Sports Roundup: Strong Second Half Lifts Boys Hoops Over Cape Cod Academy
David Creed •
This Whaler sports roundup includes an update on the boys basketball team after they were able to overcome a sluggish first half to beat Cape Cod Academy at home, the boys and girls swim teams after beating Sandwich on the road, some photos from the girls hockey team’s first home game of the winter, and an update on the boys hockey team.
Boys Hoops Improves To 5-2 With Hard-Fought Win Over Cape Cod Academy
The boys basketball team hosted the Cape Cod Academy Seahawks Thursday evening, and the Seahawks forced the Whalers to scratch and claw their way out of a bad first half in order to earn a victory over a well-coached, hardworking CCA team on the island.
"We couldn't guard anybody," head coach Willis Ferreira said. "Some of us were in man, some of us were in zone. Some of us pressed, some of us didn't. We were just a step slow. I think maybe we probably took them a little lightly and I tried to warn that beforehand.”
Nantucket trailed CCA 29-24 with 1:17 to go in the first half and had almost nothing to feel good about heading into halftime up until that point. But momentum appeared to turn in the Whaler’s favor when senior guard Gaven Smith drove to the net, drew a foul, finished his layup, and made his free throw to complete the three-point play and cut the Seahawk’s lead to 29-27. Smith only finished with five points, but his three-point play was the most important score of the game.
“I thought we had some really good game adjustments, and I thought the kids really responded, listened,” Ferreira said. “We were more aggressive. We got to the rim. We attacked the rim. We rebounded better. We didn't shoot as many threes. We proved that we can play both ways, and we can muck it up inside too, defend some people. But I was happy just with the effort in second half and locking in on what we were trying to do.”
Senior Ryder Tartamella followed Smith’s score up with one of his own to tie the game at 29, and senior Vallon Jeanty scored with just seconds remaining to give Nantucket an unexpected 31-29 lead heading into the half. Tartamella also took on the assignment of guarding Seahawk senior captain and forward Mike Berry late in the first half after Berry scored 12 points in the first two quarters and finished with 22 points total.
"Ryder is not big but he's physical, and he doesn't back down," Ferreira said. "Every team needs a Ryder on their team. You'd like to have three or four of them, but he comes in and battles. I'm proud of him and just what he's meant for us this year. Offensively he can shoot the three, he can get inside, he can defend. He can guard the perimeter, and he can guard the big. He's a jack of all trades. He's like a Swiss army knife, and he plays hard. He gets back. He does all of the intangibles that people don't see. Joao (Silva) is another one. The ball always finds him.”
The Whalers were able to carry their momentum into the third quarter and went on a quick 6-0 run to begin the second half - prompting a quick CCA timeout. By the end of the third, they led 51-36 to complete what was undoubtedly their best quarter of the game.
Led by a quick three-pointer by Silva in the fourth, Nantucket forced another quick CCA timeout just 1:23 into the final quarter with the Whalers holding a 59-38 lead.
Nantucket’s scoring came from a variety of areas, but sophomore Burke Lombardi once again led Nantucket in scoring with 19 points. 13 of those points came in the first half while his team couldn’t generate much of anything on the offensive end, and that production was the only reason the Whalers were able to stay afloat until they woke up late in the second quarter.
"Burke's tough," Ferreira said. "I don't know if he made a shot today from the outside. He didn't have to. When he's able to do both things, he becomes hard to stop. They did a really good job of trying to get him off the three point line and he was smart enough to get inside, go to the paint, attack the rim.
“That’s why he plays as much as he does,” Ferreira continued. “He has done that a few times for us (scored while no one else was scoring). I really need to give him a break but it's hard to do because he does a lot of things well, and when he comes off the floor, it just changes the way we play. I do have to do a better job of trying to give him some minutes before a quarter, before somewhere to give him a minute, two-minute blow so that he can get some water and rest for a second.”
Jeanty finished with 18 points - including 11 in the second half. Silva finished with seven points. Amare Bramwell, Yuri Saunders, and Tartamella each scored six points.
Nantucket will try to improve their record to 6-2 when they host Gardner High School on Saturday, January 10th at 11 a.m. You can view more photos from this game here.
Boys & Girls Swim Beat Sandwich
The boys and girls swim teams traveled to the Cape to face the Sandwich Blue Knights in a meet Thursday evening, and both Whaler teams sailed home with victories with the girls winning 105-74 and the boys winning 83-79.
Below are some of the notable scores by Whaler swimmers.
STATE TIMES:
Myah Johnson placed first in the 50-yard freestyle and earned a state time of 26.60. Johnson placed second in the 100-yard freestyle but earned a state time in that event as well of 58.33.
Zoli Day and Evie Phelps placed first and second respectively in the 100-yard breaststroke and earned state times of 1:14.82 and 1:16.79.
Andrick Mooney, Robert Graves, Markus Vitanov, and Eli MacIver placed second in the 200-yard freestyle relay but earned a state time of 1:46.65.
SECTIONAL TIMES:
Charlotte Brooks, Zoli Day, Evie Phelps, and Myah Johnson placed first in the 200-yard medley relay and earned a sectional time of 2:05.40.
Zoli Day, Harper LeBrecht, Evie Phelps, and Myah Johnson placed first in the 200-yard freestyle relay and earned a sectional time of 1:52.35.
OTHER NOTABLE TIMES:
Zoli Day placed first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:32.71.
Eli MacIver placed first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:15.49.
Andrick Mooney placed first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.01.
Polina Chumak placed first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:14.62.
Eli MacIver placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:09.37.
Gabby Nikolova, Finley Herlihy, Harper LeBrecht, and Charlotte Brooks placed first in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 4:36.02.
The next meet for Nantucket is scheduled for Wednesday, January 14th at home against the Nauset Warriors at 5 p.m.
Girls Hockey Loses To Barnstable
The girls hockey team played their first home game of the season Wednesday evening against the Barnstable Red Hawks.
The Whalers lost 7-0 and were unable to get a goal on the scoreboard, but they will have another chance to earn their first win of the year on Saturday, January 10th when they travel to Boston Latin Academy for a 4 p.m. game.
Below are some photos from Wednesday's game taken by Chris Tran.
Boy Hockey Loses On The Road
The boys hockey team travelled to Hyannis Wednesday afternoon to play the St. John Paul II Lions and lost 5-2.
Nantucket’s goals were scored by senior winger Ben Freeman in the first period and senior captain Jeremy Jenkinson in the second period. Freeman’s goal cut an early 2-0 SJP lead to 2-1 and was assisted by Jenkinson and Baer O’Banion.
After SJP expanded their lead to 4-1 in the second period, Jenkinson scored off an assist from Justin Torres to make it a 4-2 game midway through the second period. SJP would add one more goal just 17 seconds after Jenkinson’s tally.
The Whalers are now 1-3 and will be back in action on Saturday, January 10th when they host East Bridgewater at 1 p.m.
SCHEDULE AHEAD:
Friday, January 9th:
The girls basketball team will be at home playing the Rising Tide Herons at 5 p.m.
Saturday, January 10th:
The boys basketball team will be at home playing Gardner High School at 11 a.m.
The boys hockey team will be at home playing East Bridgewater at 2 p.m.
The girls hockey team will be on the road playing Boston Latin Academy at 4 p.m.