Sports Roundup: Winter Season Comes to an End

The winter sports seasons came to end for Winchester athletics this past week, as all four teams lost in the MIAA North tournaments.

 The boys hockey team made it the furthest, reaching the semifinals, while the boys basketball team upset the top seed before bowing out in the quarterfinals. The girls basketball, girls hockey and boys hockey teams all lost to the top seeds in their respective brackets.

Here are all the details:

Boys hockey: The boys hockey team became the only Winchester squad to make it past the quarterfinals with a in the Division I North tournament.

Down 1-0 after one period, No. 5 Winchester scored twice in the final three minutes of the second period to take control. Dan Donovan scored the tying goal on a rebound, and Brendan Greene scored the winner with 11 seconds remaining on a one-timer off a pass from Peter Troiano.

“The second period was good for us,” Winchester coach Matt Spang said. “We stuck with our game plan and in the second period it started to pay off."

But Winchester's postseason run ended in the semifinals as top seed St. Mary's won 8-2. St. Mary's scored twice in both the first and second periods to take command.

Both goals for the Sachems came in the third period, as Nolan Redler scored on the power play and Nick Ducharme scored the final goal of the game.

Boys basketball: The Sachems but then lost to Brighton 64-61 in the quarterfinals of the Division 2 North tournament.

Against Wilmington, Winchester was down by two at halftime but took control by hitting three straight 3-pointers within a minute of the third quarter, and finished the quarter up 12 points.

Wilmington cut the deficit to seven in the fourth quarter, but Ryan Murphy hit another 3 and Caleb Unni hit his free throws down the stretch to finish off the upset.

"Seedings in high school don’t mean as much as they do in college because of the disparity in league competition, so we don’t worry about that number," Sachems coach Quinton Dale said. "We just worry about coming in and playing our game.”

Pete Miller had a monster game with 24 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks. Miller had another big game against Brighton, finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, but this time it wasn't enough. Despite coming back from 14 down in the fourth quarter, Winchester gave up the go-ahead basket with 1:13 remaining and soon saw its season end.

Girls basketball: Like the boys basketball team, Winchester had to play the top seed in the first round. The girls , going into the fourth quarter with the lead, but No. 1 Reading dominated the final minutes and won 49-35.

Shelby Santini scored 22 points for the 17th-seeded Sachems (9-10), was led after each of the first three quarters, including by eight at halftime. Winchester had lost to fellow Middlesex League team Reading 51-18 and 60-29 earlier this season.

“Reading is a real good team,” Sachems coach Jason Cacciapuoti said. “There’s a reason they only lost one game all season. But I couldn’t ask anymore of my kids. They played hard, they put pressure on the ball, they played with energy; they were great.”

Girls hockey: The girls hockey team was the third Winchester team to face the top seed in the first round. The Sachems, the defending state champions and No. 17 seed,. Michaela Chiuccariello finished her career with a school-record 165 points.