Wyvern Nation Sports Wraps – January 20, 2022

Basketball
The Varsity Boys’ Basketball team defeated Pomfret 62-57 in a competitive contest on January 15. The Wyverns were led in scoring by Gavin Griffiths ‘23 (28 points) and Rhandyn Bair ‘24 (16 points). Dalton Grant ‘23 had the biggest bucket of the game hitting a three-pointer with a couple of minutes left after Pomfret cut the lead to one point.

The JV Girls’ Basketball team lost 8-48 against Choate Rosemary Hall on Dec. 10. The Choate Boars proved too much for the Wyverns from the outset of this game. The Wyverns worked hard and never wavered in their efforts to improve their game.

The Middle School Girls’ A Basketball team beat Rumsey Hall 27-20 on January 12. Brooklyn Knowles ‘27 led all scorers with 10 points off of some strong shooting and drives to the basket. Sophia Garza ‘26 added 6 points and Ellory Goodhue ‘27 added 5. Caroline Gauvin ’27 played a solid game on both ends of the court.  

The Varsity Girls’ Basketball team played Wilbraham and Monson Academy on January 12 and lost by a score of 49-38. After having played a few weeks ago and winning a one-point contest, the team knew that Wilbraham would come out ready to get revenge. Despite being undermanned, KO gave a very spirited performance, led by senior Megan Murphy ’22 who led KO with 12 points and hustle and effort plays.  

The Varsity Boys’ Basketball team defeated Taft 66 – 48 on January 10. The Wyverns were led in scoring by Esco Greene ‘23 (30 points) and Gavin Griffiths ‘23 (16 points). KO played strong and aggressive defense which led to great transition opportunities. 

The Middle School Girls’ A Basketball team won 42-2 against Foote School on January 19. It was a true team win as every girl played strong defense and contributed at least one basket in the victory.

The Middle School Boys’ Basketball team started the season strong but fell just short in its home opener against Williston Northhampton 30-33 on January 12. The match-up proved to be a close going back and forth till the very last shots which KO could not make to force it to overtime. The hard-fought game saw tremendous effort and enthusiasm by KO as a team. Every member of the KO team found his way onto the court and contributed to keeping the game tight. Though KO came up short on the scoreboard it was a great game with good sportsmanship all around. Most importantly the game came down to the final shot. Some stand-out performances were made by several KO players. Lucas Wells ‘26 led KO in scoring with 16 points keeping us in the game. Connor Budzick ‘27 dominated inside rebounding and blocking many shots. Lastly, great defense and guard play came from Ethan Gingeleski ‘27 and Nico Seymour ‘27. 

The JV Girls’ Basketball team lost 37-41 against Hopkins on January 15. After building a sizeable lead early on in the game, Hopkins gradually clawed their way back to tie the score in the last minutes of the game. KO moved back ahead in the first overtime but Hopkins tied the score with seconds to go. KO ran off six unanswered points to start the second overtime and Hopkins prevailed. Going four for five from the free-throw line, Olivia Gallup ’25 finished the game with 12 points, leading all scorers.  

Hockey
The Varsity Hockey team won 3-2 against The Harvey School on December 8. KO opened the scoring on a powerplay opportunity that would arise in the 1 st period. Ben Margolis ’23 scored from the left circle off a feed from Sean Gilland ’22 and Nico Bromley ’25. KO scored again in the second period on a full-strength goal by Austin Perkins ’26, on a pass from Sean Gilland ’22 and took a 2-0 lead into the locker room after the second period. The third period didn’t see any scoring again until late in the when Harvey scored for the first time at the 3:56 mark in the period to bring the score to 2-1. KO answered shortly thereafter when Boden Swanson ’25 tipped a Max Bedard ‘24 shot from the blueline on its way to the net for the score. Bedard and Bromley logged the assists. Harvey added one more late goal, and KO  prevailed in the end, 3-2. Despite the close score, KO played very well outshooting Harvey 37-11 and dominating puck possession. Matt Cote ’23  notched the win for the Wyverns in goal.

