Every high school is dealing with adversity as it navigates the winter season through the COVID-19 pandemic so, as usual, Old Rochester boys basketball head coach Steve Carvalho is not interested in excuses when it comes to the Bulldogs’ recent scheduling flux.
After the first game of the season was postponed, Old Rochester was able to get in a pair of games before yet another postponement. The second pause in the action resulted in a week between games, forcing the Bulldogs to get in all of the preparation for their meeting with South Coast Conference rival Wareham at practice.
“Our philosophy was to hammer them down low with our size,” Carvalho said when reflecting on the 60-50 loss to the Vikings. “They made it tough on us. We had the size advantage and we did out-rebound them slightly, but not as much as I wanted to. [It was] one of those things where I think some of the [Vikings’] athleticism and speed got to us a little.”
From there, the Bulldogs lost 76-32 to 2021’s force of the SCC, Dighton-Rehoboth, on Friday, then lost again two days later to Apponequet, 63-52.
With Sawyer Fox unavailable, Liam Geraghty, Steve Morrell, and Alex Wright have helped manage the load on the offensive end. Wright was Old Rochester’s lone player to finish in double figures (12 points) against Dighton-Rehoboth, while Geraghty (14) and Morrell (13) led the charge against the Lakers. Morrell also finished a rebound shy of a double-double in Sunday’s loss, Old Rochester’s fourth of the season.
And things are not slowing down for the Bulldogs. After a Tuesday meeting with Bourne, Old Rochester visits Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech on Friday, January 29, then hosts Seekonk on Sunday, January 31, before closing out the regular season against Fairhaven on Tuesday, February 2.
“The combination of conditioning, playing with masks, developing kids, shorter window in preparation for other teams— we’re all in the same boat as the other teams,” Carvalho said. “[I] kind of had to make some adjustments as a coach when it comes to maybe not putting as much (strategy) in due to personnel, like my diamond press and things like that. We’re trying to be as good as possible in those phases of the game.”
Girls Basketball
Old Rochester’s games against Wareham and Dighton-Rehoboth were postponed so the Bulldogs’ record did not change ahead of their Tuesday trip to Bourne, which marks the start of a three-game stretch over five days. The Bulldogs will host GNB Voc-Tech on Friday, January 29, and Dighton-Rehoboth on Sunday, January 31.
Boys Ice Hockey
Old Rochester is in the midst of a skid, having lost 2-1 to Dighton-Rehoboth/Seekonk and 7-1 at the hands of Dartmouth.
Thomas Galavotti was tough in net against Dighton-Rehoboth/Seekonk, finishing with 32 saves, but the Bulldogs only found the back of the net once. Ben DeMoranville scored Old Rochester’s only goal against Dighton-Rehoboth/Seekonk. He was assisted by Michel Tobin and Luke Long. Tobin had another assist in Old Rochester’s loss to Dartmouth, teaming up with Ben Austin to help Chris Gauvin score.
After their Wednesday game against Bourne at Gallo Ice Arena, the Bulldogs head back to Gallo to host GNB Voc-Tech on Saturday, January 30, at 8:00 pm.
Sports Roundup
By Nick Friar