Windham leaves it all on the court against GNG

Kayla Fillinger

By Matt Pascarella

The unified basketball team took on Gray New Gloucester (GNG), at home, on Tuesday, February 25^th.

Windham began by getting several turnovers, stealing possession from GNG. Cameron Malone, #44, put Windham on the board after he made his first basket. Kayla Fillinger, #23, kept it going as she made the next basket. Windham took an early lead. Natalle Medina. #14, grabbed several rebounds and sunk a basket too. Brianna Webber, #5, also sunk a basket. Austin Rice, #3, had a great steal and moments later sunk a shot from very close to the three-point line. Nate Hall, #50, went in for the layup and added another two points to the scoreboard. The game was close. Dani Iaconeta, #2, made a fantastic basket, not once, but three times in the first half. Ben Silva, #34, added another two points to Windham’s score. Hall sunk a three pointer. Seven points separated the two teams. Before the end of the first half, it was slightly narrower.

Half: 29-26, Windham

There was nice passing by Windham at the start of the second half. Rice made a basket, after he faked a pass and fooled his opponent. GNG was not far behind. The game was then tied at 36. AJ Mains, #42, made a sweet shot. Windham had strong offense and defense. Silva had several rebounds and took possession from GNG. After a solid effort by Windham, GNG got the win, 63-44.

“Going into the game we were really pumped up, the kids have been practicing really hard on their shooting and especially their defense,” said coach Brittany Taylor. “They were positive, optimistic and by the end they did a really solid job, they were very consistent. GNG is a tough team; I feel like this was a good matchup...and [Windham’s] effort was...consistent from beginning to end."

The battle of the Trail Blazers v. Knighthawks

Austin White

By Matt Pascarella

Windham/Westbrook/Bonny Eagle (Trail Blazers) played Marshwood/Noble/Sanford/Traip (Knighthawks) in a Class A playoff game on Friday, February 21^st at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

The Trail Blazers were aggressive from the start, as they went hard after the puck; and worked to be first to the puck. Austin White, #34, headed straight to the goal, with no one but the goalie to stop him. White got close but didn’t get the puck between the posts. On more than one occasion, the Trail Blazers took several shots very close to the goal, as they worked to get the puck in.

After one period: 0-0

The Trail Blazers kept up the intensity in the second period. They continued to take shots on goal and skated hard as they got close to the goal, and tried to get the puck in. The Trail Blazers had strong defense and kept the Knighthawks from scoring for two periods.

After two periods: 0-0

Roughly 15 seconds into the third period, the Knighthawks scored. The Trail Blazers didn’t slow down as they worked to reverse the score. They continued to take multiple shots on the Knighthawks’ goal, and got the puck in the ‘goal crease,’ the blue area in front of the goal, but, unfortunately, not between the posts. After a solid effort, the Trail Blazers weren’t able to turn it around.

Final: 1-0, Knighthawks.

“Going into the game I thought we had a chance to have some success,” stated coach Greg Leclair. “Tonight, I think we outplayed them, for three periods and unfortunately, they got the one bounce it takes to win the game. I think our kids played tremendously well and just came up short.”

Windham/GNG performs well at Class A Tournament

Andrew Martin getting ready to pin down Sanford wrestler

By Matt Pascarella

The wrestling team had five qualifiers for the Class A State Tournament, held at Sanford High School on Saturday, February 15^th. Qualifiers from all over central and southern Maine competed in this meet. The qualifying participants from Windham/Gray New Gloucester are: Gabe Rosado, Scott Ingalls, Owen McDuffie, Andrew Martin and Garrett Allen.

Rosado wrestled Marshwood in the 126-weight class. He threw Marshwood off balance, as he worked hard to get his opponent’s back flat on the mat. After a solid effort by Rosado, Marshwood won.

Scott Ingalls went up against Massabesic in the 138-weight class. He fought and tried hard, but Massebesic got the win.

In the 160-weight class, Andrew Martin took on Sanford. Martin was quick to get his opponent right to the mat. Martin pressured, as he kept Sanford’s shoulders to the mat and pinned Sanford for the win.

Owen McDuffie wrestled in the 152-weight class against top seeded Noble. McDuffie fought hard from the very beginning. He pressured, as he got Noble’s shoulders almost to the mat, he kept Noble down. Although McDuffie did not pin his opponent, he won the match 13-8.

“It felt really good, because I lost to that guy earlier in the year,” said McDuffie. “I was thinking I had to shoot low; I couldn’t really work upper body with that guy. He’s also really good upper body, so I didn’t want to play to his strength, I wanted to play to my strength, which is...getting to his ankle and getting to his leg.”

