Blue pulls out win
Late in the second half, Kaleb Thornton was clutching his knees, looking for air.
“(Thetford Academy) was a really tough team,” the Woodstock Academy Blue prep basketball team point guard admitted after his team was tested Nov. 4.
Fortunately, the Centaurs pulled out an 83-76 win over the Thetford Academy (Quebec, Canada) Gold squad in the season-opening Woodstock Academy Invitational tournament at the Alumni Fieldhouse.
“I have to give it up to them. I haven’t had that type of pressure in a while, but we came out with the win and that’s all that matters,” Thornton added.
The win raised the Centaurs record to 2-0.
“That’s good, winning is what matters, but we have to build on this because we know that effort isn’t going to get us a championship ring. We have to be better and I think we will,” Thornton said.
The Centaurs jumped out to the early 8-0 lead when Darweshi Hunter scored five of his 10 points in the first 2 minutes, 11 seconds.
The lead would rise to 11, 17-6, following an Isaiah Jones 3-pointer.
But Thetford Gold didn’t go away and got it back to nine in the closing minutes of the first half before a 7-0 Woodstock Academy run, highlighted by a Thornton (20 points) 3-pointer, made it 46-30 at the break.
That double-digit lead held until just 5:17 was left in the game.
Thetford Academy cut it to eight, 71-63, on a basket by Laouis Msambaya (22 points).
Five straight points by the Centaurs’ Dyson Frank (9 points) re-established the double-digit lead, but only briefly as Thetford roared back with a 10-2 run to cut it to five, 78-73, with 59 seconds left.
“I think we give an excellent effort, but when we get tired on defense, we start to slack and teams get easy buckets. We have to stop those easy buckets and we will be a lot more successful,” Thornton said.
Thetford was forced to foul and Thornton and Siddiq Canty (11 points) both hit a pair of free throws to salt the victory away.
It was much easier in the season opener for the Blue squad Nov. 3 when it handed the Thetford Academy Black squad an 83-49 defeat.
“It was really nice,” forward Jeff Planutis said of finally getting to play a game that had meaning. “We’ve been going against each other for the past two months that I’ve been here. So, it’s fun going against someone else for a change.”
Hunter scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half while Ty Mosley scored all eight of his points and Frank eight of his 10 as the Centaurs broke out to a 47-22 lead by the half.
The Centaurs maintained that comfortable lead and even extended it in the second half with a combination of good offense, but more importantly, tenacious defense.
“We all try to play our best defense because that’s the thing here. If you’re not playing ‘D’, you are taken right out and everybody wants to play and do their thing. You have to take playing tough defense to heart,” Planutis said.
Planutis finished with 11 points and Canty added 10.
The Centaurs Blue squad next plays in the Power 5 Conference Tip Off Tournament at Woodstock Academy at 6 p.m. Nov. 10 and 10 a.m. Nov. 11.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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Gold tough to stop
There was one lesson that opponents learned from the first two games of the season played by the Woodstock Academy Gold boys’ prep basketball squad over the weekend.
The Gold team is going to be very difficult to stop.
The Centaurs cleared the century mark twice in the Woodstock Academy Invitational. They hammered the Olympus Prep Grey squad from Williamstown, N.J., Nov. 3, 129-60. The Centaurs followed that up with a 111-67 win over the Olympus Prep Red squad Nov. 4.
There were distinct differences between the first two regular season games, however.
The Centaurs came out on fire against the Olympus Grey squad in the opener; they had to build that fire Nov. 3.
“We came out extremely sluggish in the first half. The first group did not have the energy that we needed,” said 6-foot, 9-inch center Tre Mitchell.
It was not a new event, according to Mitchell.
The Centaurs also got off a slow start in a game in the preseason PJN Classic tournament, with the spark being provided by the first group off the bench.
“That’s why we have 15 guys because, sometimes, guys don’t show up and other guys come in and get things going for us,” Mitchell said.
It took to the middle of the first half before the Centaurs built a 10-point lead, 23-13, on a basket by Darion Jordan Thomas (10 points).
The Centaurs built that lead to lead to as many as 17 points.
“The second group came in and started getting things going for us. Everything started to pick up from there,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell was 7-for-8 from the line and scored 14 of his 22 points in the first half which ended with the Centaurs enjoying a 45-31 lead.
