This week, both the boys’ and girls’ track teams fielded state champion pentathlon units at the Reggie Lewis Center. Juniors Will Hopkins, Danny Renwick, and Eli Spevack won the boys’ championship, while sophomore Madisen Martin and seniors Morgan Middleton and Zoe Smith were victorious for the girls. In addition, the boys’ basketball team lost a heartbreaking game to Bishop Stang, and the girls’ team beat New Bedford High in a blowout.
Boys’ Basketball: The Bulldogs’ lone game this week was against Bishop Stang at home on Wednesday night. The game was hotly anticipated after Stang beat the ‘Dogs 78-51 at their sold-out gym on February 12. This game brought high school hoop fans from all over the area out in droves, and it was well worth the wait. ORR kept things tight in the first quarter, winding up down 16-15 at the end of the first eight minutes. Stang pulled away in the second, and wound up leading 41-24 at the half. They were up by as much as 20 at one point. In the third quarter, some big defensive plays from junior Jacob Cafarella and senior Evan Santos kept ORR in the game, and Stang’s lead was cut to nine by the end of the third. The Bulldogs kept on rolling in the fourth and ended up tying the game at 62 to force overtime. Stang exploded in the second half of OT, however, going on a 15-4 run, and eventually winning 80-69 in what turned out to be a more exciting game than the teams’ first meeting. Junior Matt Valles led the Bulldogs with 21 points, and support came from Santos (14) and junior Russell Noonan (12). On Thursday, the guys will play Carver at home in the first round of the state championship tournament.
Girls’ Basketball: The Lady Bulldogs had a pair of non-conference road games this week, starting off on Monday at Bishop Stang. They had a tough go of things, losing 61-20. They were down 17-2 after the first quarter, so the game wasn’t ever that close. Junior Sophie Church (9) and freshman Maddie Demanche (5) led Lady Bulldog scorers. On Wednesday, the team traveled to New Bedford High. Once again, the girls defeated the Lady Whalers, despite falling behind 8-0 in the first quarter. Church scored 18 and Demanche added 10, each with a pair of 3-pointers, as the girls roared back to win 46-23 in their final regular-season game. Congrats to the girls’ basketball team for working together and showing great improvement throughout the season. They look to be back with a vengeance next year as they aim to qualify for the state tournament.
Boys’ Track: On Wednesday night, the Bulldogs utilized a trio of juniors – Danny Renwick, Eli Spevack, and Will Hopkins – to win the State Pentathlon championship. Composed of the 55m hurdles, 1000m, high jump, long jump, and shot put, Renwick took third individually, with Hopkins coming in 9th and Spevack 20th. Renwick scored 3,236 points, Hopkins brought in 2,975, and Spevack added 2,798 for a total of 9,009. On Sunday, Renwick was the lone Bulldog representative at the New England meet at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Renwick participated in the high jump but didn’t get past the opening height of 6-1.
Girls’ Track: On Tuesday night, sophomore Madisen Martin and seniors Zoe Smith and Morgan Middleton participated in the State Pentathlon Meet at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston where they took first place. Martin scored 2,143 points, Middleton scored 2,810, and Smith scored 2,857, for a team score of 7,810. The pentathlon is composed of the long jump, high jump, shot put, 55m hurdles, and 800m.
Boys’ Ice Hockey: The boys will play Dover-Sherborn on Tuesday at home (The Travis Roy Rink at Tabor Academy) in the first round of the state tournament.
Below are the overall winter team records, followed by the conference records in wins, losses, and ties as of February 28.
Boys’ Basketball: (16-4-0)(15-1-0); Girls’ Basketball: (8-12-0)(6-9-0); Boys’ Track: (8-1-0)(8-1-0); Girls’ Track: (9-0-0)(9-0-0); Boys’ Swimming: (0-8-0)(0-6-0); Girls’ Swimming: (3-5-0)(1-5-0); Boys’ Ice Hockey: (14-4-4)(9-0-1); Girls’ Ice Hockey: (3-16-0)(3-14-0).
By Patrick Briand