Hockey Championship Tops Coventry HS Winter Season

Post-season individual honors have not been officially announced for Coventry High School boys and girls basketball, boys and girls indoor track, gymnastics and hockey squads. But easily topping the list of all winter sports achievements by varsity teams was the Division Two Boys Hockey State Championship squad won last Saturday afternoon at Schneider Arena.

Another achievement worthy of recognition for all teams was the consistent sportsmanship displayed by coaches and players during Rhode Island Interscholastic League competition, with respect almost universally shown to opponents, other coaches and officials and even fans. 

Hockey.

The Oakers skaters, Division Two Central regular-season titlists at 16-1-0-1, finished with an overall record of 25-2 overall. Fashioning win streaks of 11 and then capping the dream season with 14 conquests in a row, they outscored the opposition, 126 to 41. Only losses to Pilgrim deprived them of perfection.

In sweeping Rogers, Prout and then Portsmouth, 2010 state champion, the Oakers clinched its first state title since the 2002-03 season. They also were Met B state champs during the 1995-96 season.

Much of the Oakers scoring went through the first-line pipeline of wings Nick Paiva and Connor DiPietro and center Zach Levesque, who accounted for an amazing 87 percent of all 126 goals scored, with this trio compiling a total of 72 goals and 109 assists.

There were some close calls, but senior goalie Spencer Patti made the saves when pressed as he recorded five victories in six one-game decisions. Patti ended up with 520 saves on 559 shots for a 93.0 stop percentage and 1.48 goals-against average.

One of the unsung heroes of the playoffs was sophomore Mike Pesola, who was the leading Oakers scorer in the playoffs with four goals and three assists, including two goals in the first finals win.

Boys Basketball.

When the exciting Oakers scoring machine clicked, no other team in the state could rack up more points more quickly than the Division One South regular-season co-champions (13-5, 16-7). Leading the way most of the season was a big three that accounted for about 47 points per game, almost  equally distributed among speedy senior guard Nate Stitchell (16.7 ppg), one of the state’s best point guards; undersized junior forward Aaron Greenwood (15.8 ppg) with his multiple spinning moves to the basket, and, of course, three-point marksman, junior lefthander Garrett Douglass (15.9 ppg), who led the state in treys with 81, or almost four per game!

The squad finished the regular season better than any other team, highlighted by a defeat of Bishop Hendricken for the first time ever in the Oakers gym and two wins over eventual state champion St. Raphael Academy, once in the regular season and another in the Division One quartfinals.  

The squad relied on several contributors when Greenwood went down for several games, including senior Dylan Lincoln, Ryan Finngegan, Matt Lebrun, Brandon Sullivan, Sean Ledford and Sean Roles  

Girls Basketball.

The Lady Oakers squad ended its regular season with nine losses in a row, but finished two games or less behind four teams in Division One South. Losing two consecutive one-point games to end the season, they finished with a record of 5-14 and 6-15 overall.

Playing in the state’s toughest division, including eventual 2011 state champion, La Salle Academy, the Lady Oakers put up a stiff fight against several playoffs teams, and led in some portions of games against La Salle, Westerly, Exeter-West Greenwich and South Kingstown.

The Lady Oakers had two consistent senior doube-digit scorers, guard Hannah Cole and center Gabby Lesnett. Other players who made consistent contributions were Brooke Willard and junior Erica Ball.

Coventry will have several junior varsity players who should be able to immediately contribute next year and others who gained more experience on varsity.

Gymnastics.

The Lady Oakers were fifth out of seven squads in Division One with a 6-6 record.

In the state meet, junior Haley Crossley was outstanding, placing fourth in the all-around with 35.150 points. Crossley was second in the beam with a 9.35 score.

Julie Lafen and Tiffany Smith distinguished themselves by finishing among the top seniors in the state to qualify for the National High School Seniors Gymnastics Meet to be held in May in Fort Meyers, Florida.           

Junior Stephanie Fitzgerald shined with a fifth-place finish in the bars as both she and Crossley qualified for the 2011 New England Interscholastic Girls' Gymnastics Championships in Milford, CT.

Wrestling.

Following a sixth-place finish in Division One North, optimism reigns for even more success next year. A young Oakers wrestling squad finished at 9-7 with few seniors, but had several promising underclassmen.

Overall, five Oakers wrestlers reached the consolation rounds- all but one being underclassmen- a very encouraging sign for next year. Three came in fifth and two finished sixth. Placing fifth in their respective weight classes were Nick Bottella, 119, brother Christian Bottella, 125, and Dylan Olson at 112. Coming in sixth were Dylan Dupre at and Joey Nardolillo 285.

Brothers Jared Wilson at 160 and Zach Wilson at 170 also had winning records throughout the season.

Greg Fusco won twice at 152 before losing his next two matches. Also having fne seasons were Tyler Pierce (103), Rob Shaw (145), Blake Pierce (145) and Andy Maldonaldo (215).

Boys Track.

The boy squad finished 11th overall among 24 teams at the state meet. Senior Dennis Ryan, winner of the Class A meet, broke his own school record in the 1,000 meter run with a third-place finish in a time of 2:36.45. 

 Other boys who performed well were Aaron Comery, 6th, shotput, 46.01.50; Lawrence Warwick, 7th, high jump, 6-0, and Dan Clarkin, 7th, 55 m hurdles, 8.24 seconds.

But the highlight had to be its fifth-place finish- just two points from third- at the Class A meet sparked by three wins, including Ryan’s then-school record in the 1,000 (2:37.00, Warrick’s first 6-foot jump in competition and Comery’s standout win in the weight throw at a personal best distance of 46 feet, 11.25 inches.

Clarkin also placed fifth at the class meet in the 55 meter hurdles, crossing in 8.20 seconds.

 Girls Track.

At the state meet, Kate Guilmette crossed the line in fifth in the 55 meter dash in 7.59 seconds. Jen Haley, 13th in the 1,500 meter run at 5:14.18; Gianna Roccio, 17th in the 300 meter dash in 45.76 and the 4 x 400 m relay squad which came in 7th in 4:19.19.

At the Large School Championship, in the 300-meter  Roccio was outstanding by placing third in 44.50.6, Guilmette was just nipped at the wire to place third at 7.60 in the 55-meter dash, and Haley was third in the 1500-meter run in 5:09.70.