Sports 01-27-2011

LeBlanc’s tally lifts Vikings past Swampscott, 2-1

The Winthrop High hockey team has been on a roll of late and they kept the good times rollin’ Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 victory at Swampscott.

The 2011 Winthrop High girls varsity basketball team, led by head coach Ignacio Oyola, is pictured above before a game.

“The game was a lot closer than we would have liked,” said WHS head coach Dale Dunbar. “We had plenty of chances to break the game open, but couldn’t seem to find the net, whereas in other games we can score in bunches,” he added,referencing his squad’s 8-1 victory over Lynn just two games previously.

Nick Clewer, assisted by Jake Rand, gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the opening period, but Swampscott deadlocked the contest with a marker in the middle period. It took until halfway through the third stanza before Winthrop forged ahead thanks to a lamplighter by Chris LeBlanc, assisted by Joe Scarfo.

The defense and goalie Stephen Waites did the rest, with Waites making some big stops which preserved the victory.

The Vikings now sport a fine 7-2-3 record and are 4-2-2 in the Northeastern Conference. They host Salem Saturday at 4:00 at Larsen and entertain Revere next Wednesday at 6:10.

Boys basketball team wins two more

The Winthrop High boys basketball team took a brief respite from the rigors of their Northeastern Conference schedule with non league contests this past week that provided not only a pair of easy victories, but also officially clinched a berth in the post season state tourney.

Monday’s 68-44 triumph over St. Clement’s Academy was a runaway from the outset as Winthrop sprinted to a 20-3 advantage after one period. Anthony Hatzisavas came through with a big time game as the big guy pumped in 15 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for a nifty double-double.

Michael Griffin hit for double figure with 13 points. Also making nice contributions on the point sheet were J.P. Doherty with nine, Quinton Dale with right, Joe D’Amore with seven, Taj Generazzo with six, and Ervin DeJesus with five.

The triumph ensured Winthrop of at least a .500 record against the Division 4 opponents on its schedule and thereby a berth in the state tourney.

Tuesday’s encounter with Innovative Charter School gave WHS head coach Dave Brown a chance to give his hard working Vikings who normally do not see a lot of action a chance to shine in the spotlight.

Taking full advantage of the opportunity was Jonathan Spinazzola, who poured in 30 points and hauled in 16 rebounds to pace a 74-20 Winthrop victory. Maar Devic hit for nine points, Charles Butler chipped in eight, Tory Uwagboe added six, and Joe Glufling pitched in five in the rout.

Winthrop, which now stands at 8-4 on the season, will host Lynn English in a big Northeastern Conference matchup Friday evening.

Next week Brown and his crew will play at Revere Monday in a makeup game and then at Beverly on Wednesday in a contest to be played at Salem High School.

Track girls run past English, 60-21

The Winthrop High girls track team rolled to a runaway victory by a 60-21 margin over Lynn English last week.

Seven Lady Vikings won their individual events as did the 4 x 400 relay team. First place finishers for Winthrop were: Julia Wallace with a high jump of 4-8; Ashley Jurovich with a toss of 26-3 in the shotput; Katie Cochrane in the 45 yard high hurdles in 7.5; Haley Benson in the 600 in 1:45.3; Jordan Griffiths in the 1000 in 3:39.9; Corey Chavis in the mile in 6:39.8; and Kaitlyn Hersey in the two mile in 13:47.2.

The 4 x 400 quartet won their race in 5:06 compared to English’s clocking of 5:16.

Second place efforts were turned in by: Katherine Hetherton with a leap of 4-2 in the high jump; Jessica Dowson in the 45 hurdles in 7.7; Christina Russo in the 45 yard dash in 6.1; Carly O’Keefe in the 300 in 48.4.; and Amy Sena in the 1000 in 3:30.5.

