Sports Roundup: Boys Hoops Keeps Rolling, Beats Nauset At Home
David Creed •
This Whaler Sports Roundup includes recaps and updates on the boys basketball team following their impressive home win over the Nauset Warriors, the boys hockey team and their victory over Monomoy/Mashpee, and the girls hockey team.
Boys Hoops Earn Team Win Over Nauset At Home
It was a full-team effort Thursday evening for the Whaler boys basketball team as they went onto score 70 points in a game for the first time this year - beating the Nauset Warriors 70-50 to improve to 7-4 this season.
“I thought overall it was a really good team win,” Whaler head coach Willis Ferreira said. “A lot of contributions from a lot of different guys, especially on the defensive end and creating offense on the other end.”
The Whalers began the game attacking the rim aggressively and often. Senior captains Carlos Aguilar and Jaquan Francis, as well as sophomore guard Amare Bramwell had early baskets in the paint to give Nantucket a quick 8-2 lead.
After Nauset made it 11-5, the Whalers responded with an 11-0 run to make it 22-5. They ended the quarter up 24-10 and Ferreira was happy with the fast start.
"They came out and took a little bit of their spirit away and got us in a good place,” Ferreira said. “I was happy with the guys off the bench. I thought the starters played great.”
Sophomore big man Oliver Marrero will be seeing more minutes following Ethan Jarrett’s injury, and he checked into the game in the second quarter to score two quick baskets.
Junior guard Donte Brimm finished the game with four points, but it was his playmaking ability finding his teammates underneath the rim and his aggressiveness on defense that had Ferreira impressed after the game.
"I thought Donte was really good on both sides, good on the boards,” Ferreira said. “Without Ethan now we're going to be a little smaller. We're going to have to play different, and we're going to have to fly around. When we fly around, hopefully it'll benefit us.”
Senior big man and captain Jack Halik led the team with 14 points and had an emphatic dunk in the second quarter to extend the Whaler’s lead. But Nauset continued to hang around with Joey Berardi (16 points) and Austin Remmey (11 points) leading the way offensively for the Warriors. The Whalers led 38-25 at half.
“They made some shots on us and they did a good job moving the ball, getting away from the trap, and made some shots,” Ferreira said.
Francis scored the first two baskets for the Whalers to begin the third quarter, and senior forward Chris Simpson had two key three’s in the quarter to keep Nantucket’s lead in double digits as they entered the final quarter leading 53-37.
Nantucket was able to empty their bench and get some of their depth players minutes. Sophomore guard Vallon Jeanty had three points in the quarter. Senior guard Shea Dwyer also came off the bench and hit a free throw.
Four Whalers had double digit point totals at the end of this one. Halik had his 14. Aguilar had 12 points. Simpson and Francis each had 10 points.
The Whalers will attempt to improve their record to 8-4 on Saturday, January 20th at 12:30 p.m. when they host New Heights Charter School of Brockton.
Boys Hockey Wins Eighth Straight Game
The boys hockey team continues to pick up wins and earned their eighth straight victory on Wednesday 6-4 over Monomoy/Mashpee, but three power play goals allowed in the game left the Whalers frustrated with the game’s result.
“None of us were pleased,” Moran said of his team’s win on Wednesday. “For some reason we just got into a funk the second and third period. I don't know why. Sometimes I think that they play these teams and they kind of get it in the back of their mind that it's not going to be a difficult one. Of their four goals, they got them off of three power plays. That doesn't happen. For some reason, they were able to get them yesterday and we just couldn't figure out what the hell was going on.”
The Whalers dominated the first period and jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Freshman winger Nico Tedeschi scored the game’s first goal. It was his second goal in as many games and it came just 2:42 into the first period.
Senior winger Braden Knapp, who was moved back to play defense with senior Hunter Strojny out with an injury, had a nifty goal after taking the puck coast to coast to make it 2-0 less than two minutes later. He continues to have a fabulous season and now has six goals and 12 assists for 18 points in nine games.
Senior center Colby O’Keefe had a hat trick in this game and scored two of those goals in the first period to make it 4-0. It appeared Nantucket would skate away with an easy victory, but the Sharks scored on a breakaway with 1:36 remaining in the first to cut the deficit to 4-1.
“That first period was fantastic,” Moran said. “They did everything the way they should have done it. They were skating their hearts out. All of the coaches and I looked at each other and we were like 'Wow, this is the best we've seen the play in a while.' Then all of a sudden – Hah.. I hate to say it but it was like they laid an egg.”
O’Keefe scored his third goal with 11:14 left in the second period to make it a 5-1 game, but Monomoy got one back on the power play with 4:38 left in the second to make it 5-2. O’Keefe’s natural hat trick was still impressive. He now has eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in nine games this season for the Whalers.
"Colby had such a great game,” Moran said of his center. “He's one of those kids that has just really come into his own this year. He's just so focused and he's so good at what he does. His job that he does this year is leaps and bounds ahead of what he was doing last year. He's taken his head out of it, and he's just playing the game and what a difference it makes. It really does. I think he realizes that too. He's not out there getting stupid penalties, retaliating against anything that he might be hit by or whatever. He's just focused on the game and he's focused on scoring goals, and the kids got it going.”
Senior center and assistant captain Ryan Davis notched his 12th goal of the season and team-leading 20th point with 11 seconds left in the period to make it a 6-2 game. That score stood going into the final period.
But things got more difficult than they needed to be in the third. Monomoy got a power play after the Whalers were called for hooking and capitalized by scoring with 10:55 to go in the game to make it 6-3.
Then just over two minutes later the Sharks were on another power play after the Whalers were called for tripping. They capitalized on that man advantage as well to make it a 6-4 game with 8:37 left in regulation. Moran said his team can't get complacent and needs to continue moving their skating legs for a full 45 minutes.
Despite the Sharks gaining all of the momentum, the Whalers were able to settle things down and play shut down defense the rest of the way to hold onto the 6-4 victory.
“You could have heard a pin drop on the bus ride to the boat,” Moran said. “There wasn’t anybody talking. And look, I can’t say anything bad about these kids. They’re outstanding, but I just know they are so much better than what they portrayed yesterday in the second and third periods.
“They have to be, from this point forward, every game needs to be better than the last,” Moran continued. “That’s the only way they can look at this. There’s no other way around it. We can’t just settle for mediocre. We got to get these guys moving like they know how.”
The Whalers will attempt to improve their win streak to nine games and overall record to 9-1 on Saturday, January 20th when they host Bishop Stang at 2 p.m.
Below are a few more photos taken by freelance photographer Margaret Dickson, who was at Wednesday’s game and shared some of her shots with the Current. You can check out more of her excellent photography here. Thank you Margaret!
Girls Hockey Loses To Barnstable
The Whaler girls hockey team is still searching for their first win of the season after losing 11-1 to the Barnstable Red Hawks Wednesday evening.
Nantucket is now 0-7 this season but will have one week off to rest up and reset before traveling to Falmouth to play the Clippers on Wednesday, January 24th at 4:30 p.m.
SCHEDULE AHEAD:
Friday, January 19th:
The boys & girls swim teams travel to Martha’s Vineyard for a 3 p.m. meet.
Saturday, January 20th:
The boys basketball team will host New Heights Charter School of Brockton at 12:30 p.m.
The boys hockey team will host Bishop Stang at 2 p.m.
Sunday, January 21st:
No games are currently scheduled.
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