Wyvern Nation Sports Wraps – February 10, 2022

Basketball

The Varsity Basketball team defeated a highly motivated Greenwich Country Day team 72-53 in a tough road contest on Feb. 5. Greenwich competed great throughout the game with full-court defense and strong effort. The Wyverns were ultimately able to pull away led by Gavin Griffith ‘23 29 points and the all-around play of Devin Wolff ‘23.

The Middle School Girls’ B Basketball team lost against Hopkins on Feb. 2 by a score of 15-19. Amidst cheering fans and supporting parents, the team played a nail-biter of a game. While they ultimately lost by 4 points, the entire team showed much improvement and played confidently against a more experienced and larger team. Riley Anderson ‘26 and Coco Ma ‘27 handled the ball strongly against a man press and led KO at the point. Taylor Benavides ‘27 and Kenlee Gardner ‘28 both made strong cuts on offense and allowed the team to have good ball movement and were always excellent options for scoring. Victoria Concepcion ‘26 and Anna Rossi ‘27 did an excellent job defending against Hopkin’s strongest and most experienced player successfully shutting her down in the latter half of the game. The top KO scorers were the sister duo of Ellie Gardner ‘26 and Garder ’28, each with 4 points.  Adding to the score was Anderson with 3 points and Benevides and Concepcion with 2 each. As new players, both Lea Richter ‘28 and Marlee Diana ‘26 showed much improvement and grabbed some key rebounds that led to points. 

The JV Girls’ Basketball team lost 32-56 against Hamden Hall on Feb. 2. Hamden Hall began the game shooting very well and took an early, but commanding lead. The Wyverns fought back in the second quarter, pulling to within 4 points at one time during that quarter.  However, the Hornets tough full-court man defense made a difference in the second half as KO turnovers became several Hamden Hall transition baskets as they pulled away for good. Nevertheless, the Wyverns hung in there and battled to the end of the game.  

The Varsity Boys’ Basketball team defeated Marianapolis 66-53 in a comfortable victory on Feb. 2. Gavin Griffiths ‘23 scored 22 points in the first half (finishing with 29) leading KO to a huge halftime lead. Rhandyn Bair ‘24, Esco Greene ‘23, and Chase Fountain ‘23 played dominant defense throughout creating great transition opportunities. The second team was able to get a lot of minutes in the second half which they truly deserved due to their hard work in practice. 

The JV Girls’ Basketball team won 31-14 against Pomfret on Feb. 9. With some good defense and solid passing on offense, KO jumped out to an appreciable lead in the first quarter, only to have a couple of Pomfret guards get hot from the outside during the second quarter, resulting in a close 11-8 halftime score with the Wyverns in the lead.  KO continued to apply the defensive pressure in the second half, limiting Pomfret to six points, and eventually pulled away for a comfortable win with several transition baskets off of turnovers.  

The Middle School Girls A Basketball team won 33-26 against Hopkins on Feb. 9. The team traveled down to New Haven to play Hopkins and came home with a 33-26 win. The girls played one of their best games of the season on both ends of the court. On the defensive end, Julia Stepnowski ‘28 and Caroline Gauvin ‘27 forced turnovers and had multiple steals. Molly Wiggenhauser ‘27 did a nice job defending one of Hopkins’s top scorers, throwing her off her game. Madison Brillant ‘28 had some beautiful assists on the fast breaks which opened up a lead that Hopkins couldn’t overcome. Six of KO’s eight players scored with the top three scorers being Carline Gauvin ‘27 with 16 points followed by Brillant with 6 and Ida Chapman ‘27 with 5. 

Hockey
The Varsity Hockey team lost 2-4 against St. Luke’s on Feb. 2. KO jumped out to an early lead on a goal by Bodie Swanson ’25 who attacked the zone on a 3 v 2 along with Sean Gilland ’22 and Aidan Aube ’22 who were both credited with assists and the 1-0 lead. KO would get on the board in the second period with Aube finding the back of the opponent’s net and giving the Wyvern a 2-0 lead through the second period. St. Luke’s would rally though during the last 9 minutes of the game and would overtake the lead and win the game 4-2. Goalie Matt Cote ’23 had 23 saves in the game for the Wyverns.

The Varsity Hockey team tied 2-2 against Rye Country Day on Feb. 5. It was a hard-fought game that would eventually go into Overtime. KO fell behind early in the first period but would answer later in the period when Bodie Swanson ‘25 would score on an opportunity caused by a hard forecheck from Lindsay Stepnowski ’26 who would steal the puck and move it to Swanson in the slot for the score. The game would remain tied until their period when Rye Country Day would go up 2 -1. KO answered later in the period on a 5-3 powerplay opportunity that would show good puck movement and eventual score on a blast from the left flank by Will Berckemeyer ’22. Aidan Aube ’22 and Cody Brew ’23 would be credited with assists. Despite the good effort for the remainder of the game and OT, the game would end in a 2-2 tie. Matt Cote ’23 had 38 saves in net for KO.

