Girls Basketball improves to 5-2

Girls Basketball improves to 5-2 with a win during holiday break.

Third Loss for Girls’ Hockey

-By: Melanie Tzenova-

Darien Girls’ Ice Hockey lost its match against Wilton High School on Wednesday night. (12/22) The 3-1 victory over the Wave gives Wilton a perfect 5-0 record. First period went well for both teams until the Wilton Warriors skated the puck past freshmen goalie Shannon Hall. Hall blocked out several passes, however, and the Darien girls played strongly. At the start of the second period, starters blasted towards the Wilton goal, keeping the action at that side. During the second half Wilton scored twice. The third period played out similarly. Darien took out the goalie and added a 6th player to the offense. Senior captain Emma Tuz, assisted by junior Sara Shaker, scored an outstanding goal during the last five minutes. Their next game is home on Jan. 6 at 6:30 pm against Staples High School.

Caption: Emma Tuz (foreground) and Sara Shaker sets up for a shot.

Greenwich Beats Wrestling in Home Opener

-By: Samantha Wood-

In the opening match of the 2010 season, the Blue Wave Wrestling team lost to Greenwich Cardinals at home on Wednesday. (12/15). Although the final score was Darien 24-54, a few of the Darien players performed well. Seniors Lars Remole (pictured) and Tyler Corcoran both did a good job, especially when Corcoran pulled his lung-crushing special move that sealed the fate of his opponent, and quickly got him the pin. Senior Dimitri Chagares also showed his great skills that have come with his experience as a senior. The South Gym was packed with support from parents as well as the Darien youth wrestlers. The Middlesex Middle School boys love the support and learning opportunity their high school role models offer. The DHS team has helped them learn the ropes of wrestling in practices to prepare for high school sports. With one loss under its belt, the wrestling team is looking forward to the rest of its season. Come support the team at its next home meet against Westhill of Stamford at 4pm on Tuesday. (12/21)

Photo: Senior Lars Remole wins his match against Greenwich

Boys' Hockey Downs Trinity Catholic

Darien Boys' Ice Hockey got its first win of the season in a 6-1 blowout at Terry Connors rink on Wednesday. (12/22) The upperclassmen stepped up with seniors Alex Peter and William Kerr scoring a goal each and senior captain Garren Fritts scoring two. The team also got help from the underclassman with junior Nick Bruno and sophomore Trent Bergin scoring as well. The Blue Wave's next game will be against Notre Dame of West Haven in West Haven on Thursday. (12/30)

Boys Basketball falls to 1-2 against Rivals New Canaan

Boys' basketball ended its brief winning run on Tuesday night. (12/21) The boys lost to the New Canaan Rams by 51-33. They only scored eight points in the second half. Despite the loss, sophomore Matt Forelli led the team with nine points, senior captain Ian Sullivan (pictured) had eight points, and senior captain Chris Allam had five points. "We had a very bad second half and it was disappointing not to get the win," Sullivan said. The boys face Greenwich at home at 4pm on Monday. (12/27)

Darien Boys Basketball losing at Half

Darien Boys' Basketball losing by 8 at the half. The score is 33-25 against New Canaan. Darien is coming off a great win against Trumbull on Friday. (12/17)

9th & 10th Grade House Power Rankings: Week 2

-By: Matt House Brown-

After my Heat’s devastating loss to the Bucks, I was launched into a depressing tornado of debate and personal inquiry. The loss made me question why I take the games and this blog so seriously. Then I realized, it’s because it’s awesome.

1. Bucks (W, 42-39, OT) – Defeated the Heat in overtime this week. The Bucks displayed a zone at the defense end which baffled the Heats explosive offense. At the offense end, Jack Sherwood of Brunswick School asserted his dominance and sophomore Eric Christensen hit a clutch jumper in overtime. Fear the Deer. (2-0)

2. Knicks (W, 33-31) – The Knicks should of probably won by a more significant margin, but hey, a win is a win. Sophomore Craig LaMantia (pictured) took fewer shots this week, but was able to control the game all the same with a superior passing game. Sophomore Patrick Reilly was ridiculous downtown, draining all the threes he attempted. (2-0)

3. Heat (L, 39-42, OT) – Tough loss in overtime for the Heat and sharp decline from the number one spot. However, I think that these three teams atop the rankings will play king of the hill for the top spot all season. Also, this squad has too much experience in the league to let this lose turn into a losing streak. (1-1)

