Here is a look at the second week of scheduled games for Old Rochester Regional High School winter athletics.
Boys’ Basketball: After losing several key players to graduation, many questions arose as to how good the Bulldogs could be with only one returning varsity starter. The Bulldogs responded loudly with two huge opening wins against SCC competitors Case and Apponequet this week. In their season opener against Case, the Bulldogs won in a massive 94-45 victory, taking a 20-0 lead in the first five minutes and never looking back. Captain Jordan Menard led the Bulldogs offensively with 22 points, while freshman phenom Noah Fernandes impressed by scoring fifteen points while also recording several assists and steals. The starting five, which include Menard, Fernandes, Ryan Beatty, and Evan and Will Santos, worked remarkably well together, a fact they further proved in a 69-50 win over Apponequet. If the Bulldogs can keep up the momentum and continue to play off each other’s strengths, they have a legitimate chance of capturing the SCC title for the first time in over a decade.
Girls’ Basketball: The Lady Bulldogs had a fairly strong week following their season opening victory against New Bedford. The girls defeated Case 29-24 thanks to a strong offensive performance by sophomore Olivia Labbe, who led the team offensively with 13 points. However, the girls took a small step back with a 56-34 loss to Apponequet later in the week, despite a phenomenal third quarter and a strong effort by Kaleigh Goulart, who led the team with 10 points.
Boys’ Swimming: The boys’ swim team suffered their first loss of the season this week to SCC powerhouse Apponequet, 110-33. The Bulldogs only captured a win in one event, the 100-breaststroke, thanks to Nathan Wentworth, whose time was 1:24.92. The loss also puts the Bulldogs at a 0-1 record for the conference.
Girls’ Swimming: Like the boys’ swim team, the Lady Bulldogs also suffered their first loss of the season against Apponequet, falling with a score of 91-79. Cate Feldkamp and Julianne Mariner each won events for the Lady Bulldogs: Feldkamp in the 200-freestyle (2:19.11) and Mariner in the 100-breaststroke (1:26.90). Both the boys’ and girls’ swim teams will compete in the Middleboro Invitational at Middleboro High School on December 29.
Boys’ Track: Both the boys’ and girls’ track teams competed in the annual SCC Holiday Relays this week and gathered some excellent results. The boys took first in the team standings with 79 points, with wins in five of nine events. Kevin Saccone and Ben Rounseville had great days for the Bulldogs, as they each took part in three winning relays: the high jump relay (with Will Hopkins), the shuttle hurdle relay (with Eli Spevack and Andrew Bischel), and the 4×2 lap relay (with Hopkins and Hunter Cooney). The boys’ next regular season meet will be against Case, GNB Voc-Tech, and Bourne on December 31.
Girls’ Track: The Lady Bulldogs also took home the team title at the SCC Holiday Relays, winning with a dominant 107 points. The girls’ distance team really shined through, with Rachel Scheub, Maddie Meyer, Nina Bourgeois, and Nicole Mattson capturing the distance medley. Scheub, Bourgeois, and Meyer would also team up with Haily Saccone to take first in the other distance event, the 4×800 relay, where a B team for the Lady Bulldogs also took third. The Lady Bulldogs won six of the nine events offered, showing overall depth in multiple events.
Ice Hockey: After a tough season-opening loss to Somerset-Berkeley, the ORR/Fairhaven ice hockey team rebounded nicely with a 3-2 win over out-of-conference Sandwich. The Bulldogs had a rough start and were down 2-0 in the second period, but thanks to key goals from Jeremy Lawton (2) and Sam Henry, the Bulldogs managed to shoot past Sandwich and clinch the victory. Defensively, the Bulldogs played strongly, with goalie Chris Nadeau making 25 saves in net.
Below are the overall winter team records, followed by the conference records in wins, losses, and ties as of December 21.
Boys’ Basketball: (2-0-0) (2-0-0); Girls’ Basketball: (2-1-0) (1-1-0); 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