Squash

The Varsity Girls’ Squash team had a strong showing against Pomfret on Feb. 2, winning 6-1 and with several matches being 3-0 sweeps in the Wyverns’ favor. In the no. 3 and 4 spots, co-captains Amrita Natarajan ‘22 and Mackenzie Caruso ‘22 kept their squash strategy in mind and used all corners of the court to their advantage (3-0, 3-0). Macy Isenberg ‘22 had a “battle of the serves” with her opponent in the no. 5 spot, showcasing great volleys and boasts but unfortunately losing 1-3. In the no. 6 spot. Ilianna Brett ‘24 kept building the momentum of her game, in which she started with aggressive serving and finished her points with powerful hitting to the back of the court (3-0). In the no. 1 spot, Sophia Lazor ‘27 was ready to take control of the points with precise straight drives that set up excellent drop shots to the front (3-0). Ava Marseglia ‘25 followed suit in the number two spot by adjusting to her opponent’s hard-hit low shots and responding with challenging drives of her own (3-0). Annabelle Jacobs ‘23 continued her steady improvement over the course of the season by creating effective 1-2 punches from an offensive position on the “T” (3-0), and she also took the extra no. 9 match 2-0. In the number eight spot, Katharine Doar ‘22 was ready to serve and volley to establish herself in each point, coming away with a convincing win (3-0).

Swimming

The Varsity Girls’ Swimming and Diving team had their final home meet of the season on Feb. 5 and came away with a 66-102 loss against Windsor and a 64-108 loss against St. George’s. The girls’ were energized for Senior Day as KO congratulated our seniors Allie Wildstein ’22, Stella Risenger ’22, and Ashleigh Stepnowski ’22. The pool was decorated with awesome posters and balloons. Wildstein, Miya Scranton ‘25, Charlotte Eberle ‘23, and Maggie Poulin ’24 came in 5th in the 200 Medley relay. Risenger, Stephanie Lu ’23, and Sasha Dausey ’25 did well in the 200 free. Wildstein had a nice race in the 200 IM. Makenzie Gallagher ’25 came in 5th in the 50 free. Eberle dove well coming in 2nd and Claire Palmer ’25 made her debut in the one-meter diving. Risenger had a close race in the 100 fly coming in 3rd. In the 100 free, Abbie Wildstein ’26 and Lu came in 3rd and 6th respectively. In the closest race of the day, Risenger, Scranton, Gallagher, and Wildstein came in 2nd in the 200 free relay. Wildstein ’26 won the 100 back while Sasha Dausey ’25 came in 6th. Scranton and Palmer came in 5th and 6th in the 100 breast. The relay of Wildstein ’26, Gallagher, Risenger, and Wildstein ’22 came in 3rd to finish the meet and our other relay of Maggie Poulin ’24, Anna Ollenschleger ’25, Lu, and Dausey swam great times coming in 6th. The team will now prepare for their final two dual meets of the season. 

The Varsity Boys’ Swimming and Diving team lost 81-99 against St. George on Feb. 5. In their final home meet of the season. The team congratulated our seniors Marrich Somridhivej ‘22, David Shi ‘22, Aakash Gunturu ‘22, and Nate Brodrick ‘22. There was tough competition in the pool. The relay of Aidan Ladewig ’23, Martin Ma ’24, Jaedan Curcio ’24, and David Shi ’22 came in 3rd in the 200 medley relay. Eudel Ma ’25 and Martin Ma ’24 both swim strong 200 free coming in 3rd and 4th. Damian Czartoryjski ’24 dominated the 200 IM winning by over 17 seconds. Marrich Somridhivej ’22 won the 50 free and Mason Zimmer ’23 came in 4th. Andrew LaCroix ’24, Sruthen Tokala ’25, and Andy Chen ’25 all swam close to personal bests in the 50 free. Eli Brandt ’23 won the one meter diving. Czartoryjski crushed his competition in the 100 fly winning by over 5 seconds. Somridhivej ’22 and Brandt came in first and second in the 100 free both with great times. Pindar Chen ’25 and Leo Zhang ’24 came in 2nd and 4th respectively in the 500 free. Ma ’25, Brandt, Czartoryjski, and Somridhivej ’22 came in 1st in the 200 free relay. Chen came in 4th in the 100 back. Ma ’24 came in 3rd in the 100 breast. The relay of Ma ’25, Brandt, Czartoryjski, and Somridhivej ’22 also came in first in the 400 free relay. It was another great Saturday at the pool!
The Middle School Swimming team won 78-46 against Hamden Hall on Feb. 9. The team had their first win of the season, and it was an exciting meet with very close races. The team was very supportive of their teammates and everyone was cheering throughout the entire meet. To start the meet, the relay of Abbie Wildstein ’26, Norah Pond ’26, Samit Virmani ’26, and Jackson Poulin ’26 came in first in the 200 medley relay. Immediately after that race, Wildstein, Poulin, and Pond swam the 50 free coming in 1st, 3rd, and 4th respectively. Samit Virmani ’26 came in first in the 100 IM and Miles Gruber ’26 and Aaron Anstead ’28 competed in the event for the first time. The 200 free relay was a very exciting race! The team of Wildstein, Anstead, Virmani, and Poulin won by over 15 seconds. Molly Palmer ’27, Brigette Russell ’26, Ava Bonsignore ‘26, and Lila Wedeles ’26 swam an awesome 200 free relay touching out the competition to earn second place as well as adding valuable points for the team. Norah Pond ’26 swam an awesome 50 breast coming in first and Brigette Russell ’26 once again touched out her opponent to come in second. In the 100 free, Virman, Bonsignore, and Palmer came in first, third, and fourth respectively. Wildstein swam an awesome 50 back coming in first. To finish off the meet, Bonsignore came in second in the 50 fly followed closely by Poulin and Russell who came in 3rd and 5th respectively. It was a very fun win for the team!