With the MIAA Tournament season upon us yet again – this time for winter sports – several teams and individuals have already had their season come to a close. Here’s a brief rundown:

Swimming

The Swim and Dive team found success this winter on both team and individual levels. Both sides had quality records and sent members on to sectionals and then states for Division 2. At sectionals, the boys team finished 26th out of 60. The 200 free relay team of Aidan Wright, Shawn Doolin, Will DeBoer and Nick Jones finished 14th. Jones finished in fifth place in the 500 free and 13th in the 200 individual medley. Wright was 21st in the 100 fly and 30th in the 100 back. The 200 medley relay team of Wright, Ed Geswell, Jones and Doolin finished 29th with a time of 1:51.83. At states, the team finished 23rd out of 48 teams. Both of Hanover’s relay teams qualified for states and finished 15th. On the individual side, Jones finished 11th in the state in the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.08 and 17th in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 23.20.  Wright came in 8th in the 100 yard backstroke with a 57.34 and 13th in the 100 yard butterfly with a 54.64. This was the most competitive the team has been for awhile and the future is bright.

On the girls side, only Jodie O’Connor managed to qualify for sectionals. She swam in the 50 and 100 free at sectionals, finishing 16th in the 50 free and 21st in the 100 free. Competing in the same events at states, she came in 21st in 50 free and 24th in the 100 free. Only a sophomore, she will continue to bring success for the team the next two years.

Gymnastics

The squad’s season was short but successful. Sophomore Lauren Galotti was able to qualify for states. She competed this past weekend but did not place. Like a lot of Hanover teams this year, it seems the team had a lot of talented underclassmen and the future is bright.

Skiing

The Ski team season started late because of a lack of snow in December and early January, and wrapped up fairly quickly with their state meet taking place on February 23. The team had a solid season, coming in 5th overall in the league. Max Shelley competed in states out at Wachusett Mountain. He raced in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events and placed in the top 20 for the event as a whole.

So far this season, the Girls’ Varsity basketball team has earned a very impressive 9-5 record on the season. The team lost a tremendous senior class last season, one that wouldn’t be easy to replace. On top of that, the team has been without one of its best players, sophomore Megan Dixon, for a good chunk of the season. Most recently, the team knocked of D3 South rival Norwell 41 to 31. Junior Steph Flynn had 20 points.

Flynn has been the offensive key for Hanover this season. In her third year starting on varsity, she has been consistently going for double digits for awhile now. Hanover is a young team this year but they are not without experience as many of their contributors are on their second or third go-round on varsity. Junior Point Guard Kayla McMahon, in her third year on varsity, is putting up good numbers. Meaghan Raab was an off-and-on starter last year, but this year has been filling up down low. Sophomore Maeve Hennebury, who saw some varsity time last year, has been a contributor off the bench this year. Forward Emily Sweeney and Guards Marissa Nimeskern and Alyssa Delahunt, all juniors, are returning after seeing some varsity time last year and have played key minutes.

Recently, it seems like every year the team has a couple of talented freshman. This year is no different. Taylor Scott has been filling a big role for the team so far. Lauren Gelly has been a nice asset for the squad. It’s a luxury that the Indians have been able to replenish so well recently.

The team is 8-4 in league play, good for a very high standing. The Patriot League is very tough with Scituate, Duxbury and Quincy perennially putting out very talented teams. Both the Plymouth teams who are new to the league this year have good teams. Dixon, who started last year as a freshman and is a very talented player, was a big loss  when she went down for the season with an injury. The team had to deal with some adversity and struggled for a patch, but is back on track to their winning ways. As long as they continue to perform at a high level, the Indians have as much potential as any winter sports team to make some noise in the tournament.

Hey I got bored, so I’m writing about the boys hockey team like they’re Viking warriors. In the middle of another strong season with a record of 8-3-2, the team has earned a spot in the postseason tournament and has its eye on a return to the state championship. I figured they deserved an epic ballad to recount their saga and urge them on.

They ride, they ride on a chariot of gold and black,

Chewing and gnashing  on their sticks in pent-up fury, ready to attack.

Their equipment soaked with the  fear of those who cross their path,

They were forgotten, for their very names became the past.

