Inspirational quotes, posters hanging around the school, a giant banner overflowing with signatures, and a sea of students sporting “end the R-word” t-shirts. I bet you thought you had seen it all during Inclusive Schools Week here at Hanover High School, but not so. The unified basketball game Monday night was the grand finale of events designed to showcase how HHS strives to create a safe learning environment for students of all abilities.
Mrs. Gately, a Spanish teacher at HHS and the creator of the Friendship Connection Club, has been leading practices for weeks with her team of players from both the boys and girls basketball teams, student volunteers, and students from the Life Skills program at HHS. The team practiced their shooting and passing, and bonded on the court before the big game.
As 6:30 on Monday rolled around, the team donned their yellow “Hanover Unified” t-shirts and warmed up in the gym as fans filtered in and filled the stands. Parents, teachers, and a great showing of students came to cheer on the team against Abington’s unified team. National Honor Society and student council members, the entire hockey team, and representatives from various other sports and clubs packed the bleachers of the gym. A round of applause went up for each member of the team as they were announced, and the energy in the gym was extremely positive throughout the night.
Despite a 36-28 win by Abington, Hanover kept a positive mentality and upbeat attitude until the very end. Not only was it an amazing game to watch, but a life- changing event to participate in. Hanover basketball varsity starter Meaghan Raab stated, “It was the most positive environment I have ever played in, how could you not have a good time?” That’s saying something, because Meg has seen many basketball games in her lifetime!
“It was the best thing I have ever been a part of,” varsity player Lissy Delahunt exclaimed after the timer sounded. “I had so much fun!”
Mrs. Gately called it “one of the best nights of my teaching career with the most special kids.”
Based on the feedback from students and the huge fan section, we can definitely expect to see more unified games in Hanover High School’s future!
Winter Sports teams at Hanover High School exceeded expectations and impressed all. Between a multitude of league titles and record-breaking seasons, our winter teams performed unbelievably well and several made it deep into tournament play.
Boys Hockey: See my separate article on the team’s state tourney run
Girls Basketball Ends Tourney Run
Photo by Jill Drummy
Hanover girls basketball’s perfect season came to an end on March 9 as they lost 43-38 in the Division 3 South Semifinals. The game was played at Massasoit College and Hanover, top-seeded with a 22-0 record, was the favorite going in. At the half, Hanover led Coyle & Cassidy 22-18, and at the end of the third, Hanover was up 33-31 — its smallest lead in quite a while. Both teams fought to the final buzzer, but in the end, Coyle & Cassidy came away with the stunning upset. Even though it was Hanover’s only loss in an amazing season, the heartbreak was written all over the player’s faces.
Every single time the Hanover girls basketball team took the floor this season, they won. They earned an incredible 16-0 record against teams in the Patriot League and finished 20-0 overall in the regular season. In the tourney, the Indians beat Middleboro at home 69-23 on March 2 and Abington 65-39 on March 4. To be perfect through a whole season is incredibly hard and to complete the job in the postseason is something that almost never happens.
Despite being knocked from the tourney, the team had a lot to celebrate this season. Senior Steph Flynn and Junior Hayley Wardwell both reached 1,000 points in their high school careers, which is an amazing milestone. Led by Coach Fisher and captains Flynn and Kayla McMahon, the rest of the team was strong at every position. Juniors Wardwell, Meaghan Raab and Megan Dixon and sophomores Lauren Gelly and Taylor Scott were big contributors and will be among the players returning next season.
Boys Basketball Falls to Rival Norwell in Tournament
Photo by Jill Drummy
The team was knocked out in the first round of tournament play in a 49-46 loss to rival Norwell on March 3. With last June’s graduation of top player Jack Buckley and other strong seniors, the boys basketball team had big shoes to fill. The season started strong, but the team stumbled near the end, losing its last four games. Coached by Nick Hannigan and led by senior captains John Carroll and Jonny Ferrarini, Hanover finished 12-8 to earn 11th seed in the Division 3 South tournament.
In the matchup against Norwell, the Indians relied heavily on top scorers including sophomores Matthew Delahunt and J.P. Landry, junior Pat Flynn and senior captain John Carroll. Norwell had beaten Hanover earlier this year in a Christmas tournament, and Hanover was looking for revenge. The team played with heart and gave Norwell a scare down the stretch, but couldn’t pull out the win.
Still, the team can look back on a season with many accomplishments. There’s also great hope for the future with so many underclassmen contributing this year.
Girls Hockey Wins First League Title
The girls hockey team made history by winning its first league title in the program’s five-year history. Composed of 35 girls from Hanover and Cohasset, the team, in theory, should find it hard to develop chemistry with teammates who don’t even live in the same town. But this obviously was not a problem because they finished an unbelievable 13-4-2. The top three point leaders on the team were from Hanover: senior Sam Taylor, junior Callie Hoadley and senior Karly Bowen.
