(s), and the boys basketball team lost on the road.
Girls Hoop’s Win Streak Snapped At Eight By St. John Paul II
Despite the game being well within reach at halftime, the Whaler girls basketball team lost at home to St. John Paul II 59-34 Monday evening – dropping Nantucket’s record to 9-7 this season.
The Whalers found themselves trailing 13-7 after one quarter and 32-21 at half. It was a competitive first two quarters for Nantucket, who lost to SJP 52-22 earlier this season and were out of that game within the first eight minutes.
"You need moments like this to teach certain aspects,” Nantucket head coach Rafael Osona said before explaining that SJP’s defensive rotations caused problems for his team. “Moments like this, if we can get past the emotions of it, there's a lot to gain from it. And I think they'll be fine. It was a good game for us. Last time we played them the competitive part of it was over a lot sooner and today they hold on .”
The third quarter is where the game began to spiral. SJP slowly built on their 11-point halftime lead and outscored Nantucket 14-4 in the third while playing strong defense to take a 46-25 lead into the final quarter.
"We didn't hit any shots in the third quarter. We had plenty of looks, we just didn't hit shots,” Osona said. “You hit those shots and the landscape of the game overall would have changed but you know it is what it is. It was a different speed today. I think a lot of the errors were self-inflicted. Some of that comes from the pressure of St. John Paul and they're a really good team no doubt about that.”
Nantucket is now 9-7 this season and if they win one more game, they will punch their ticket into the MIAA Div. 4 state tournament. They have four games remaining and their next matchup is scheduled for Friday, February 9th at home against Falmouth Academy at 5 p.m.
Track Competes In League Championship Meet
This winter, Nantucket High School had an indoor track team that competed in several meets, and they wrapped up their first season this past weekend at the Cape & Islands League Championship meet in Boston at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Head coach Chris Miemiec provided a rundown to the Current of how his team performed (thank you Chris!) – adding that he was overall very happy with how the first season went.
“Track & Field is a new sport here at Nantucket High and we are building a great team culture," Miemiec said. "Between our high school program and middle school programs, we've got a lot of potential with young talent. I'm excited to see what the future holds.”
The boys team finished the season 1-5 while the girls team finished 0-6. Miemiec said they were looking to finish out the season with some noteworthy performances last weekend, and did just that.
“The boys team had a strong showing from the very first event with students scoring in every running event,” Miemiec said. “Jaiden McInnis led the charge with an impressive third place performance in the 55m - running a season best 6.84 in the preliminary round and meeting the automatic divisional qualifying time.”
Miemiec added that McInnis followed that up with a fifth place finish in the 300m running a 39.01. Forbes Keating and Andre Barrett also challenged for places running 43.46 and 44.47 respectively.
In the 600m, Miemiec said that Numa Solano ran a “tactically excellent” race placing sixth with a time of 1:48.49 (Splits 34/38/35).
“In the 1000m, Dorian Manov continued to make strides running a season best good enough for 6th place,” Miemiec said. “(Dorian) ran an aggressive race from the gun setting a hard pace through the first two laps, holding on to come across the line with a time of 3:11.16, an improvement of over 7 seconds.”
Miemiec said Manov followed that up running alongside Rory Murray in the mile. Both crossed the line in 5:28, a fifth place finish for Murray and sixth place finish for Manov. The time also marked another season best for Manov.
For field events, Justice Kyomitmaitee placed 8th in Shot Put with a throw of 25' 11".
As for the girls team, Miemiec said they continued their developmental season competing as a roster of entirely freshmen with one lone sophomore.
“Grace Hanlon put on a show with a season best and divisional automatic qualifier time in the 1000m with a time of 3:26.32,” Miemiec said. “Hanlon ran aggressively from the start – setting the pace in the lead group running splits of 39, 39, 42, 43, 42. Her time was good enough for third place overall. In the 600m, Virginia Graham ran another season best with a time of 2:09.45. Graham went out with the lead pack excellently pacing herself with splits of 42, 44, 42 and made smart mid race adjustments to move up positions.”
In the field Danielle Lewis, the lone sophomore on the team, continued to impress as a first-year thrower placing 11th in the Shot Put with a throw of 20' 3.25".
There is still unfinished business for two of the Whalers. McInnis (55m) and Hanlon (1000m) will finish out the season for Nantucket on Wednesday, February 14th competing in the MIAA Division 5 Championship Meet at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Boys & Girls Swim Sectional Psych Sheets Released
Sectionals will be taking place this weekend for boys and girls swimmers across the state, and the Whalers will have several swimmers competing in the south sectional.