4. Wizards (W, 42-37) – This offense displayed itself as an exciting bunch with sophomore Brian Weil as a solid guard and the Skolds talented down low. This offense proved to be too much for the undersized but exciting Nets. (2-0)

5. Bobcats (W, 42-14) – Fairfield Prep's Danny Coyle and company did show me something. A lot of something. However, be warned, this beating that the Bobcats dished out could simply be a product of the Bulls underperforming. (1-1)

6. Hornets (W, 39-30) – A very solid victory as the Hornets snap back from a beat down they suffered week one. They showed themselves as very well coached on defense, and sophomore Carl Stowell was a game-changer at the offensive end of the floor. Look for this team to dominate the lower half of the league. (1-1)

7. Celtics (L, 30-39) – Rough loss for the Celtics from the Bobcats this week. Although, I expect them to bounce back and use their team first philosophy in future weeks, and that they will end where they sit after week 2, at .500.

8. Raptors (L, 31- 33) – This well rounded group held their own against the usually dominant Knicks. This fashion of losing makes them the best winless team in the league. (0-2)

9. Nets (L, 37-42)- The Nets offense was explosive this week. They kept it close and almost pulled out the win. Maybe they can bring their defense to the next game. (0-2)

10. Bulls (L, 14-42) – Bad news is they lost by 28 points and only scored 14. The good news is…. There is room to improve? (0-2)

Blue Wave Hockey Suffers Third Loss

By Doug Wells -

Blue Wave varsity hockey lost to New Canaan with a final score of 4-2 on Monday. (12/20) New Canaan Rams opened up the scoring with pair of goals in the opening half of the first period. Later in the period, junior Nick Bruno found the back of the net with a wrist shot after a beautiful pass from his teammate. Going into the second period the Blue Wave were down a goal. It wasn’t long until senior Richard Gregory found sophomore Trent Bergin with a spin-a-round no look pass. Bergin, who was set up perfectly in the slot, snapped the puck past the New Canaan goalie. Going into the third period the Wave had to score to take the lead. They started on the power play but couldn’t generate any offense. It wasn’t until long when New Canaan regained the lead and scored again for insurance. The penalties were the big problem for the Blue Wave. They came at bad times and even in pairs. Senior Alex Peter, said “We have to watch the penalties we get and win our next game against Trinity.” To its credit the team played extremely spirited and did have a couple unlucky bounces. Senior captain Doug Miller said, “I honestly think if a few more bounces went our way, we could be 2-1 or even 3-0. Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten many breaks this year, which means we have to work through it and be ready for Trinity Catholic on Wednesday.” The Wave face Trinity Catholic at Terry Connors this Wednesday. (12/22)

Girls Hockey Suffers Second Loss

By Katherine Minion -

The Darien Girls' Varsity Hockey team suffered a devastating loss in a home game Monday night against one of its biggest rivals, New Canaan. Darien started out strong. Junior Sarah Shaker scored two goals, both assisted by senior captain Emma Tuz, giving Darien a 2-0 lead at the beginning of the first period. But New Canaan's offense quickly stepped up its game. The Darien girls played skilfully and aggressively, but they could not stop their opponent. New Canaan scored seven goals throughout the remainder of the game, six of them scored by Olivia Hompe, leaving the final score at 7-2. This was Darien's second loss. They went down to Wilton at the home opener on Dec 13. The team now has a 2-2 record. Be sure to come cheer on the Darien Girls' Hockey team in its next home game versus Wilton on Wednesday (12/22) at 8:30 pm at the Darien Ice Rink.

House Basketball Power Rankings: 11th and 12th Grade League

-By: Jack Rehm-
(with contributing writer Darius Majd)

The second week of House is starting to shake things up on the Middlesex court. Here is a look at the standings going into the holiday hoops season.

1. Mavericks- This team, led by mostly seniors, has met expectations as one of the teams to beat in the league this year with another 60 point scoring effort. This team has a solid player at every position with seniors Tyler Pruden at center, Rupert Hansford and Ricky Miller bringing the ball up, Parker Lange and Sam Nelson on the wings and Kevin Keller coming off the bench. However, despite all of this talent and offensive firepower, this team will not hold onto the top spot if they don't improve their league-worst defense.
(Record: 2-0, Last Result: W 60-52 vs. Celtics)

2. Thunder- Led by another dominating performance by junior Tony Britton, the Thunder handily beat the Trailblazers as Britton put up an eye-popping 32 points to outscore the other team by himself. While they may have beaten another lowly opponent in the Trailblazers, the Thunder proved once again their ability to score points and have now won their first two games by an average of 25 points. Elliott Helgans made his season debut and scored 10 points, adding another scoring option to an already high-powered offense. (Record: 2-0, Last Result: W 49-30 vs. Trailblazers)