Photo by Jill Drummy
With the momentum of a league championship and great team chemistry, the squad was looking to make it deep into the Division 2 tournament. Unfortunately, 10th-seeded Hanover/Cohasset fell to 23rd-seeded Natick 1-0 in the first round of playoffs March 1. Despite the early exit, the team can still be proud of its league championship and look to next season with high hopes.
Wrestling Racks Up Honors, Boutin’s Season Rolls On
The Wrestling team finished 5-2 and had four Patriot League All Stars: juniors Hunter Gillis, Danny Ryan and Damien Galotti and senior Colin Boutin. Boutin was also named the MVP of the Patriot League for the regular season. These honors show the sheer talent of this team.
Ryan and Boutin competed at All-States, with Boutin finishing 5th and qualifying for the All-New England Championships held March 4 and 5 in Providence, R.I. Ryan won one of three matches at All-States. Boutin went 1-2 at the All-New England competition.
A great overall year leaves many excited for next year as the team has a lot of returning talent and will hopefully continue to win.
Ski Team Sends One Member to States
The Hanover High School Ski team is one that people may not know much about. Traditionally, the team is small but every member expresses how much fun it is, regardless of its win-loss record.
Coach Matt McRae says the team is not just for elite skiiers. “If you love skiing, the ski team is a great opportunity to be skiing multiple days a week,” he said. “You just need to love being on the mountain and being part of a team.”
That perfectly sums up the positive attitude of having fun and being part of a team. The team practices and races at Blue Hills ski area, and also has multiple events at Ragged Mountain. Junior Max Shelley competed in states at Wachussett Mountain on Feb. 23 and came in 90th in a field of more than 125 skiers.
As the team looks to next year, Coach McRae encourages any interested students to come out. “We don’t discriminate against snowboarders,” he also noted, so even if you’re not a skier, you can still consider joining the team.
Swimmers Make Strong Showing at States
The boys and girls swimming and diving teams both had one of their best seasons in many years. The boys finished 7-3 and the girls finished 6-4, a result of strong individual swimmers and relay teams. Seven girls and five boys from the teams competed in sectionals and in states. At states, the boys finished 14th overall and the girls were 38th.
An unbelievable statistic from this season was that every single swimmer on the team recorded his or her personal best time this year. At states, senior Calley Madison finished 15th in the 200 IM and 19th in the 100 butterfly, and junior captain Jodie O’Connor was 14th in the 50 free and 17th in the 100 free. Sophomore Nick Jones finished fifth in the 500 free and sixth in the 100 butterfly. Junior Aidan Wright was tenth in the 100 butterfly and 11th in the 100 back.
Their meets ranged from pools at University of Massachusetts Boston to the YMCA in Hanover. Led by Coach Toohey and captains O’Connor, Taylor Grady and Will DeBoer, it seemed no matter where the boy or girls team was swimming, they were going to be very tough to beat . The swim team it seems gets better and better each year and only will continue to get better as each season comes along.
Gymnastics Finishes with Winning Record
Photo by Jill Drummy
The girls gymnastics team finished the season 8-2, with tight losses coming at the start of the season to Pembroke and Cohasset. The team performed consistently throughout the season and finished with an incredible streak of seven wins, beating both Pembroke and Cohasset the second time around. Those revenge wins must have felt very satisfying to Coach Hart and the team. Next season, with a lot of young talent returning, the team looks to improve their already elite team and put together an even better record.
Follow me on Twitter @TrevorBlaisdell for more updates on all Hanover Athletics.
The Boston Celtics did not make any transactions at the recent NBA trade deadline. Danny Ainge, the team’s president of basketball operations, said ‘no good deals’ were available during the course of talks with many teams. Rumors had started to grow about the Celtics acquiring big names like Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford or Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard. Both would be risky picks: Horford is a free agent after this season so if the Celtics were to go for him, he might not even play for the team next year, and Howard’s ego can be bigger than his game.
The Celtics have seven first round picks over the next three NBA drafts, which is unbelievable. In 2016 the Celtics have their pick, Brooklyn’s pick and Dallas’s pick. In the 2017 NBA draft, the Celtics have the right to swap with Brooklyn and trade places. Then in 2018, they’ll have their own first round pick as well as Brooklyn’s and Memphis’. As competitive as the Celtics have been in the league this year, they can look forward to a bright future, having lined up so many top picks. It’s a fan’s dream to have a bright future as well as a winning season now. Teams like the Philadelphia 76ers lose all the time and have good draft picks but it will take years for them to become competitive. Then there are teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, who trade their picks and sign big name free agents for big money in order to win now. The bad side of that strategy is that it’s all about the here and the now. The future is non existent for teams like that. It’s a tough thing to balance but no one is doing it better then the Boston Celtics are doing it right now.
