Here is a look at the fifth week of scheduled games for Old Rochester Regional winter athletics.
Boys’ Basketball: The Bulldogs had an excellent week, defeating two SCC teams to remain at a perfect 7-0 conference record. The boys first defeated Dighton-Rehoboth 71-62 thanks to a fantastic performance by freshman Noah Fernandes, who scored 19 points and notched eight assists, five rebounds, and four steals. Freshman Jason Gamache also played well, hitting four three-pointers in the second half, proving that ORR’s underclassmen are a vital part of the team. The Bulldogs capped their week off with a massive 90-38 win over Seekonk. Four Bulldogs were in double-digits in the blowout, with captains Jordan Menard and Ryan Beatty leading the way with 17 and 13 points, respectively.
Girls’ Basketball: The Lady Bulldogs also had a great week, defeating Dighton-Rehoboth in a 49-36 SCC matchup. Sophie Church scored a team-high 15 points, and Kaleigh Goulart added 13, but the real star of the game was ORR’s defense. By applying pressure to Dighton-Rehoboth’s two best players, the Lady Bulldogs held them to just nine combined points, a fact that would be crucial as the game wound down to a close. With the win, the girls’ record stands at an even 4-4 overall, with a 3-3 conference record.
Boys’ Track: This week, the boys’ and girls’ track teams competed at the annual Division 5 State Relays at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury. Thanks to several impressive performances, the Bulldogs placed third in all of Division 5 with 34 points, only falling to Newburyport (49 points) and North Reading (37 points). ORR got places from the shuttle dash relay (2nd, Hunter Cooney, Ben Dion, Harry Smith, Jarrett Johnston), the long jump relay (1st, Cooney, Eli Spevack, and Kevin Saccone), the 4×200 relay (4th, Mike Morris, Will Hopkins, Cooney, Saccone), and the boys’ high jump relay (5th, Stephen Burke, Ben Rounseville, Hopkins). The highlight of the day, however, was the boys’ shuttle hurdle relay, which set a new meet record in 27.88 seconds en route to a first place finish. The team consisted of Saccone, Rounseville, Spevack, and Hopkins, a sophomore who was running the hurdles for the first time ever.
Girls’ Track: The girls’ team also competed in the Division 5 Relays and placed 2nd overall with 35 points, trailing only Ursuline Academy, who scored 50 points. The long jump relay, comprised of Lexi Afonso, Zoe Smith, and Morgan Middleton, finished first on the day, showing the overall depth of ORR jumpers across the board. Smith, Afonso, and Middleton would team up with Brooke Santos to take second in the shuttle hurdles, and Santos, Afonso, and Smith placed second in the high jump relay as well. The girls’ distance team also shined on the day, as Haily Saccone, Rachel Scheub, Nina Bourgeois, and Samantha Ball teamed up to take fourth in the 4×800 meter relay.
Ice Hockey: This week the boys’ ice hockey team remained perfect in the SCC, defeating two tough conference teams with large margins of victory. The ORR/Fairhaven Bulldogs first defeated Apponequet in a 5-0 shutout. The Bulldogs shot the lights out on Apponequet, taking 40 shots on net, with Mike Lygren finding the back of the net three times for a hat trick. Kam Silvia and Tayber Labonte also scored for the Bulldogs. The boys wrapped up their week with a 9-2 blowout over GNB Voc-Tech. Eight different players scored for the Bulldogs, with ORR senior Shane Matthews leading the way with two goals. Goalie Chase Cunningham made 10 saves on the night to advance the Bulldogs to a perfect 3-0 conference record.
Below are the overall winter team records, followed by the conference records in wins, losses, and ties as of January 11.
Boys’ Basketball: (7-1-0) (7-0-0); Girls’ Basketball: (4-4-0) (3-3-0); Boys’ Track: (5-0-0) (5-0-0); Girls’ Track: (5-0-0) (5-0-0); Boys’ Swimming: (1-2-0) (0-2-0); Girls’ Swimming: (1-2-0) (0-2-0); Ice Hockey: (6-2-0) (3-0-0).
By Michael Kassabian
Photos by Ryan Feeney
