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February sports scene warming up |
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Monday, 11 February 2008 |
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By TERRY NAU Sports editor February is usually an interesting month for high school sports. Playoffs and state championship tournaments are on the horizon in some of the so-called “niche” sports like indoor track, swimming and wrestling. Basketball and hockey still have two more weeks left in the regular season, allowing maximum exposure for their playoff season in March.
Behind the scenes, many student-athletes are narrowing their choices of colleges, hoping to pick the school that best fits their academic and athletic needs.
The playoffs pale in comparison to the heavy burden of finding the right place to attend college. But they will share a big spot in the memory books of all the young athletes who participate.
Looking around the area scene, there are numerous events worth watching before February turns to March.
The indoor track season culminates this coming Sunday with the state championship meets for boys and girls down at The Ryan Center on the University of Rhode Island campus. The Blackstone Valley has several strong contenders for state titles, including St. Raphael Academy sprinter Jordan Monk, who won two races at the Class C meet on Saturday – the 45-meter dash and the 300-meter run. Monk is also weighing a decision to attend North Carolina State in September, hoping to play football and get a good education.
On Wednesday night, the Cumberland High wrestling team hopes to complete a perfect regular-season when it entertains Bishop Hendricken.
“It’s going to be a very tough meet,” CHS coach Steve Gordon predicted. “Hendricken probably isn’t going into this match thinking about just knocking us off. They want to win every time out. My team has already exceeded expectations. However, because we are 15-0, there is no way we want to lose this match.”
How rare is an undefeated dual-meet season?
“I’ve never had one in 39 years of coaching,” Gordon said. “We’ve had some great teams over the years but we always managed to lose at least once. People get hurt, they get sick. Knock on wood, this year we’ve been pretty fortunate with injuries and sickness.”
Woonsocket High’s boys’ basketball team wishes it could say the same. The Villa Novans, who won their first 11 league games before losing to North Kingstown 10 days ago, also dropped a game at home to a 3-9 South Kingstown team last Wednesday night. That defeat sent up some red flares.
The Villa Novans have been worn down by the long season. They only had an eight-man rotation to start with and that number diminished by one when 6-foot-5 backup center Nathan Geter dislocated a shoulder and was lost for the season. Geter had been a solid fill-in for senior center Mike Akinrola, who often has to battle through double-teams and could use a few minutes on the bench in each game.
A variety of minor injuries have also slowed Woonsocket’s drive for its first-ever Division I state championship. Point guard Antjuan Jones fell hard to the floor in the North Kingstown game, then injured a finger on his right hand last week. Forward Mike LaPlante rolled an ankle and sat out a game. Senior forward Brett Coderre has been playing through a groin injury. Reserve forward Shawn Harris missed some time with a sore tailbone. Backup guard Prince Artey suffered through a case of food poisoning.
Woonsocket has a tough game scheduled at home on Tuesday night against Exeter/West Greenwich. And then dangerous St. Raphael Academy visits on Thursday before the Novans end their regular season on the road next week against Smithfield and Cumberland.
Woonsocket has already clinched a first-round playoff bye. Now is the time to recharge batteries, get players healthy, and regain the winning chemistry that makes this group of athletes special to watch.
There’s also a very good Division II-North girls’ basketball race shaping up between Woonsocket, Mount St. Charles, Johnston and Scituate. Each team has three losses heading into the final two weeks of the regular season. At stake is a first-round playoff bye. Woonsocket and Mount split their two regular season games.
Only Barrington and Tiverton, 12-2 and tied for first in Division II-East, and South leader Westerly, 11-2, have fewer losses than the North leaders. Looks like a very good playoff field is shaping up for the D-II girls.
On the hockey scene, Mount St. Charles remains unbeaten in Division I and seemingly a step ahead of top contenders Hendricken, LaSalle and Toll Gate at this juncture. Co-coach Dave Belisle keeps comparing these Mounties to some past state championship squads. It seems to me like this team is carving out its own niche in the school’s wonderful hockey history. But nothing is a given in D-I hockey. The regular season is just a prelude to the “second season” in March.
And that’s where the real fun begins for hoop and hockey fans. Nobody ever wins a state title in February. Unless you’re talking about wrestling, indoor track and swimming, of course.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 February 2008 )
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