Names like Pau Gasol, Kevin Love and Blake Griffin were also rumored to possibly land in Boston via trade but those are such high-profile players that it would take even more than their value to acquire them and Danny Ainge is not one to overspend on a player. Undoubtedly, the Celtics will trade some of their first-round draft picks to acquire a superstar talent as having a top ten player is the only way to legitimately compete for a championship in the NBA. This year, hopefully the Celtics can make a deep playoff run and get their group of young players post-season experience because they most definitely will be back in the NBA playoffs for years to come.
Now that Super Bowl 50 is over, many teams are looking ahead to the NFL Draft in April. Cam Newton was the main reason the Carolina Panthers were able to reach Super Bowl 50. Although his play wasn’t enough to win, Cam still had an incredible season and was named the league’s MVP for the 2015-16 season. The Denver Broncos’ Von Miller most definitely was a main force in the Broncos season success as well as their Super Bowl win. Miller was named MVP of the Super Bowl, which is very unusual for a defensive player.
What Cam Newton and Von Miller have in common is that they played each other in the Super Bowl, they are both 26 years old, they were drafted the same year one after another. Cam Newton was the number one overall pick in the 2011 draft. Von Miller was second.
It’s natural to think back to that draft, and ponder the top 10 picks. If teams could have seen into the future, would they have chosen differently? If I was in charge, I would’ve made some different choices. Here is a list of the teams with the top 10 picks that year, who they chose and who I think they should’ve chosen.
1. Carolina Panthers: QB Cam Newton, QB Cam Newton
2.Denver Broncos: OLB Von Miller, OLB Von Miller
Both teams have seen their choices pay off. No changes necessary there.
3. Buffalo Bills: DT Marcell Dareus, DE JJ Watt
The Bills took a good player in Marcell Dareus, who has started and played very well. JJ Watt is arguably the best defensive player to ever live, so if the Bills had known what Watt would turn into, I think there’s no doubt they would’ve snapped him up.
4. Cincinnati Bengals: WR A. J. Green, WR Julio Jones
Cincinnati also took one of the best wide receivers in the league in A. J. Green. It’s just that Julio Jones’ production has been better during the course of their young careers.
5. Arizona Cardinals: CB Patrick Peterson, CB Richard Sherman
Richard Sherman is known for his loud mouth and shutting down star receivers every week. Peterson and Sherman are top three cornerbacks in the league so you couldn’t go wrong with either but Sherman is better than Peterson.
6. Atlanta Falcons: WR Julio Jones, WR A. J. Green
In my revised draft, Julio Jones would already have been taken by the Bengals, because it would be an absolute steal to get one of the best receivers in the NFL. Therefore, the Falcons would end up with Green, who is still a pretty good catch.
7. San Francisco 49ers: DE Aldon Smith, DT Marcell Dareus
Aldon Smith is currently serving a one-year suspension based on multiple criminal charges against him so I would just about guarantee San Francisco would take a reliable defensive player and not Smith.
8. Tennessee Titans: QB Jake Locker, QB Andy Dalton
Jake Locker retired at the age of 26 to the surprise of just about every single person. The Titans were left without a quarterback and now Jake Locker is known as one of the biggest busts in draft history.
9. Dallas Cowboys: OT Tyron Smith, CB Patrick Peterson
The Cowboys’ pick of offensive tackle Tyron Smith was a great choice and Smith has exceeded expectations. He’s become a premier lineman. But in the NFL, shutdown cornerbacks are of high demand and I think any team would go back and take Peterson because of how elite he’s been over his career.
10. Jackson Jaguars: QB Blaine Gabbert, QB Colin Kaepernick
Quarterback Blaine Gabbert was taken 10th overall, but has joined a long list of Jaguars quarterbacks who didn’t pan out. Once given the opportunity, Colin Kaepernick lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl in 2012. Kaepernick would have been the best available quarterback to take.
Out of the 32 teams in the National Football League, only four teams are still playing. Twenty teams saw their seasons end without making it to the playoffs and eight teams were eliminated from playoff contention this past weekend. After next Sunday, that number will drop to two and we will have our Super Bowl matchup.
The defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots defeated the Kansas City Chiefs at home 27-20 to advance to their fifth AFC Championship game in a row. The return of Julian Edelman for the Patriots was a huge factor as the absence of Edelman with a broken foot hurt the Patriots’ offense in the latter half of the season. The Patriots defense played well as did the offense, converting on many 3rd downs which allowed them to extend drives into points. The Chiefs seemed overwhelmed defensively trying to slow down Tom Brady and that lead to 27 points which the Chiefs could not match.
