In case you missed Jake Jason dominate for Old Colony boys’ basketball last year, don’t worry – there’s still time to catch the first male 1,000-point scorer in program history.
Actually, you still have two seasons left to watch the 2016-2017 Mayflower Athletic Conference Small Vocational Division Player of the Year, who averaged 24.4 per game last year, helping him reach 1,073 points.
Between setting the school single-game record with 45 points and the regular season record with 548 total points, he’s more than reason enough to catch the Cougars this year.
The 6-foot-3 Cougar will fill in wherever he’s needed on the floor, according to Old Colony coach Matt Trahan. He’ll have senior Ben Maurer working alongside again, filling in at the three or four position. Though Maurer is tall like Jason with a bigger build, the forward poses a threat from downtown on a nightly basis.
The major adjustment comes at the guard position with the loss of Paul Soucy to graduation. A Mayflower Small Vocational Division All Star like Maurer, Soucy’s high energy helped Old Colony dictate the tempo of the game and was a headache on defense, too.
But Trahan has another player ready to help fill that role, someone who provided a spark off the bench for the 2016-2017 Mayflower Small Vocational champions – Paul Soucy’s brother, Zach Soucy.
Though he wasn’t quite as refined as his brother last season, Zach has had the offseason to improve on his craft in hopes of having a greater role this year.
“Zach’s definitely going to have a great year,” Trahan said. “You can see some of the finer points have come along for him.”
In a time where teams are constantly changing divisions and conferences are growing or shrinking or disbanding or popping up, the Cougars have only one change to their schedule for 2017-2018 – dropping Coyle-Cassidy from the list.
While they don’t seem to be looking too far ahead, Old Colony has two larger goals in mind this year: winning a vocational championship and improving from last year’s run in the state tournament.
The Cougars lost 66-60 to Nashoba Valley Tech in last year’s Vocational Championship, moved on to win two games in the Division 4 South Sectional Tournament over Sturgis West (71-56), then on to Bishop Connolly (65-59) before ultimately falling to Monomy 67-47 in the quarter finals.
Where the boys are looking to capture the State Vocational title this year, the girls look to defend it. Led once again by Craig Lincoln, Old Colony will have to go on without Steph Gagne, who averaged 10.3 points per game and was named a Mayflower All-Star and Taylor Caroll, another league All-Star.
Abby Cioper, a senior guard and 2016-2017 Mayflower All-Star, is back for her final campaign after missing eight games last year due to a knee injury.
Old Rochester Regional
ORR girls’ basketball started its season on the road Friday against a non-league opponent to warm up for South Coast Conference play. The Bulldogs were on the wrong end of a 45-22 game, losing the season opener to Durfee.
Old Rochester’s leading scorer on the night was Cassidy Yeomans, who finished with 10. Although scoring wasn’t easy to come by, the Bulldog freshman was able to find some space against the opponent, a bright sign of not only what’s to come the rest of the season, but maybe what’s in store for the Bulldogs’ future.
Tabor Academy
Tabor boys’ ice hockey squeaked one out on the road against the Noble and Greenough School, winning 6-5. The Seawolves had six goals from six different players, with the first two coming from Cam Barbagallo and Kosta Sotiropoulos, both scoring for the first time this season. Tabor’s lone goal in the second period was scored by Eric Pedro on a power play in the second period. Morgan Winters and Peter Lombardi each scored a goal, tying the game at 5-5 in the third and final period. That would force overtime, which was when Brad Tripp corralled a rebound on a shot by Lombardi and scorched one past Noble and Greenough’s goalie, giving the Seawolves the 6-5 victory.
Tabor girls’ ice hockey has yet to lose this year, winning its fourth game in a row, 6-2 over the Rivers School. To this point, the Seawolves have only allowed four goals and scored 19.
High School Sports Update
By Nick Friar