3. Spurs- The Spurs have a lot to look forward to this season after comfortably beating the Nuggets this week, who are not as bad as their record says they are. The stifling Spurs defense held KLHT varsity captain Max Reyes to only 5 points and cut the Nuggets’ scoring in half from their first week of play. The senior connection of Graham Maybell to Ben Preston continues to work and this team could go far if senior Andrew Hurn continues to play at such a high level. More important is the offensive depth; junior Peter Barston and Fairfield Prep senior Ben Lowden (both scoreless entering the game) combined for 15 of the Spurs' 20 first half points against the Nuggets. (Record: 2-0, Last Result: W 35-29 vs. Nuggets)

4. Lakers- The Lakers followed up a solid 7 point win over the Celtics with a comfortable double-digit victory over the Rockets where junior Bobby Weaver showed his true potential by scoring a team-high 25 points coming off a game where he only put up 4. This team has a great balance of juniors and seniors who have proven that they can play well with each other with Chris Carmody leading at point guard and Weaver and Luke Osherow on the wings. Junior Mitchell Wisinski (pictured) threw in a surprising 10 points against the Rockets but supposed rookie phenom Alex Yergey was absent from his second consecutive game for undisclosed reasons.
(Record: 2-0, Last Result: W 48-33 vs. Rockets)

5. Timberwolves- The Timberwolves had a very similar gameplan as the New York Giants did on Sunday. Get a big lead, and then give it all back. At one point in the game, they had a 22-4 lead on the Suns and the game appeared to be over. Everything started to go wrong, though, when junior Jared Kindy accidentally made a shot on his own basket. They went on to lose a heartbreaker in triple-overtime but still have a lot of potential to be great if they can put this loss behind them. (Record: 1-1, Last Result: L 37-39 vs. Suns)

6. Nuggets- The Nuggets’ record of 0-2 is no indication of how good this team can be. They have played probably the toughest schedule in the league so far, coming up just short against the Mavericks and the Spurs, both of which are 2-0. There is no shame in a two point loss to the Mavericks, and any team that can put up 58 points in a game is obviously skilled. While they might not have won any games, this team still has seniors Max Reyes and Justin Pryor with junior Tucker White, any of which could bring the ball up at point guard. The biggest issue for the Nuggets is ball movement; having a star scorer like Reyes can make an offense one-dimensional. On Sunday, other capable players let him generate all of the offense, and settled for bad 3 pointers when they got the ball. Still, they should be able to bounce back. (Record: 0-2, Last Result: L 29-35 vs. Spurs)

7. Suns- The Suns bounced back from a big loss to the Thunder and a slow start to their game against the Timberwolves with a big second half led by senior Tommy Farren. Farren “put the team on my back with a sprained ankle” and went on to score 16 points, 12 of which were in the second half. This team could be a sleeper in upcoming games, as teams should look out for juniors Thomas Carruthers and sharp-shooter Billy Siemers. (Record: 1-1, Last Result: W 39-37 vs. Timberwolves)

8. Celtics- The Celtics have a chance to be good this year but have not shown it yet in their first two games. Senior Eric Parnon grabs every rebound and Brunswick junior Jack Voigt can pass it down low to him most times down the court but this team does not have very many, if any, outside shooters and could struggle if Parnon has an off game. The Celtics do have intangibles, however, in senior Blue Wave Super Fans Evan Rogers and Alex Bruno; these two have plenty of enthusiasm and spirit, and will try to power their team to victory. (Record: 0-2, Last Result: L 52-60 vs. Mavericks)

9. Rockets- Sources have told me that senior big man Peter McDonough needs surgery and will be out the rest of the season which doesn’t bode well for a team that has already struggled in their first two games and have the second worst point total in the league. The one thing that this team does have to look forward to is the possibility of getting a star player off the waiting list if this injury proves to be season ending. (Record: 0-2, Last Result: L 33-48 vs. Lakers)

10. Trailblazers- The Trailblazers have the worst offense so far, putting up a league-worst average of 27.5 PPG (lower than Tony Britton’s individual scoring average) and haven’t had great defense either, losing both games by at least 19 points. Sadly, this team does not have much to look forward to this season except for seeing how many threes Russell Palmer can make in one game. (Record: 0-2, Last Result: L 49-30 vs. Thunder)