As the second week of postseason sports draws to a close, one Vineyard team remains in the hunt for a championship title. The boys’ basketball team traveled to Taunton Wednesday evening, defeating Westwood 89-69 to advance to the final round of the MIAA division 3 south section tournament, where they will play number-one seed Wareham, an undefeated team.
The Vineyarders, seeded second, are now 21-2 on the season. Last year, they advanced to the semifinal round of the south section tournament before losing to Cardinal Spellman in an 88-85 double overtime game. (In a bit of sports irony, Wareham moved to the final round by beating none other than Cardinal Spellman.)
The Vineyard team moved to the finals on the strength of its consistent attack — the team scored 15 points in the first quarter against Westwood, but landed 24, 25 and 25 points in each quarter thereafter — and shutdown defense, though it took time for the defense to kick into high gear. The Vineyarders, hampered by rebound troubles, were shaky in the first half—although shaky, for this team, still meant preserving the lead. Westwood trailed by six points at halftime, and pulled within one point early in the third quarter.
“Their intensity was greater than ours in the first half,” said head coach Mike Joyce. In the second, he said, “we just got out and defended.”
Senior Peter Keaney, usually seen wreaking havoc on the offensive side of things, made his presence particularly known on defense, with seven rebounds, three steals and 12 points scored. Junior Jack Roberts led the Vineyard scoring with 27 points, including three three-pointers.
Of equal import to the points tally was Roberts’ timing.
“Jack had three or four big shots for us when we needed them,” Coach Joyce said.
Senior Izak Browne turned in 16 points (two three-pointers) for the Vineyard, with six rebounds, while seniors Will Stewart and Ryan Fisher had nine each. Seniors Charlie Everett and Del Araujo each scored eight points; Everett also had seven rebounds and a handful of textbook blocks. Araujo had five rebounds.
The boys are the last Vineyard squad standing in the postseason; although all four winter sports teams moved on to the playoffs and, indeed, out of preliminary rounds, girls’ basketball and the two hockey teams lost their respective games this week.
The girls’ hockey team ended its historic season and four-game win streak in a heartbreaker of a game against number-four seed Norwell last Friday. Trailing 1-0 after the first period, the 13th-seeded Vineyarders fought to a 2-2 tie at the start of the third period, with goals scored by senior Celia Mercier (assist from junior Kassidy Bettencourt) and freshman Aubrey Ashmun (assist from Mercier). Less than four minutes into the third, Norwood’s Emily Kelly scored on a penalty shot, though the goal was quickly answered by Mercier on an assist from senior Olivia Cimeno.
The score remained tied until the bitter end; Norwood scored with just 52 seconds remaining in the game to take the win.
Head coach John Fiorito nevertheless saw the loss as a mark of how far the girls’ program has come in the past season.
“I think that game just summed it up,” he said in a phone interview. “The kids were just so resilient — every time they scored, we answered.”
The team finishes with a 14-8 record, including one playoff victory, a 5-0 win over Dennis-Yarmouth. Last year, the girls won just five games.
“Especially for the six seniors, but for all 19 players—they transformed the program into a respectable tournament program,” said Coach Fiorito.
The boys’ hockey team, making its first appearance in the tournament since 2009 also made “a full turn in the right direction,” head coach Matt Mincone told the Gazette. The team was 5-13-2 last season; this year, they close out this year 12-7-2.
Still, “there’s no way for it to be easy when it ends,” Coach Mincone said of the boys’ 3-1 quarterfinals loss to Oliver Ames last Saturday. Unless the team walks off with the state championship—as the boys’ team did in 2001—“you’re never completely satisfied.”
The boys turned in a solid first period against Oliver Ames, scoring first on an unassisted goal from senior Colby Gouldrup and keeping pace with their higher-ranked opponents. Oliver Ames evened the score following a faceoff, leaving the game at 1-1 after the first. Senior Tyler Araujo took advantage of a Vineyard power play in the second to make it to the goal line but the shot, though accepted by the on-ice referees, was ruled ineligible by the goal judge.
The ineligibility of the second-period goal was “just a big emotion dump,” said Mincone. Combined with the grueling style of play in effect on the ice, he said, “it took the wind out of our sails.”
Oliver Ames scored three minutes into the third to take the 2-1 lead, landing their final goal on a power play at the end of the period.
The game was the first in Mincone’s 14-year coaching career that he could recall his team being completely drained of energy at the final buzzer.
In spite of the loss, freshman goalie Noah Kleinhenz turned in a standout performance, making 30 saves.
“He madesaves I haven’t seen a goalie make in years,” Mincone said.
On Monday, the scrappy girls’ basketball team rallied from a rough first half against number-two seed Fairhaven, but could not pull off the full comeback, falling 55-41. The team outscored Fairhaven in the second. “The great thing was we really righted ourselves,” said head coach Lisa Stewart. “We never gave up.”
Junior Jennie Lindland led Vineyard scoring with 11 points. Junior Kendall Robinson scored 10 points, while junior Katie Stewart had nine points and senior Maggie Riseborough had seven.
The girls’ team had not been to the tournament since 2003; coach Stewart said she was glad the young squad—just two seniors, Maddie Hughes and Alex Mark, graduate this year—got a taste of the postseason atmosphere.
“You can’t practice for that kind of pressure,” she said, describing the experience as “invaluable.”
The Vineyarders had a 10-9 record in the regular season, and were 2-1 in the MIAA tournament.
“It was an awesome season,” said Coach Stewart. “We had our ups and downs and obstacles to overcome. The amount of growth these girls have shown . . . is remarkable.”
“Everything points to a bright future for us.”
The Vineyard postseason continues Saturday as the boys’ basketball takes on Wareham in the section finals. The game will be played at noon at UMass-Boston. Please contact the regional high school for information regarding game day transportation.
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