Sports
Sports Roundup: Winchester Teams Find Succes in the Playoffs
All four sports teams won their opening round playoff games.
The playoffs got off to a terrific start for Winchester High School, as all four teams (boys and girls basketball, boys and girls hockey) won their opening-round games. Here are the details, plus an update from wrestling, where two wrestlers have made it all the way to the New England Regionals.
Boys basketball: Caleb Unni scored the winning points on a 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining and Pete Miller dominated inside with 16 rebounds and nine blocks as the Sachems on Monday. Unni, who finished with 23 points, added two throws with two seconds left to seal the win.
No. 16 Winchester actually led by 11 at halftime, but Malden Catholic made a run in the fourth quarter and took the lead on a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left. Unni responded with a 3-pointer of his own as Winchester regained the lead.
The Sachems then went on to . Winchester will host Brighton on Monday.
Girls basketball: While the other Winchester sports teams sweated out their opening-round victories, there was no such drama for the girls basketball team. The ninth-seeded Sachems defeated No. 8 Brighton 63-18 on Monday. Shelby Santini had 16 points, nearly outscoring her opponent by herself before sitting out most of the second half.
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Winchester outscored Brighton 39-7 in the second and third quarters.
In the second round, Winchester had to travel to play No. 1 Reading, a team that defeated that by an average of 32 points in their first two meetings. Winchester held an eight-point lead at halftime, but comeback.
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Girls hockey: The defending state champions were almost knocked out early this season, but Winchester scored twice in the final 90 seconds to tie the game and eventually 3-2 in the first round on Tuesday.
Belmont scored twice in the second period and held the Sachems scoreless for 43 minutes before committing a penalty with 1:35 left in regulation. Just eight seconds later, Katherine Zavez scored the power-play goal to make it a 2-1 game, and with the goalie pulled for an extra skater, Sachems all-time leading scorer Michaela Chiuccariello tied the game off a pass from Alexis Zavez.
Winchester goalie Meg Creane stopped all three Belmont shooters in the shutout, while Sachems shooters Samantha Ross, Chiuccariello and Michele Woolford all scored.
The Sachems were eventually knocked out by Norwood.
Boys hockey: Just like the girls hockey team, the Winchester boys also won its first-round game 3-2, though this on Wednesday came in regulation.
Colin Edwards put the Sachems on top in the first period, and after Waltham tied it, Mark Matignetti scored on a power play to put Winchester back in front. Brendan Greene added some insurance in the second period when his goal made it 3-1. Waltham scored with 11 minutes left, but couldn't net the equalizer despite a 17-4 edge in shots in the final period.
Wrestling: Nick Cashion (119 pounds) and Ryan MacDonald (140) are both competing in this weekend's New England Interscholastic Wrestling Championships in New Haven, CT.
Cashion finished sixth and MacDonald placed fifth in the MIAA All-State Championships last weekend at Salem. MacDonald lost in the state quarterfinals, but went 3-1 in the consolation rounds to advance. Cashion lost his first match but then went 4-1 to claim the sixth and final spot at regionals.
Quinn Gregory (112) also made it to All-States and went 1-2.
