Sports
MVRHS Saturday sports marathon
Vineyard sports junkies enjoyed a smorgasbord of high school action Saturday as five high school teams played home games in one afternoon. Unfortunately, the day was largely disappointing for the Island teams who finished with one win, three loses, and a tie.
Alicia Oliveira (left) and Hanna Persson capture a Green Dragon in the varsity game with Duxbury. Click on photo to enlarge. Photos by Ralph StewartMatters started brightly as the junior varsity girls basketball team led off with a 40-24 win over Duxbury.
M.V. took control from the outset, holding the Green Dragons to one bucket in the opening period and eight points in the first half.
Cat Todd was tenacious on defense in the first half, making two steals off of Dragon inbound passes.
Kendall Robinson was a force all over the court and scored 15 points. Maggie Riseborough had 10.
The previous night, the girls fell into a 22-point hole at Somerset, battled back, but lost 43-41.
This time, Maggie Riseborough led M.V. with 17 points, while Kendall Robinson scored 15.
Next up on the docket was the Vineyard varsity girls hockey team, who entertained Falmouth at the MV Arena.
The Clippers won the contest with two-second period goals, but the Vineyarders played a terrific game throughout, skating hard and fore-checking tirelessly.
Coach Gene Townes noted his team's continued improvement after the game. "That was a quality team they played against today and they were stride for stride with them," he said. "They've got a system down now that they understand and all three lines are playing well."
Back across the street at the Sancy, the varsity girls hoopsters were having their hands full with Duxbury.
Any progress M.V. had made in a 56-34 win at Somerset the night before (more on that later) disappeared in the aftermath of a 48-31 defeat.
M.V. failed to score in the first six minutes and never got things going. No single player seemed able to take charge.
Jenny Lindland scored nine points to lead M.V.
Friday night was a different matter as the girls recaptured their early-season form and dispatched Somerset in a crucial Eastern Athletic Conference tilt.
The win was the Vineyarders second in the EAC and evened their overall record at 7-7, keeping playoff hopes alive. They need 10 wins in their 20 games to qualify.
Jillian Sedlier (14 points), Jenny Lindland (12), and Katie Hines (12) all hit in double figures for M.V.
Randall Jette is fueled and ready for take-off against Somerset. Click on photo to enlarge.The boys varsity basketball team continued the Saturday sports feast, dropping a disappointing 72-65 decision to EAC foe Somerset.
The underdog Blue Raiders clearly brought their 'A' game for this one and had the flat-footed Vineyarders reeling in a 10-2 hole after five minutes.
M.V. only rose to the occasion in the final period. Randall Jette was the catalyst, scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter, including a perfect 11 of 11 at the line.
Somerset saw their lead shrink to one point with three minutes left, but never surrendered it, thanks to their own clutch free-throw shooting - 15 of 20 in all.
Randall Jette finished with 20 points, Steve Handy had 17, and Lamar Moreis had 12.
"When you play one quarter out of four, you generally don't win," coach Mike Joyce said. "We took three quarters off, then played like gangbusters."
Goalie Alex Dorr robs a Raider, while Chris Davies waits to clear any rebounds. Click on photo to enlarge.Back at the MV Arena, Somerset's skaters and the Vineyard boys varsity closed out the day with a torrid and acrimonious 3-3 tie.
Alex Dorr got the start in goal for M.V. and did a commendable job, stopping 21 shots.
Early in the second period, the Vineyarders scored two goals in 18 seconds to break open a scoreless tie.
Colby Gouldrup struck first at 4:30 from Cody Pachico and Charles Goldthwait. Max Davies followed up with his first high school goal at 4:48 on a perfect feed from Darren Gazaille.
Somerset roared back with two goals to tie the game at two entering the third period.
The rest of the game was marred by a profusion of chippy play, trash talking, and immature posturing. Somerset more than held up their share of the nonsense, yet went unpunished by the referees, who awarded all nine power plays in the game to the visitors.
Henry Smith scored a shorthanded goal with one minute remaining to put M.V. on top 3-2. Trouble was, he followed it up by leveling tempestuous C.J. Cordeiro to the ice and joined teammate Chris Davies in the sin bin. Somerset pulled their goalie for a three-man advantage, and tied the game with 20 seconds left.
At the final horn, several Somerset players skated around the ice taunting the Vineyard fans and the Vineyard bench. The display drew thunderous boos from a capacity crowd that was already boiling over and resulted in the only Somerset penalties of the period, meaningless though they were.