The Varsity Ice Hockey team won 11-1 against Wooster on January 15.  KO played host to the Wooster School Generals at South Windsor Arena. KO had strong performances from a number of players both on offense and defense. Sean Gilland ‘22 led KO on the night with a five-goal performance and set the tone for the KO attack. Will Berckemeyer ‘22 would post 2 goals and 2 assists. Ben Margolis ‘23, Nico Bromley ‘25, Austin Perkins ’26, and Lindsay Stepnowski ‘26 also scored goals in the game. Cody Brew ‘23 and Seve

Concepcion ‘22 led KO in assists with 4 and 3, respectively. Teddy Crowther ‘22 and Max Bedard ‘24 were solid contributors on the blue line. Matt Cote ‘23 and Gab Abrahmson ‘22 were solid in net, stopping 10 shots in the game. 

Squash
The Middle School Squash team lost 1-6 against the Wyvern Squash Club on December 15.  Although the day resulted in a loss for team KO, game scores were much closer than they were last time they played the Club. These closer games make it clear that the KO players are working hard to improve during practice each day. A shout out to player Henry Jacobs ‘27 for his great effort in the match, and to all of the players for their hard work! 

The Varsity Girls’ Squash team won 5-2 against Westminster on January 13. After having played and won a match the day before, the Wyverns were ready to take on a strong opponent in the Westminster Martlets. The team knew they had to pull off consistent and aggressive squash to take the win, and were ecstatic to take the match 5-2. In the no. 1 and 2 positions, Sophia Lazor ‘27 and Ava Marseglia ‘26 had impressive showings and close games against experienced opponents. Lazor managed her use of both ends of the court effectively, unfortunately with a 0-3 match result, but her hard work and skillset up the team for success as a whole. Marseglia stayed on top of her opponent’s strategy and was ready to respond accordingly, taking her match 3-0. The no. 3 match saw co-captain Amrita Natarajan ‘22 battling for a 12-10 win in the first game and maintaining her momentum to win 3-1, using deep drives and consistent volleys to stay in control. Co-captain Mackenzie Caruso ‘22 was down 2-1 in her no. 4 match, but kept her composure and relied on her use of attacks to the front of the court to come out with a fantastic 3-2 win. Ilianna Brett ‘24 had a marathon match in the no. 5 spot where she showed her mettle, unfortunately losing out 2-3. In the no. 6 and 7 spots, Macy Isenberg ‘22 and Annabelle Jacobs ‘22 maintained precise placement of their shots to control the court and win their matches 3-0. 

The Varsity Girls’ Squash team won 6-1 against Canterbury on January 12. In the team’s first match of the new year, the Wyverns jumped right back into the good momentum they were building up in December. The no. 2, 3, and 6 matches were taken in straight games by Ava Marseglia ‘26, co-captain Amrita Natarajan ‘22, and Macy Isenberg ‘22. Marseglia took advantage of great positioning on the “T” to hit aggressive kill shots into the front corners, while Natarajan used deep cross courts to stay in control of the points, and Isenberg employed high serving and lobs to keep her opponent in the back of the court. In the no. 4 and 5 positions, co-captain Mackenzie Caruso ‘22 and Ilianna Brett ‘24 fought hard to defend the serve and won their matches 3-1, with especially impressive fourth games that demonstrated their adaptive strategies. In the no. 1 position, Sophia Lazor ‘27 had a tough battle (1-3) against an opponent with precise drop shots, but Lazor never gave up and played excellent length shots on both sides of the court. The match of the day came in the no. 7 spot, when Katharine Doar ‘22 traded games with her opponent only to come back from a 2-1 deficit and take the match 3-2. Doar took charge in the last two games with her effective serving off the wall and deep drives to the back on both sides. It was a spectacular showing all around!

