Sports Roundup: Girls Hoops Wins Thriller In Final Seconds, Boys Hoops Wins Four Games In Four Days
David Creed •
This Whaler sports roundup includes an update on the girls basketball team after they won a thriller on the road to punch their ticket to the Division 4 state tournament, the girls and boys swim teams following their state meet, the boys basketball team following a dominant stretch over the weekend, the boys hockey team after a busy weekend of games, and the girls hockey team’s senior night game.
Girls Hoops Clinch Tournament Spot With Last-Second Victory Over Sturgis West
The girls basketball team won a one-point thriller on the road Monday afternoon to clinch a spot in the MIAA Division 4 State Tournament - beating the 13-3 Sturgis West Navigators 37-36 on the back of their team defense and some timely scoring on the offensive end.
Nantucket won six of their last seven games of the regular season, and had to win their last three games following a road loss to St. John Paul II on February 9th that dropped their record to 7-10.
The three teams between the Whalers and a state tournament berth were Barnstable, Nauset, and Sturgis West. All three of these teams had beaten Nantucket earlier this season in their first matchups, and the Barnstable and Sturgis West games were both on the road the second time around.
That didn’t bother this Whaler group as they galvanized one another to raise their games and leave it all on the court during this impressive three game stretch to extend their season.
“This is pretty amazing,” Nantucket head coach Angela Paterson, in the midst of her first season leading the program, said. “We had to win out and they knew that. We beat some pretty good teams. This team knew what they wanted, and they wanted to be in the playoffs. We made that happen.”
Senior captain Marin Mooney led the team with 14 points and some strong interior defense including several blocks. Freshman point guard Ruby Steadman scored seven points while running the offense and had some strong perimeter defense - including a stop on the final possession to help her team preserve the one point victory.
Freshman guard Chloe Washington had six points and both were three pointers. One came in the first half while she was fouled and the second bucket came in the fourth quarter to stop a Navigators surge and put Nantucket back up two scores.
The Whaler’s win over Nauset came Friday evening in the form of a 40-25 score behind 11 point performances from Steadman and Washington.
“I knew it would be a defensive game and a physical game,” Paterson said. “They’re a really good team offensively and defensively. At half it was 18-13, but the difference was we held them to three points in the third quarter.”
Nantucket's three straight victories against teams they had lost to earlier in the season include: beat Barnstable 41-40 on Thursday after losing 52-31 earlier in the season; lost to Nauset 33-26 last month and won 40-25 on Friday; and lost to Sturgis West 37-32 on January 29th before beating them 37-36 on Monday.
Nantucket will learn their first round opponent on Saturday, February 21st. Check back in with our sports page for any updates, or open our Monday newsletter.
Girls & Boys Swim Compete In State Meets
The girls swim team competed in the MIAA Division 2 state meet on Saturday while the boys competed in their Division 2 state meet on Sunday. The girls placed 9th overall out of 32 schools while the boys placed 36th out of 41 schools.
Some of the notable times on the girls side included:
Sara Dussault, Zoli Day, Evie Phelps, and Myah Johnson placed 6th in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:57.33.
Zoli Day placed 18th in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:27.35.
Myah Johnson placed 6th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.07.
Myah Johnson placed 7th in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 56.16.
Finley Herlihy, Sara Dussault, Evie Phelps, and Myah Johnson placed 10th in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:47.99.
Sara Dussault placed 15th in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:08.02.
Zoli Day placed 8th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:11.29.
Sara Dussault placed 13th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:13.47.
Evie Phelps placed 15th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:14.53.
As for the boys:
Pavlin Aleksiev, Markus Vitanov, Eli MacIver, and Andrick Mooney placed 14thin the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:50.91.
Eli MacIver placed 17th in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:08.04.
Eli MacIver placed 19th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06.17.
Boys Basketball Finishes Regular Season 14-6 Following Dominant Weekend
The boys basketball team played four games in four days to cap off their regular season and won all four of them to finish their regular season with a 14-6 record.
The boys beat the Sandwich Blue Knights 80-53 on the road Friday afternoon behind a career day for their leading scorer, sophomore guard Burke Lombardi. He finished the game with 38 points.
On Saturday, the Whalers welcomed Cape Cod Regional Technical High School to the island for their senior day game and won 60-33 behind 11-point performances from seniors Colby Lucas, Ryder Tartamella, and Vallon Jeanty.
Then Nantucket hosted East Boston High School on Sunday – beating them 82-37. Lombardi led the Whalers with 22 points. Gaven Smith had 12 points. Jeanty had 11 points. Tartamella had nine points. David Boulter scored 7 points.
On Monday, the Whalers beat Sandwich in the rematch 85-41. Lombardi led the Whalers with 21 points while Jeanty was right behind him with 19 points.
Nantucket will find out who their round one opponent in the MIAA state tournament will be over the weekend, so check in with our Monday newsletter next week or on our Current Sports Instagram page.
Boys Hockey Loses Three Games
The boys hockey team played three games over the weekend and lost all three games at home. The first was to Plymouth North High School 7-4 on Friday, they then lost to Pembroke High School 9-2 on Saturday after four goals late in the third pulled Pembroke away from the Whalers, and Abington High School 8-5 on Sunday in their senior game.
Senior assistant captain Canton Jenkinson had an incredible weekend for Nantucket – scoring seven goals while adding two assists for nine points in three games. He scored four goals and had one assist against the Abington Green Wave alone.
Jenkinson now sits at 20 goals and 13 assists for 33 points in 15 games this winter and has 95 career varsity points. If Jenkinson is able to tally five more points this year (two regular season games remaining and state tournament play), he will become the first Nantucket hockey player to reach the milestone since Ethan Fey, a member of the Nantucket High School Class of 2017, accomplished the feat.
Girls Hockey Celebrates Senior Class
The girls hockey team hosted Boston Latin Academy on Saturday and lost 8-3. Whaler goals were scored by Lorelei Fox and Olivia Shuttleworth (two goals).
Prior to their game, they held a senior recognition ceremony for their senior class at the same time as the boys basketball team. You can view photos from the girls hockey and boys basketball ceremonies here.
Current MIAA Power Ranking Positions (Top 32 make the state tournament + any teams with a record of .500 or better):
Boys basketball is at #29 in the Division 3 bracket and has a 14-6 record. They would automatically qualify for the state tournament even if they fell out of the Top 32.
Boys hockey is at #30 in the Division 4 bracket and has a 4-11 record.
Girls hockey is at #34 in the Division 2 bracket and has an 0-9 record.
Girls basketball is at #41 in the Division 4 bracket and has a 10-10 record. They automatically qualify for the state tournament.
SCHEDULE AHEAD:
Wednesday, February 18th:
The boys hockey team will be on the road playing Plymouth North at 2:30 p.m.
The girls hockey team will be at home playing Plymouth South at 5:15 p.m. This will be their last game of the season.
Thursday, February 19th:
The boys hockey team will be at home playing North Quincy High School at 5:15 p.m.
These games will conclude the regular season schedule. Playoff brackets will be released over the weekend. For updates, follow Nantucket Current Sports on Instagram.