The girls hockey team hosted the 20th annual Nan Rheault tournament over the weekend, advancing to the championship game but eventually losing to Ursuline Academy.
Ms. Rheault played a crucial role in the growth of Vineyard hockey as she contributed in the effort to develop and build the Martha’s Vineyard Arena in 1974. Every year three teams spend the weekend on the Island and compete for the top spot. Ursuline Academy, an all-girls private high school from Dedham, beat the Vineyarders 4-1 in the championship.
On Saturday, purple and white advanced to the championship as they beat their rivals, the Scituate Sailors, 6-5. Three freshmen scored the first four Vineyard goals as the hosts skated to a 4-2 advantage after two periods. Caroline Kelleher put the Vineyard on the board first, then Alana Nevin, Paige Anderson and Kelleher all found the back of the net, continuing what has been an impressive debut season for the Vineyard’s freshmen class. Senior Skyla Harthcock opened the third period with a score, then junior Ava BenDavid padded her team’s lead with the sixth goal with just under seven minutes to play.
In the championship game on Sunday, the Vineyarders played up to their competition as they battled with Ursuline to a stalemate for nearly 25 minutes before the Bears scored their first goal. Senior netminder Amelia Simmons deflected and snagged shots from out of mid-air that were flung at her from all angles as she made 32 saves throughout the contest for the Vineyard. Ursuline eventually cracked through the Vineyard’s gritty and pesky defense for three more goals, but Alana Nevin prevented a shutout as she scored off a rebound late in the final period to bring about a final score of 4-1 Bears.
“We hung in there, the effort was there, we were just overwhelmed,” head coach John Fiorito said after the game. “But I thought we played well, that’s a good team we faced. We can say it was a good weekend, we lost to a really good team and we beat our rivals.”
The boys hockey team was also in action this weekend, taking on Bourne in a divisional clash. The Vineyard scored all of their goals on a power play as they skated to a 3-2 victory on Sunday. Sophomore Hunter Meader scored the Vineyard’s first and final goals while freshmen Liam Marek netted the other.
After away games against Monomoy and Bishop Stang this week, the Vineyarders return home on Wednesday for a clash with Dennis-Yarmouth. The puck drops at 4:30 p.m.
On Tuesday afternoon, the boys basketball team rallied behind an animated home at the regional high school as they topped a scrappy Barnstable team 81-60 for their fifth win of the season.
The Vineyarders hit 31 of their 45 free throw attempts as the Red Raiders used ultra-aggressive defensive tactics in the second half in an attempt to break a bigger and faster Vineyard team’s will. Nevertheless, the home team weathered the Barnstable barrage and never let their lead slip away from them.
“Either you keep getting knocked down and you stay down, or you decide you’re going to get up and fight back. When we finally decided to fight back, we took control of the game,” said head coach Mike Joyce.
Senior Captain Jared Regan lead the Vineyard in scoring with 25, he also grabbed six rebounds and had three steals. Rammon Dos Santos returned from a one-game hiatus and dropped 18 points, eight rebounds, a pair of blocks and a steal. Mike Trusty also had a solid game on both ends of the court as he contributed 14 points, five rebounds and four steals.
“This is a big week, we had to win today and Friday at Falmouth to go forward,” Mr. Joyce said.
After making the short trip across the sound on Friday to play the Clippers, the Vineyarders are back home Tuesday for a 4:30 p.m. tipoff against league-leading Dennis-Yarmouth with playoff hopes on the line.
The indoor track team has enjoyed success in their past two meets. On Saturday they traveled to the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury for the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association relay meet and on Tuesday swept Barnstable at Wheaton College.
The meet at Reggie Lewis brought in competition from all corners of the commonwealth. It was an opportunity for the Vineyarders to see how they stack up with the outdoor track season around the corner.
The boys had three top-10 finishes, including taking first-place in the 1200-400-800-1600 medley relay. They finished in 11:00.49, nine seconds faster than second-place Dover-Sherborn. The girls also had three top-10 finishes with their highest coming as a second-place spot in the 4x800 meter relay. Paige Pogue threw the shotput the 11th farthest out of 75 throwers, tossing it 29 feet, two and a half inches.
On Tuesday, the Vineyard girls track team beat Barnstable 53-47, winning in eight of 10 events. The boys beat the Red Raiders 52-47, while also taking gold in eight of 10 events. Anabelle Biggs claimed the top spot in the 55-meter dash, the 300-meter race and the long jump. The Christy sisters were also winners as Adrienne won the 1000-meter race and the high jump and Eloise won the 600-meter race in 1:46.1. Yayla DeChiara won the two-mile race in 13:13 and Paige Pogue rounded out the Vineyard’s winning effort tossing the shotput the farthest at 30 feet, four and a half inches.
The boys also took eight of 10 from Barnstable as a different Vineyarder stepped up to win each event. Dash Christy won the 55-meter dash in 7.06 seconds, Nick Pecararo won the 300-meter in 38.99 seconds, Jonathan Norton won the 1000-meter in 2:50.9, Zach Utz won the one mile in 4:37.3, Peter Burke won the two-mile in 9:59.3 and Joseph Bonneau won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.62 seconds. In the field, Micah Vought tossed the shotput the farthest at 34 feet seven inches and Braden Sayles won the long jump leaping 17 feet 7.75 inches.
The swim team had back-to-back meets over the weekend and fell to Barnstable and Nauset/Sandwich despite some personal bests from Island swimmers. On Friday, the Vineyarders were swept in Barnstable — the girls lost 117-40 and the boys 85-46. Olympia Hall swam her best 200-meter freestyle time of the season to win the event in 2:22.3. Gabby Carr won the 500-meter freestyle in 5:38.99 and Andrue Carr won the 100-meter backstroke in 1:28.45.
Saturday, the joint Sandwich/Nauset team also swept the Vineyard as the boys lost 84-53 and the girls were defeated 89-52. Gabby Carr won two events, the 200-meter freestyle in 2:04.36 and set a personal best in the 500-meter freestyle, winning in 5:35.92. Olympia Hall won the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:24.02, which was good for her best time of the season. And Jonathan Chivers won his first race of the season, taking first in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:25.27.
Next up for the swim team is another set of back-to-back meets as they are on the road to take on St. John Paul on Thursday, then they’ll be home on Friday at the YMCA to face Durfee starting at 3:15 p.m.
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