The JV Girls’ Squash team lost 0-7 against Westminster on January 13. The team was eager to get back to playing matches, and though they had a tough loss to Westminster (0-7), it was great to see how each player applied their work in practice to their match. In the no. 1 and 2 matches, Regina Miller ‘22 and Sophie Glazier ‘23 showed the hard work they had put into volleying and serve returns, staying in each point and really pressuring their opponents to play that much more consistently. The no. 3 and 4 spots saw Trinity LaFountain ‘22 and Hannah Malkin ‘24 covering all parts of the court effectively. LaFountain’s deep serving and Malkin’s precise backhand volleying helped them remain aggressive in each point. Margaret Miller ‘25 and Avery Hersh ‘24 were ready to compete in the no. 5 and 6 spots, showcasing their footwork and forehand technique to produce many strong shots to the middle and back on the right side. The no. 7 and 8 spots had Alyssa Tousignant ‘25 and Ella Chen ‘25 showing off their consistent serving that started them off on the right foot each point, ensuring that competitive and exciting points would ensue.

The Varsity Girls’ Squash team lost 0-7 against Loomis on December 11. Despite the loss, there were many individual successes within each match. In the no. 8 spot, Katharine Doar ‘22 dug in during a 2-0 deficit to take the third game, demonstrating her grit in the no. 8 position. Annabelle Jacobs ‘23 showed her equanimity in front of an away-match crowd in the no. 7 position, learning from her errors in the first game to play the second and third games with better predictions of her opponent’s attacks. Macy Isenberg ‘22 took steps forward with her effective volleying against an opponent with a particularly strong serve in the no. 6 position, and in the no. 5 position Ilianna Brett ‘24 made sure to attack on the serve and transfer that offensive momentum into the rest of the point. Co-captains Mackenzie Caruso ‘22 and Amrita Natarajan ‘22 extended their points with a variety of shots to put the pressure on their opponents in the no. 4 and 3 positions. In the no. 2 spot, Ava Marseglia ‘26 quickly took control of the front of the court and used efficient defensive movements at the beginning of the points to set herself up for shallow kill shots at the end of the points. Sophia Lazor ‘27 had a remarkable display of squash tactics in the no. 1 spot with her alternation of straight drives and cross courts deep into the corners. On all fronts, it was a great display of improvement by the Wyverns against an opponent with a talented ladder. 

The Varsity Girls’ Squash team lost a hard-fought battle, with a narrow loss of 3-4 against Suffield Academy on December 8. Sophia Lazor ‘27 and Ava Marseglia ‘26 made improvements in each step of their matches while facing highly-skilled, veteran opponents in the no.1 and 2 positions. Co-captain Amrita Natarajan ‘22 utilized her trademark deep cross courts to take control of the center of the court and win 3-0 in the no. 3 position. In the no. 4 position, co-captain Mackenzie Caruso ‘22 played with intentional serving and clever drop shots to respond to the effective volleying from her opponent, and she took the match 3-1. Ilianna Brett ‘24 and Macy Isenberg ‘22 battled to the end in the no. 5 and 6 positions, staying consistent with the strategy of moving the opponent to the back of the court with shots that sailed off of the front wall. In the no. 7 position, Annabelle Jacobs ‘23 adapted quickly after a close loss in the first game to take her match 3-1. Her use of high straight drives and her strategic awareness of the opponent’s position gave her a comfortable lead after the first game. And finally, in the no. 8 position, Katharine Doar ‘22 kept her cool in a 12-10 first game, only to improve upon that performance, and used her relentless forehand drives to dominate the court. It’s always tough to lose a 4-3 match, but the close competition only makes the Wyvern’s play better! 

The Middle School Squash team lost 3-4 against Hopkins on December 8. It was a great start to the season! All twelve competing players worked hard and put their best efforts forward, resulting in some very close games. In particular, Jake Rossi ‘28 and Drew Doering ‘28 never let up as they reached their fifth consecutive game. The team look’s forward to competing in five more matches this season! 

The Middle School Squash team lost 0-7 against the Wyvern Squash Club on December 11. Although the games were challenging, the players gained valuable experience that will benefit them as they compete four more times this winter. The coaches especially thanked the Form 2 players who competed with the team, Ciaran Concepcion ‘26 and Lia Prahl ‘26, for their positive attitudes and optimism during some tough games.