Another matchup was the Arizona Cardinals versus the Green Bay Packers in Arizona. The game was absolutely wild with Aaron Rodgers throwing one pass about 50 yards to set up the hopeful Hail Mary pass which was then caught for a touchdown as time expired to send the game to overtime. The first pass for the Cardinals offensive was caught by Larry Fitzgerald and run for 75 yards down to the three-yard line. The run set up Fitzgerald for a touchdown and a trip to the NFC Championship game. Arizona’s defense fooled Rodgers and the Packers offense by disguising coverage and forcing turnovers. Carson Palmer, Arizona’s quarterback, played poorly from everything I saw, missing elementary throws and just making too many mistakes. But Rodgers’ mistakes helped Palmer by giving him chances to score and the Cardinals ultimately pulled out the win to advance.
The next game was easily the most intriguing matchup as it was the Carolina Panthers hosting the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks represented the NFC in the Super Bowl the past two seasons but the Panthers only lost one of 16 regular season games. The Panthers were winning 31-0 and in absolute control of the game, but let their guard down and the Seahawks made a major comeback. All the Seahawks troubles in the first half consisted of poor run defense and bad blocking by Seattle’s offensive line. In the second half, both were fixed and in fact thrived resulting in the Seahawks down 7 and going for an onside kick with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter. A great kick by Steven Hauschka gave Seattle a chance to get the ball but an even better catch by Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis sealed the win for the Panthers.
Lastly, the Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Denver to take on the Broncos. Without Antonio Brown, the Steelers star wide receiver, the odds were not in Pittsburgh’s favor. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger also was playing through a shoulder injury. Denver’s defense is its strongest unit and it showed as it held a top-three offense in Pittsburgh to a dismal 13 points. Broncos QB Peyton Manning managed the game well as he always does and led their offense to enough points to secure the win.
Now that the conference championship games are set, here are my predictions for the winners and why. From the AFC, the Patriots will win in Denver 28-24. The most prolific offense in football is the New England offense. There’s not a team that can cover the best slot receiver in Julian Edelman and the best tight end in Rob Gronkowski as well as stopping the best quarterback in league as well. Most likely this will be the last Manning versus Brady game, which is definitely one to watch as it’s a historic rivalry coming to an end.
The NFC Championship game is obvious in my mind, with Carolina beating Arizona 35-21. Arizona’s Carson Palmer struggled against the Packers man to man largely. Carolina plays a lot of zone defenses so Palmer should play better than he did against the Packers as decision-making is much easier against a zone. Still, I don’t think Arizona will be able to pull off the win. Carolina’s Cam Newton will be the NFL MVP for the 2015-16 season and is playing at too high of a level for the Panthers’ season to end.
The AFC championship game can be seen Sunday on CBS at 3:30. The NFC championship is at 6:40 on FOX.
Every winter it seems the team in Hanover with the highest expectations is the boys Hockey team. Regular season games are filled with screaming fans and players who feed off the loyalty and frenzy of their fans. The whole community rallies around the hockey team, and come playoff time rinks are filled with Hanover students and residents to see the boys pull out another win. The 2015-2016 season has not disappointed, as the Indians have gone 10-1.
The only loss through nine games was to Pembroke and the rematch later this season will be very meaningful, according to Junior forward Ryan Mahoney.
“We can’t play selfish, we need to move the puck much better than we did the first time we played them,” he said. “They were an aggressive team and next time we hope to draw more penalties and get our power play involved as it’s one of the stronger parts of our team.”
The Indians have 10 games left in their season and look to push for a high seed come playoff time. If any team makes the playoffs, it’s usually a pretty big accomplishment for the program. But with Hanover Boys Hockey being such a consistently winning program, playoffs are expected for the team. With Hanover playing in Division 3, they wouldn’t have to face the Division 2-Pembroke again. The Indians should make a deep playoff run this year as they are loaded with talent. The team that could give Hanover the most trouble is Norwell. Hanover was eliminated by Norwell last year in the playoffs. Hanover did have the upper hand when they played this season as Hanover beat Norwell 2-1.
It’s very realistic that Hanover will be able to go to the Division 3 championship game at The TD Garden and win a state title. Led by captains Noah Clapp in goal and Landon Hasenfuss at center, the Indians are solid in all aspects of the game and are an unbelievably talented team. For more about the Hockey team and all other Winter Sports teams, check back for the Winter Sports Wrap Up coming soon.
The Hawk 