Garrett Allen wrestled Massabesic in the 220-weight class and did well as he fought from being pinned. Allen maneuvered away from his opponent a couple times before Massabesic got the pin.

“Overall I thought everyone battled hard,” observed coach John Nicholas. “We won a couple that I wasn’t sure [about] and then lost a couple close ones. As a team we’re close. It’s all part of the learning experience. McDuffie and Martin still have a chance to get into the New England Qualifier, so we’ll hopefully keep the season going and if not, we’ll get back to work and keep plugging away.”

Swim team has great showing at Southwestern Meet

Chloe Desmond

By Matt Pascarella

The swim team travelled to Cape Elizabeth High School with the girls competing on Saturday, February 8^th and the boys competing on Monday, February 10^th for the Southwestern’s South Division meet. Windham competed against Biddeford, Bonny Eagle, Freeport, Gorham, Kennebunk, Massabesic, Portland, Sanford, Thornton Academy, Waynflete, Wells and Yarmouth.

These Eagles left it all in the pool as they put every ounce of energy they had into their events.

Girls

Windham finished fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:54.42. They came in sixth in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 2:15.61.

Katharyn Lucas finished seventh in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:13.75. She also finished seventh in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:01.44.

Chloe Desmond finished tenth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:44.12.

Haley Theberge finished 12^th in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:12.88

Chloe Wilcox came in eighth in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 6:25.11

Windham finished seventh with a score of 93 – 20 points above where they were seeded to finish.

Boys

Windham came in third in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:57.70. The Eagles also finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:48.43.

Sebastian Anghel finished third in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:04.10. Lyden Fogg placed eighth in that same event with a time of 1:10.38.

Evan Desmond finished first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.11 seconds. He also placed second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.38 seconds.

Simon Gabaree finished eighth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:07.10.

Windham finished second with a score of 169. And every single kid on the boys’ team had a hand in scoring at least one point toward that total.

“Our team chemistry has been some of the best team chemistry top to bottom that we’ve ever had. You saw that with the girls...and the way they came together and exceeded their expectations,” observed coach Pete Small. “The guys really took momentum from the girls. They were really focused. These kids worked so hard... I couldn’t be more proud of what they did.”

Indoor track shows they are ready for States at Southwestern Championship Meet

Hannah Langstaff

By Matt Pascarella

The Indoor Track team competed in the SMAA (Southern Maine Activities Association) South Western Championship Meet at the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham campus on Saturday, February 8^th. Windham competed against Biddeford, Bonny Eagle, Cheverus, Deering, Falmouth, Gorham, Kennebunk, Marshwood, Massabesic, Noble, Portland, Sanford, Scarborough, South Portland, Thornton Academy and Westbrook.

The Eagles gave it everything they had and proved they were ready for the state meet as Windham finished in the top ten in many events.

Boys

Connor Langstaff finished first in the high jump junior division with a distance of five feet six inches. He also finished seventh in the 55-meter hurdles junior division with a time of 9.11 seconds.

In the triple jump junior division, Will Stewart finished third with a distance of 36 feet 4.75 inches and sixth in the long jump junior division with a distance of 17 feet 2.25 inches.

Niall Gushe finished tenth in the 400-meter dash senior division with a time of 56.22 seconds.

Windham finished eighth in the 4x200 meter relay open division with a time of 1:43.74. They finished fifth in the 4x800 meter relay open division with a time of 9:09.04.

The boys finished 11^th overall, tied with South Portland, with 26 points.

“Overall, our performances were right where we expected them to be,” observed coach Paula Pock. “Our junior division had strong performances. We are hoping everyone is healthy and finishes their season with their personal best.”

Girls

Katelyn Smith

Hannah Langstaff finished first in the 600-yard dash open division and broke her school record with a time of 1:29.58. Langstaff also won the ‘Most Improved Senior Division’ award which she said gave her confidence for her races to come.

Katelyn Smith won the ‘Outstanding Field Event Senior Girls’ award which she said was nice to be recognized for all her hard work. Smith also finished first in the triple jump with a distance of 34 feet and 5.50 inches.

Sierra Guite finished fourth in the high jump senior division with a distance of four feet eight inches.

Windham finished seventh overall with a score of 46.50.

“I think we’ve done well,” stated coach Denise Curry. “Hannah Langstaff won the 600 and broke her school record by two seconds. We had two good awards. Katelyn [Smith] won second in the long jump. Our goal was to beat seventh, and I think we’re coming in right around seventh.”