Here is a look at the tenth week of scheduled games for Old Rochester Regional High School winter athletics.
Boys’ Basketball: This week was a big one for the Bulldogs, as they defeated three tough teams and broke a 21-year-old losing streak in the process. The boys started out their week with a huge 74-38 victory over Seekonk that guaranteed them at least a share in the SCC Championship. Next, the Bulldogs played Martha’s Vineyard, a team they had lost to by a mere three points earlier in the season. With a home court advantage, the Bulldogs defeated the tough Vineyard team 53-42, showing the team’s improvement in just a few weeks. Evan Santos led the team both offensively and defensively, scoring a team high 16 points and grabbing six rebounds in the process. Finally, the Bulldogs defeated Bourne 84-76 to secure their first outright SCC Championship in 21 years. Freshman phenom Noah Fernandes led with 21 points, while junior Matt Valles contributed nicely with 14 points and co-captain Ryan Beatty recorded 13. Even if ORR loses to any more conference teams in the regular season, the SCC title is theirs, leaving them to focus on making a strong run in the state tournament later this month.
Girls’ Basketball: The Lady Bulldogs also had a great week, defeating two more SCC rivals en route to advancing their overall record to a strong 12-6. Thanks to a dominant offensive presence in both games by Sophie Church, ORR was able to defeat both Seekonk (46-31) and Bourne (36-25). In both games, Church led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring, recording 14 points against Seekonk and 19 against Bourne. Olivia Labbe, Madisen Martin, and Kaleigh Goulart also played well in both games, while Ashley Pacheco helped to lock down the ORR defense to halt any offensive momentum gained by Bourne or Seekonk. With only two regular season games remaining, the girls will soon be looking to continue their progress in the state tournament.
Girls’ Swimming: This week, a select few members of the ORR Swim Team competed in the Division 2 State Meet, the first time any Old Rochester swimmer has done so. In the 200-freestyle relay, Julianne Mariner, Megan Field, Avery Nugent, and Erin Burke combined for a 28th place finish in 1:52. With the conclusion of the state meet, the season is officially over for the ORR swim program, which continues to only get stronger with every year it runs. With several strong underclassmen, the team will look to make a strong impact in the SCC next winter.
Ice Hockey: The ORR/Fairhaven Bulldogs began their week with a strong 5-1 win over Dartmouth thanks to strong performances by both Kam Silvia and Jeremy Lawton, who each scored two goals. ORR’s Jake Durocher also scored, while goalie Chase Cunningham continued his excellent season by turning away 15 shots. The boys then faced what many considered to be their toughest competition of the season, Bishop Stang. In an exciting nail-biter, the two teams ended up in a 3-3 draw. ORR/Fairhaven’s Silvia gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 advantage with only 48 seconds remaining in the game, but after a tactical Stang decision to pull their goalie, the Spartans managed to counter in the final seconds to send the game into a tie. Lawton scored the other two ORR/Fairhaven goals. With the tie, the Bulldogs’ record now stands at 14-3-1.
Below are the overall winter team records, followed by the conference records in wins, losses, and ties as of February 16.
Boys’ Basketball: (16-2-0) (15-0-0); Girls’ Basketball: (12-6-0) (10-5-0); Boys’ Track: (8-1-0) (7-1-0); Girls’ Track: (9-0-0) (8-0-0); Boys’ Swimming: (1-5-0) (0-5-0); Girls’ Swimming: (2-4-0) (1-3-0); Ice Hockey: (14-3-1) (8-1-0).
By Michael Kassabian