The Psych Sheets were released Tuesday afternoon and below are some of the swimmers representing Nantucket and the event(s) they are participating in.
GIRLS:
The girls will have relay teams swimming in the following events:
The 200-yard medley featuring Sara Dussault, Hannah Gerardi, Martina Savova, and Myah Johnson (best time: 2:01.71 – ranked 5th out of 22 teams).
The 200-yard freestyle relay featuring Evie Phelps, Hannah Harrington, Martina Savova, and Myah Johnson (best time: 1:53.33 – ranked 11th out of 21 relay teams).
The 400-yard freestyle relay featuring Evie Phelps, Hannah Harrington, Hannah Gerardi, and Sara Dussault (best time: 4:06.38 – ranked 10th out of 20 teams).
Individually, Evie Phelps will be swimming in the 200-yard freestyle (best time: 2:03.64 and ranked 6th out of 17 swimmers. She will also be swimming in the 500-yard freestyle (best time: 5:31.14) and is ranked 5th out of 27 swimmers.
Hannah Harrington will be competing in the 500-yard freestyle (best time: 5:53.66) and is ranked 25th out of 27 swimmers.
Hannah Gerardi (best time: 2:21.64) and Sara Dussault (best time: 2:23.99) will be competing in the 200-yard individual medley and are ranked 8th and 12th respectively in the event out of 20 swimmers.
Hannah Gerardi will also be competing in the 100-yard breaststroke (best time: 1:11.88) and is ranked 3rd out of 20 swimmers.
Sara Dussault will also be competing in the 100-yard backstroke (best time: 1:06.63) and is ranked 20th out of 23 swimmers.
Myah Johnson will be competing in the 50-yard freestyle (best time: 25.91) and is ranked 6th out of 20 swimmers. She will also compete in the 100-yard freestyle (best time: 58.12) and is ranked 11th out of 20 swimmers.
BOYS:
The boys will also have a relay team competing in the 200-yard freestyle relay featuring Jake Johnson, Eli MacIver, Pavlin Aleksiev, D’Marco Lewis (best time: 1:40.50 – ranked 26th out of 27 relay teams).
Jake Johnson will be swimming in the 50-yard freestyle (best time: 22.63 and ranked 7th out of 28 swimmers) as well as the 100-yard freestyle (best time: 50.19 - ranked 8th out of 23 swimmers).
Eli MacIver will be swimming in the 200-yard individual medley (best time: 2:11.85 and ranked 14th on the psych sheet out of 22 swimmers) as well as the 100-yard breaststroke (best time: 1:08.40 and ranked 28th out of 28 swimmers.
Boys Hoops Loses To Nauset
The boys basketball team saw their record drop to 10-8 this season following a 76-64 defeat to the Nauset Warriors Tuesday evening on the road.
Nantucket got the upper hand on Nauset earlier in the season by a score of 70-50 on the island January 18th, but turnovers and difficulties inbounding the ball in the second half led to some easy second chance baskets for the Warriors in their home gym while preventing the Whalers from getting much going on the offensive end.
Nantucket was without senior captain Carlos Aguilar and senior Dwayne Martin, two of their top players, forcing them to lean heavily on senior captain Jack Halik – who led the team with 29 points.
Senior Jayquan Francis finished with 11 points. Senior Chris Simpson scored nine points on three three-pointers. Donte Brimm, the junior guard who has impressed head coach Willis Ferreira and earned significantly more playing time in the second half of the season, finished with seven points.
When the latest MIAA Div. 4 power rankings came out Tuesday morning at 11 a.m., the Whalers held the #10 spot in the bracket. Losing to the Warriors, who are ranked #54 in the Div. 2 bracket, could drop the Whalers down the standings.
But Nantucket still has two games to go before the tournament begins, both of which are on the road. They will travel to face Cape Cod Academy, who they beat 65-36 on Jan. 23, this Friday, Feb. 9th at 3:30 p.m. and will close out their regular season on Thursday, February 15th on the road against Monomoy at 3:30 p.m. (Whalers beat Monomoy 58-43 on Jan. 30th).
SCHEDULE:
Wednesday, February 7th:
The girls hockey team will be at home celebrating their four seniors: Claire Misurelli, Emerson Pekarcik, Bailey Lower, and Siena Monto at 5:15 p.m., playing host to the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins – who are currently 3-10-1 this season. Nantucket is hoping to earn their first win of the season. They are the only varsity team on the schedule Wednesday.
Thursday, February 8th:
There are no games scheduled for Thursday.
To view the MIAA's latest power rankings, click here. To follow Nantucket Current Sports on Instagram, click here.