Following the game, Vineyard coach Matt Mincone took the referees to task for failing to control the game.
"Three of their players were standing in front of our bench taunting all of us. These guys [the Vineyard players] would not do that at the end of the game because they know that there is a price to pay for doing that - from me. I'm not questioning their coach, I know him very well and I know he has some control over their players. The referees let that happen."
Coach Mincone also praised his team's gritty play. "I like the fact that we played with emotion, good or bad, because it shows that they haven't quit."
The tie leaves M.V. at 2-3-1 in the EAC and 5-9-1 overall. Simply put: the Islanders need 9 points out a possible 10 or they will miss the playoffs for only the second time in 20 years.
Monday's games
The boys varsity and junior varsity basketball teams swept Bourne at the Sancy.
Steve Handy scored 23 points and slammed down three dunks to help the varsity squad sink the Canalmen 67-29 on senior day.
All 11 Vineyarders who played scored as M.V. raced out to a 9-0 lead in the first 100 seconds and never looked back.
Justin Mercier also shot in double figures with 11 points for M.V. who improved to 12-3.
The jayvees beat Bourne 63-46, paced by 28 points from Jack Roberts. Ryan Fisher scored 11 and Andrew Hakala had 10 points.
The varsity girls hockey team turned in another solid performance, but lost a 1-0 squeaker to host Cambridge Rindge and Latin/Somerville.
M.V. fared well in the fast-paced, physical contest, but just couldn't answer the Falcons' second period goal. Jaime Forend made 37 saves for the Vineyarders who return home to face Duxbury on Saturday at 2 pm.
Have a court? Charter School will travel
Every game has been a road game this year for the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School junior high interscholastic basketball players.
The Charter School players and coaches who traveled to Falmouth Academy on Monday. Front row (l to r) Hunter Wolff, David DaSilva, Cyrus Breeze. Middle Row: Tim Penicaud (athletic director and head coach), Colin Cameron, Liam Cosgrove, Tully McDonough, Miranda Tokarz, Avery Lazes, Diana Lozano (jayvee coach). Back: Peter Breeze (varsity coach). Click on photo to enlarge. Photo by Charlie CameronThe West Tisbury school has no court on campus and plays their home games at the Martha's Vineyard Boys and Girls Club in Edgartown. Practices are held at the Tisbury and West Tisbury School gymnasiums.
Varsity head coaches Tim Penicaud and Peter Breeze, along with jayvee coach Diana Lozano have been gracious and dedicated mentors throughout the season.
The Charter Chargers have varsity and junior varsity co-ed squads this year and enjoy enthusiastic support from parents, teachers, and students.
Monday, at the invitation of Falmouth Academy, the Charter teams traveled across Vineyard Sound to take on the Mariners and came away 49-27 winners.
They followed that up with a 39-32 victory over the Edgartown Eagles on Tuesday.
The regular season ends today and the Chargers will face Tisbury to try and claim the number three seed in the playoffs.
The Charter School community is grateful for the generosity of the Island schools and the Boys and Girls Club for the use of their gymnasiums and to the Island community for its continued support.
In other interscholastic action, the Oak Bluffs boys defeated Edgartown 48-19 last Thursday to finish the regular season at 6-2. The O.B. girls are 6-0.
Tayla Kuehne battles a Barnstable Red Raider for the puck in last week's jayvee game at M.V. Arena. Click on photo to enlarge.Jayvee hockey
The MVRHS girls team played their one and only home game of the season on January 27, losing to Barnstable, 5-2.
The boys closed out their home season on Sunday with a 4-1 loss to powerful division one Framingham.
MVRHS girls hockey auction
The MVRHS Girls Ice Hockey Booster Club will host its Miracle on Ice auction Saturday at the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs from 7 to 10 pm.
Suggested donation is $20. For more information, email www.mvgirlshockey@ gmail.com.
Youth Hockey
The Vineyard NVL junior high team led off a busy weekend of games by beating Stone Junior High 7-2 in Raynham Friday night.
Saturday at the M.V. Arena, Brian Fraser netted a hat trick to lead the Vineyard Cape and Islands League junior high team over Barnstable/Moran Junior High, 8-2. Sam Burke, Kyle Stobie, Nick Kent, Matt Davies, and Dorian Johnson also tallied for M.V.
Caleb Hallet was superb in goal.
