Here is a look at the third week of scheduled games for Old Rochester Regional winter athletics.
Boys’ Basketball: The Bulldogs had a fantastic week, defeating two of their biggest conference rivals in exciting games. After starting the week out with an 84-58 victory over GNB Voc-Tech, the Bulldogs faced what will likely be their biggest competition of the season – the perennially tough Wareham Vikings. Wareham got out to an early first quarter lead, and it looked for a moment as if the game would be a blowout. However, thanks to senior Ryan Beatty, the Bulldogs went on a nine-point run to take a three-point lead at the start of the second quarter. The game remained in back-and-forth gridlock until the third quarter, when Beatty hit a jump shot to put ORR ahead 30-29. The Bulldogs never looked back and ended up defeating the Vikings 53-50. Will Santos played very well, scoring a career-high 23 points. Seniors Beatty and Jordan Menard joined him in double-digits, recording 10 and 11 points, respectively.
Girls’ Basketball: The Lady Bulldogs started their week off with a tough 51-25 loss to GNB Voc-Tech, but managed to end the week on a high note in a thrilling 38-37 victory over Wareham. Going into the fourth quarter, the Lady Bulldogs had a slight 29-27 lead over Wareham. With less than two minutes remaining, the teams repeatedly traded the lead until, with only 11 seconds left and Wareham up 37-36, ORR’s Kaleigh Goulart was fouled. In a clutch showing, Goulart sank both of her free throws to put the Lady Bulldogs up and secure the conference win. Goulart would finish with 17 points on the night and would be the only ORR player to reach double digits. The girls’ record is now 3-2.
Boys’ Track: This week, a few of the Bulldogs took part in the statewide Boston Holiday Challenge at the Reggie Lewis Center, and several athletes showed impressive results among the top runners in the state. Kevin Saccone placed fourth overall in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.87 seconds, while teammate Ben Rounseville placed 21st overall in 8.83 seconds. Senior Kyle Sherman placed 24th in the 600-meter dash, running a strong 1:32. Hunter Cooney placed 35th out of 90 runners in the 300-meter dash, finishing in a quick 39.41 seconds. The Bulldogs’ next meet is on Wednesday, December 31 against Case, Bourne, and GNB Voc-Tech at GNB Voc-Tech at 9:30 am.
Girls’ Track: The girls’ track team also showed several impressive performances at the Boston Holiday Challenge this week. Zoe Smith and Elexus Afonso shined on the day, as they placed fifth and sixth respectively in the women’s pentathlon, which has athletes compete in high jump, long jump, an 800-meter run, shot-put, and the 55-meter hurdles for an overall score. Arden Goguen also did well in the meet, placing seventh in the 55-meter dash in 7.79 seconds. Nina Bourgeois set a personal best in the 1000-meter run, where she placed 25th in 3:18. The Lady Bulldogs will also be competing on New Year’s Eve at GNB Voc-Tech at 9:30 am.
Below are the overall winter team records, followed by the conference records in wins, losses, and ties as of December 29.
Boys’ Basketball: (4-0-0) (4-0-0); Girls’ Basketball: (3-2-0) (2-2-0); Boys’ Track: (2-0-0) (2-0-0); Girls’ Track: (2-0-0) (2-0-0); Boys’ Swimming: (1-1-0) (0-1-0); Girls’ Swimming: (1-1-0) (0-1-0); Hockey: (1-1-0) (0-0-0).
By Michael Kassabian