Mitchell, who is being recruited by a host of major Division I schools, had a slow start to the season, scoring only eight points in the win Nov. 3.
He used a little needling by Olympus Prep to get the fire started on Sunday.
“I felt a lot better than (Saturday). My performance from the free throw line (2-for-6), and everything beyond that (Saturday), but (Olympus Prep) started talking to me (Sunday) and I just went from there,” Mitchell said.
The Centaurs’ center got the first basket of the second half which ignited a 15-4 run for Woodstock Academy that increased the lead to 25, 60-35.
UMass-bound Preston Santos (12 points) and Trey Anderson each had crowd-pleasing dunks in the early run.
Anderson, a 6-7 native of San Diego, was a key in the easy Nov. 3.
He celebrated his birthday with a 15-point effort in the easy win over the Olympus Grey squad.
“We came out ready to play,” Anderson said.
The Centaurs scored 41 of the first 50 points and led at the half, 74-33.
“That’s what we practice. We get up a lot of shots,
Woodstock Academy hit 15 3-pointers in the first half alone and finished with 23.
Anderson had four of those.
“That’s what we’re used to,” Anderson said.
Anderson said he has already received some benefits of playing at Woodstock Academy.
“I’m getting used to playing better talented, stronger, bigger guys. I’m used to it now,” Anderson said.
Anderson was only one of seven players in double figures for the Gold in the opening win.
Matt Cross, who had 4 3-pointers as well, also scored 15 with Danny Dade, who played for the Blue squad a year ago, chipping in 14.
Both Romar Reid and Jacob Toppin scored 12 each for the Centaurs.
“It was a pretty good start for us,” Mitchell said of the 2-0 record. “We put over 100 points in both games. We hit 100 with like 10 minutes left in the game (Saturday) which is crazy. These guys are coming to compete. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to do what they have to, to get a scholarship.”

Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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Windham
hands Academy
football loss
Natanael Barbosa Torres is the all-time leading rusher at Windham High School.
He has gained over 4,000 yards in his high school career.
The Woodstock Academy Centaurs found out how he has accomplished that Nov. 1.
Barbosa Torres ran over the Centaurs, gaining 245 yards in 13 carries and scoring five times to lead the Whippets to a 47-0 victory.
“He is a talented runner,” Woodstock Academy coach Sean Saucier said of the Windham senior. “We knew he was big and strong and we saw how fast he was, too. He created some problems for us.”
The Centaurs (1-7) didn’t need any more problems.
They went into the contest shorthanded, missing two starting offensive linemen and two defensive backs for various reasons.
“We put some kids in there that had to step up and they did what they could,” Saucier said.
The Whippets scored on all but one of their possessions in the first half.
Barbosa showed off his strength when he scored on short runs of 3 and 2 yards in the first quarter to give the Whippets a 12-0 lead.
His speed was on display in the second quarter when he added touchdowns of 24, 76, and 32 yards. On the 76-yard rumble, Barbosa Torres outran Woodstock Academy’s Nick Bedard, one of the fastest Centaurs on the field.
Issiah English (6 carries, 101 yards) had the other first half touchdown on a 62-yard gallop late in the second quarter.
Barbosa finished up the scoring for Windham (5-2) with a 20-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
It was the third win in a row for the Whippets.
The Centaurs didn’t get out of their end of the field in the first half and had only 38 yards rushing.
That changed a little in the second half when the Centaurs did get into Windham territory on a 25-yard pass from Derek Thompson (6-for-14 passing, 43 yards) to Caleb Feen that accounted for 43 yards.
The Centaurs were forced to punt but pinned the Whippets inside their own 10.
Windham couldn’t escape and a shanked punt gave the Centaurs the ball on the Windham 10.
Woodstock Academy got down to the 1-yard line, but on 4th-and-goal, Thompson was stopped by the Windham defense on the quarterback sneak.
“I thought Derek was going to get it in there, he was close,” Saucier said. “There were a couple of sparks in the second half that I appreciated, but overall, we didn’t have it.”
The Centaurs play their final home game of the season at 1 p.m. Nov. 10 against the Cromwell-Portland cooperative at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
Cromwell-Portland comes in with a 7-1 record.
“They’re having a great season. We’re studying their film, take a look at it, come up with a game plan and you never know. It’s Senior Day so we’re trying to make this the best week possible for the seniors,” Saucier said.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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