Over the winter vacation, both Wellesley’s girls and boys Varsity basketball teams participated in a tournament. The boys team participated once again in the Rockland tournament, while the girls team competed in the Malden tournament. Both teams won their respective tournaments.
Playing in tournaments is different than regular season games, in the sense that teams from a larger geographical area participate in them. “Tournaments are different because normally we play against teams we rarely see in them, with different kinds of players. There’s also the change of not having school the day of the game,” said Tim Rey ’16, a player on the boys team.
Despite the difference in atmosphere, both teams rose to the competition, and overcame it. The boys team began with a 62-45 win over Waltham. Andy Kaplan ’15 scored 17 points, Jack Dolan ’15 scored 10, while Ryan Noel supported them with 11 rebounds.
With this victory, they proceeded to the final round against the host, Rockland High School. Kaplan scored five three-point shots to assist in achieving a season high 26 points. “Every single of those three-pointers were huge, and Andy is someone that the team looks to for support and to lead us like he did,” said Rey. With this leadership, the team took the game 61-43, winning the tournament in the process.
The girls team displayed extraordinary skill in their tournament as well, starting with a 59-30 victory over Swampscott. Dorian Cohen ’17 scored 12, Lexi Jones ’15 scored 15, while Catherine McNamara ’17 assisted in securing the game with eight points off the bench.
The girls team continued to secure the tournament championship with a 58-30 triumph over Danvers. With 19 points in this game, Caroline Sullivan ’16 was named tournament MVP, while Cohen and Jones supplied a combined 22 points to ensure victory.
(Vince Caruso ’16, Opinions Editor)