The Vineyard Mites traveled to Nantucket and lost a pair to the Noreasters, 6-0 and 6-1.
Sunday, the Squirt B's overturned an early deficit with five unanswered goals to stun host Hetland, 6-3.
Back at the M.V. Arena, the Squirt C's swept the Barnstable Hurricanes out to sea, winning 6-2 and 7-3.
Hunter Ponte potted a hat trick in each game and added an assist. Wilson Slayton scored twice in game one and thrice in game two. A pair of Jacks - Garrett and Murray - scored the other Vineyard goals and had two assists each.
Layla Buckley had a pair of assists. Kylie Hatt and Cabot Thurber set up a goal apiece.
Cahol Robinson was the winning netminder.
The Peewee B's closed out the weekend with a 3-1 victory over Lower Cape at Orleans.
The Vineyard Mite B's and Peewee B's play this weekend in the Eric B. MacLean Memorial Tournament at the M.V. Arena. For a compete schedule, visit www.mvarena.com.
Travel basketball
The Vineyard 7th grade youth squad finished the Cape League regular season with a win and a loss this weekend.
Saturday, M.V. took an early lead and beat Nauset 41-32. Tim Roberts was the high scorer with 15 points.
Sunday, the Vineyard returned home and lost a thriller to Middleboro on a late free-throw, 50-49. Again, Roberts led the way with 11 points. Alex GordonBeck had 10.
M.V. (7-7) opens the playoffs against Bourne at Sandwich on Saturday.
On the courts
Top Island juniors Kent Leonard and Reid Yennie will play a tennis exhibition tonight at 5:30 at the Vineyard Youth Tennis Center's bubble as part of this weekend's VYT Round Robin Extravaganza fundraiser. A cocktail party will begin at 5:30, along with a silent auction.
Both players are competing for a slot on the Vineyard high school team and are ranked in the New England top 75.
For more information, call Scott Smith at 508-693-7762.
Yennie recently won the USTA 16 and Under singles tournament in Nashua, N.H. He was the top seed in the tournament and survived a grueling two-hour semi-final, advancing to defeat Jacob Criss of Winchester, 6-4, 6-1 for the title.
In other tennis news, the Vineyard Tennis Center will hold its Love at First Set tournament on Valentine's Day weekend to benefit Hospice of Martha's Vineyard. Play will be mixed doubles in a round robin format, held on February 13 and 14. Teams will be ranked by ability, with two or three tiers, depending on the number of teams that sign up. The best teams will duel in finals on Sunday.
Entry fee is $50 per person, which covers play, refreshments and prizes. To sign up, call Vineyard Tennis Center at 508-696-8000.
Table tennis
Bob O' Rourke of Edgartown outlasted Albert Lau of Oak Bluffs 11-6, 11-2, 6-11, 12-10, to win the Under 1,000 division of the Quincy Table Tennis Club open tournament in Quincy on Sunday.
Each player had won six best-of-five matches to reach the final.
Also, first-time competitor Alina Wen of Edgartown won nine matches in the unrated novice division.
The three Vineyard players are members of M.V. Table Tennis, a club that plays twice a week at the West Tisbury School.
Recreational hoops sign-up
Registration is open for third and fourth grade boys and girls recreational basketball leagues at the Boys and Girls Club in Edgartown.
Preseason clinics for the girls league will be held on February 11 and 18 from 5 to 6 pm. Boys clinics will be on February 9 and 16, also from 5 to 6 pm.
Due to limited enrollment, fifth- and sixth-grade girls already registered will be allowed to play with the younger players.
Girls games will be held on Thursday evenings from March 4 to April 15, while the boys will play on Friday evenings from March 5 to April 16. Times and practice schedules TBA.
Registration forms and more information are available at the M.V. Boys and Girls Club and online at www.mvbgclub.org/program. Coaches are still needed for both leagues.
RCBL
The Heat (5-2) defeated the Lakers (3-4) 93-80 in the first game of Monday's doubleheader at the M.V. Boys and Girls Club. Damon Mello (22 points) and Ryan Murtha (21) had the hot hands for the Heat.
D.J. Dolan (25 points) and Noah Hazelton (20) led the Lakers.
The Heat remained tied for first place with the Suns (5-2) who burned the Bulls (1-6) 103-72 in the nightcap.
Sterling Bishop (30 points), Matt Brown (29), and Tim Scott (28) paced the Suns.
Ryan Kurth scored 24 points to lead the Bulls.
