Update

 

We all know that covid has made so many things in everyday life tougher and different.  High school sports is no exception.  Twice last week I was approached about the various Whitman Hanson teams who are not shaking hands after games and matches.  This is not because we have bad sportsmanship or are upset that we lost a game. The reason for this is because the MIAA, our governing body, sent us a directive telling every school in the state that they may not shake hands after games.  While we may not agree with this policy, as a member school we are required to follow it.  The good news is that word has leaked out that this policy is being revisited and could change very soon.  Until then, know that we would very much like to continue the tradition of a post game handshake but cannot until the rules change.

 

Now to our weekly update…..

 

The girls basketball team took a major step toward our first league title since 2009 Friday night by beating Hingham at home, 52-37 to take a one game lead in the race for the championship.  Senior captain Abby Martin fueled the Panthers pouring in a game high 19 points and pulling down 8 rebounds. Fellow senior Katelyn Cirillo hit two clutch three pointers in the 4th quarter to ice the game. The Panthers have now won 11 games in a row and will host Quincy Tuesday night.

 

The Girls Track and Field team competed in the Division 3 Relay Meet at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center Friday evening.  Standout performances included the 4 x 800 Meter team of Erin Kelly, Anna Flynn, Sarah Boulger and Myah Kamperides which finished 2nd overall in 10:35.76 to qualify for a divisional meet berth.  The 4 x 50 Shuttle Hurdle team of Leila Keaney, Katelyn Bagley, Sydney Pires and April Keyes posted a time of 33.25 seconds to take 4th place in the event.  Other notable performances included a 7th place finish in the Distance Medley race run by Anna Flynn, April Keyes, Sarah Boulger and Myah Kamperides with a time of 13:56, and an 8th place finish in the Long Jump behind April Keyes, Sydney Pires, and Katelyn Bagley all of whom had outstanding efforts.  Overall, the Girls team placed 11th among Division 3 entries from across the State.

 

The boys track and field team participated in the Division 3 relays Friday and did very well. The 4 x 200 relay team Jacob Donovan, Chase Baker, Noah Roberts and Jake Caterer ran their fastest time of the year 1:38.3 placing 6th and that time qualified them for the Division 3 State Meet. The boys long jump team of Jake Caterer , Jake Cappeletti and Chase Baker finished as the 4th best team. The 4x 400 team of Bobby Silva, Anthony Pires, Will Mulligan and Ryan Crowley improved their season best time of 4:04.59. This is the most exciting meet of the year and the Panther Boys did great.

 

The WH Varsity Gymnastics team had another great meet Friday.  Even with 1/4 of their team out sick and a substitute coach, these girls still put up one of their highest team scores of the season. And recorded their highest team Vault score with a 33.25! HUGE thanks to softball coach Jordan McDermott for stepping in and Pembroke/SL gymnastics coach Tammy Sanchez for all her help assisting! 

 

Highlights include Junior Captain Steph Braga’s great vault with an 8.3 and Riley Getchell’s personal record vault score of 8.75! Freshman Katelyn Ferraro and Junior Sarah Regan both contributed their best beam scores of the season to help the team improve their overall beam score by more than 1 point! Next meet is Saturday January 29th at 2pm.

 

WHSL Swim team lost to Quincy High school Thursday but had many standouts. Sam Fernandez made states in the 100 backstroke 58:62 and states in the 100 Fly with a 55:91. Matt ward had his personal best time in the 50 free with a 30.28. Ben Hurley had a personal best in the 50 free with a 31:34 he also had his best 100 free time in the 100 free relay 1:10:93. Haylie Pinola had a great night she had her personal best in the 100 fly with a 1:01:03, she also assisted in the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay.  

 

The boys basketball team had a tough week playing 2 undefeated teams and league power Hingham.  The Panthers battled tough but dropped 2 of 3.  Senior captain Ryan Vallancourt  continued his consistent performance with 43 points and 18 rebounds.  Whitman Hanson looks to bounce back this week with a 3 road games (Quincy on Tuesday, Silver Lake on Friday and Brockton on Sunday).

 

The girls hockey team pulled off a huge upset on Saturday beating Hingham for the first time in at least 7 years, 5-4 in overtime.  WHSL was led by Shea Kelleher who had 2 goals and 3 Assists, Caitlin Dilley had 2 goals and 2 assists, Abbey Powers added a goal and an assist. Sadie Watchorn plated well in net, making a great save with 10 seconds left to send it to OT. Our next game is Monday 1/24/22 vs. Duxbury at 7:20 at the Bog in Kingston. 

 

The boys hockey team went 1 for 2 this week beating North Quincy and losing at Duxbury.  In the 7-2 win at North Quincy, Chris Ross netted his 2nd of the year with a feed from Alex Ethier and Billy Morgan to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. The raiders scored with under a minute left in the first, and another one in the first minute of the 2nd to take a 2-1 lead.

Junior Matt Solari scored 2 minutes later to tie the game. Sophomore defenseman David Osis scored his first goal of his career, with a wrister from the point giving the Panthers a 3-2 lead heading into the 3rd.  The Panthers came out in the 3rd and scored 4 unanswered goals. Two by Solari for a hat trick, one from Zak Spano, and an empty net goal by Luke Tropeano to win 7-2.  Senior Erik Dean made 29 saves.

 

The Whitman-Hanson Wrestling team hosted a quad meet Saturday and suffered 3 defeats but it was a great step experience. In the first match it was Bridgewater-Raynham winning 54-26, followed by a very close match lose to Sharon 36-34. WH ended the day with a loss to King Philip 48-30. There were many bright spots for the Panthers with 4 wrestlers going 3-0 on the day. Leading the way at 106 pounds was Freshman Charlie Lussier with 2 pins and a forfeit. Charlie is now 24-0 on the season with an impressive 18 pins. Junior Aiden Guiliani won by impressive scores of 3-0, 3-2 and 15-2 at 132, bringing his season total to 17-2 with 8 pins.  At 138 pounds Junior Braden Kain also won all three of his matches 8-2, 15-2 and 16-0.  Braden is now 19-5 on the season. Freshman Cooper Lussier wrestling at 152 pounds won by pin in :47, 6-4 in overtime and 3-0 avenging one of his only two losses of the season against a tough KP wrestler.  Cooper's record is now 23-2 on the season with 15 pins. Double winners for WH were Senior Joe Boss with 1 pin and one disqualification. Joe is now 18-6 on the season with 8 pin. Senior Captain Rocco Ruffini wrestling at 220 pounds won by pin in 4:42 and a 5-2 decision. Rocco is now 12-6 on the season with 9 pins. Senior Captain Pat Collett won by pin in :2:27 bringing his season totals to 9-8 with 8 pins on the season. Junior Rocco Hanaphy finished with one win on the day by pin in 3:07. Rocco is now 10-8 on the season with 7 pins. Junior Maddox Colclough wrestling at 285 was 1-0 on the day winning 13-5 and is now 14-5 on the season.

The Panthers are now 8-5 on the season and 2-1 in the Patriot League. Up next for the Panthers is Patriot League Plymouth North at WH on Wednesday January 26th at 6:00pm.