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Snowballs
take the
center court
By Ron P, Coderre
The order of the week was snow balls rather than basketballs as the weatherman played havoc with the hoop schedule creating a number of postponements. A couple of teams, Woodstock and Plainfield boys and girls, managed to squeak in games on Saturday.
The highlight of the abbreviated schedule was the Woodstock Academy girls posting their first victory under new head coach Willie Bousquet. The elation of the victory didn’t last too long as the team was beaten the next time it stepped on to the court.
The Plainfield girls two games mirrored the week Woodstock had, as the Lady Panthers split a pair of contests.
On the boys side of the ledger the Centaurs and Panthers both posted impressive victories.
‘Bousqueteers’ Finally Make the W Column
The Woodstock Academy girls picked up their first win of the season besting Griswold 41-30. Though the victory was very special to the young ladies and their fans, the way the contest started didn’t bode well for the winners.
The Lady Centaurs scored only one point in the first quarter as the Lady Wolverines took a 4-1 lead after eight minutes. Trailing 14-10 at halftime, Woodstock regrouped in the second half and rode a big fourth quarter, where it scored 21 points, to emerge with the 11 point victory.
Taylor Littell with 13 points and Galina Gruder with 11 paced a balanced attack for Woodstock as seven players made it into the scorebook.
On Saturday, after the snow was cleared from the roadways, the Acads hosted East Lyme but walked off the court disappointed as the Vikings handed them a 45-28 home court defeat. The “Bousqueteers” fell behind 11-3 in the initial stanza and never recouped as they couldn’t seem to get the offense in gear. Moving into 2014 Woodstock is 1-6 on the season.
Plainfield girls opened the week with a solid 58-50 win over Old Saybrook as four players were in double digits for the balanced Lady Panther offense. Julie Jordan with 13 points was the top point producer, followed by the Lorange sisters, Madeline and Adrienne with 12 points apiece and Alicia Cournoyer who had 10 markers.
A trip to Montville proved disastrous as the Panthers were beaten 38-25, dropping them to 5-2 overall and 1-2 in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division.
Woodstock Boys Continue Solid Play
Itching to get back on the hardwood, the Woodstock Academy boys proved that the erratic schedule caused by the weather wasn’t a deterrent to posting a victory. The hungry Centaurs pounced on the East Lyme Vikings early, jumping out to a 23-5 advantage after one period and carried a 33-12 lead into the locker room at intermission. The second half was all academic for coach Greg Smith’s charges as they rolled to a 54-32 victory.
Woodstock was paced by last season’s ECC Player of the Year Chris Lowry who posted a game high 15 points. Big John McGinn, who’s been a monster on the backboards all season, went on the offensive as he tallied 13 points. Woodstock is 5-1 early in the season and 1-1 in the rugged ECC Large Division as it approaches the meat of the L Division schedule in the next five weeks.
Plainfield “put it all together” as the Panthers put on a show for the home folks beating Montville 81-61. After a close first half in which the Panthers took a slim five-point margin to the locker room they put the game away in the final stanza, outscoring the Indians 23-9 in the last eight minutes.
Plainfield’s scoring machine Ryan Pambuku led the way for coach Bob Arremony’s team with 28 points including 12 from the charity stripe. Three other Plainfield players reached double figures as Teaque Carrigan had 13, Will Robinson 10 and Corey Anderson 12. The win leveled Plainfield’s record at 2-2 and 1-1 in the ECC Medium Division.