Adding single points to the Winthrop scoresheet with third place performances were:

Elizabeth Anderson with a shotput throw of 23-5; Kayla Aceto in the 45 hurdles in 7.9 to complete a Winthrop sweep in that event; Althea Lassanah in the 300 in 48.9; Kristen Lanza in the 600 in 1:58.5; and Amanda Hersey in the mile in 7:12.

Ekidat top high jumper for the Vikings

Jordan Ekidat took home first place in the high jump, as he has done for most of the season, for the Winthrop High boys track team in their meet last week with Lynn English.

Jordan cleared the bar at 5-8 to beat his English competitor, who leapt 5-6.

Ekidat also earned a third place point for the Vikings with a clocking of 5.6 seconds in the 45 yard dash. Also scoring points for Winthrop were Robert Pino with a third in the 45 yard hurdles in 8.1; Justin Casilla with a second in the 300 dash in 40.8; and Pat Brogan with a run of 12:30 in the two mile.

Revere too much for Lady Vikings

The Winthrop High girls basketball team took on the top team in the Northeastern Conference, Revere, Tuesday evening in a makeup of last week’s snowed out contest.

The Lady Vikings put up a good fight through the first half, but a relentless Lady Patriot defense after the intermission turned the contest into a 71-34 triumph for Revere.

“Revere is by far the best team in the league,” said WHS head coach Ignacio Oyola. “We contained them fairly well in the first half, but they have a lot of offensive weapons and they showed why they’re an unbeaten team.”

Offensively Winthrop had a lot of good scoring chances in the opening half against Revere’s 1-3-1 zone defense, with Temison Meggison leading the way with 11 of her team high 13 points in the first two periods.

Angelina Favaloro ended up with six points on the night, followed by Johnna Fisher and Rachel Delsolio with five apiece, and Theresa Jones and Poli Tsiotis with two each.

Alyssa Mackey, Winthrop’s point guard, returned to action for the first time since suffering a knee injury and saw limited duty. “Alyssa will be taking it slowly,” said Oyola, “and hopefully we’ll have her back full time shortly.”

Oyola and his Lady Viking hoopsters travel to Hull tonight (Thursday) and to Lynn English Friday. They host Beverly next Tuesday.

Hockey girls play Saturday

The Winthrop Lady Bulldog hockey team, which sports a 9-1 record after their 5-0 shutout of Wilmington Saturday, had their big matchup with top ranked St. Mary’s of Lynn (9-0-2) last night (Wednesday) as the Sun Transcript was going to press.

Coach Anthony Martucci and his crew will host Shrewsbury at 7:20 on Saturday at Larsen Rink.

Gymnastics team competes in tri meet

The Winthrop High gymnastics team competed in a tri meet with Masconomet and Danvers this past week. The final results showed Danvers with 136.7 points, Masco with135.8, and Winthrop with 126.9.

Top performers for Winthrop were Capt. Jessica Fahey leading the way with a gutsy performance, though she was competing hurt. “Jessica had to sit out a few practices with a very sore back” said WHS head coach Pete Gobiel. “But she knows that this year with a small team, we can’t afford people to miss a meet.”

Jessica competed on all four events, scoring an 8.1 on the vault, 8.4 on bars, 7.8 on beam, and 8.15 on the floor exercise “It was one of her best meets of the season,” said Gobiel.

Capt Danika Dell’Anno scored two first places for the Vikings on the floor and uneven bars with scores of 8.3 and 8.85.

Samantha Amico had one of her highest scores on the vault with a 7.7. She also scored a 7.8 on the beam and an 8.0 on the floor exercise.

Marissa Perrotta had a great meet, scoring an 8.2 on the balance beam to take first place for the Vikings in that event.  Brandi Holland had one of her highest bar scores with a 7.8.

Gobiel also noted the fine performances of Carolyn Heatherton and Caitlyn Page. “Both have been doing a fantastic job in their first year with the program,” said Gobiel. “They’ve shown Coach Melissa Wiles that they are the future backbone of the team. Without them the season would have been a long one. They work hard at practice and it’s paying off in the meets.”

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