Blades sharpened on a skull shattered in two,

Their enemies’ fear is palpable, and that will be cut too.

Hope is all the enemy can wish for

Yet they still believe that their feeble troop will score.

Ha! I laugh at the arrogance of these over-confident fools,

For have they not heard of the Hanover team that rules?

Have they not heard of the 25 men,

Bound together, win by win?

These crown-less kings of the frozen domain

Leave their mark through terror and pain.

A pain well-known, and certainly remembered

It scars the DNA and burns like a hot ember.

Their well-sharpened blades flay the ice they charge through

Sticks crash and break spirits, and panes of glass too.

The blood-thirsty crowd will laugh all the day

Sneering at those bold enough to block their way.

Mocking those who lay defeated on the winter curtain,

When facing this blitzkrieg of flesh, nothing is certain.

But for teams that face HHS, one thing is true,

Hell has stepped on the rink, and there is no hope for you.

Photo Courtesy of the Friends of Hanover Hockey website

The girls hockey team found great success in an unlikely spot recently, the HHS cafeteria. They quickly sold out of the colorful winter hats they were selling as a fund raiser at all three lunches (the hats are now back on the market after about a week’s hiatus). However, the team’s biggest triumphs so far this season have been on the ice.

Coming into this Saturday’s clash against Ursuline Academy, the Cohasset/Hanover co-op team has a nice record of 7 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie. In league play, the team is 6-2 with a dominating ratio of scoring 23 goals while only giving up 13.  Offensively, Junior Sam Taylor and Sophomore Callie Hoadley have led the scoring charge. They each have 9 goals apiece. Hoadley leads the team with 18 points having chipped in 9 assists. Taylor is second with 14 points. On the Cohasset side, Senior Captain Valerie Farren has been putting up great numbers. She comes in with 6 goals and 6 assists for third on the team with 12 points.  A trio of sophomores from Cohasset — Katie Talacci, Kaitlin McGovern, and Alex Martini — are the next three point leaders, each with 5 or 6 points.

In net, Cohasset Junior Shea Kearney has been one of the best goalies in the South Shore, singlehandedly keeping Cohasset/Hanover in some games. She has a save percentage of .954 (95.4%) and has saved 312 of 330 shots on the year. For perspective, the goalie for Winthrop/Lynn, which is 9-3 and  one of the top 15 teams in the state, has faced considerably fewer 273 shots while playing in 11.6 of their 12 games.  Kearney has played only 8.6 of  C/H’s 12 games and has faced more attacks on the net. She has been steadily reinforced by Hanover bac up Emily Marciello  The other HHS members listed on the varsity roster are Senior Forward Erin Smith, Sophomore Forward Kailey Murphy, Junior Defense Molly Cameron, Freshman Forward/Defense Sydney Davis, Freshman Defense Morgan Lundin, Freshman Forward Alyssa Wilcox, and Sophomore Defense Cassidy Bodie. Bodie and Cameron, as well as Jenna O’Brien of Cohasset, make up a big part of the team’s defense this year.

The team and the program have improved steadily from their inception just a few years ago. This year appears to be following that trend. Last year, Hanover bowed in the second round of the D2 south playoffs to a young and talented Milton team that could roll more lines than Hanover’s two. This year, while depth can still be an issue for C/H, the talented underclassmen have been providing key minutes. The team plays a more unorthodox schedule than a lot of Hanover teams. This year they have faced very talented teams such as Medway/Ashland, Archbishop Williams, and Notre Dame Academy as well as teams like Mansfield/Oliver Ames, Latin Academy (Boston), King Phillip, and Ursuline Academy. Despite being based out of the lackluster Zapustas Rink in Randolph, hardly a home rink, the team has found great success on the road as well as at home. The first two lines need to keep up their highly potent offense and the girls need to start finding offense from unexpected sources. If they can do that, and shore up the second-string back line, Cohasset/Hanover will not only be tourney bound, but true D2 South Contenders.

Instead of focusing on preparing for the Super Bowl matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots have spent the last week fighting off accusations of cheating. According to the NFL, 11 out of the 12 footballs used in the AFC Championship game between the Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts were deflated by two pounds per square inch. In theory, deflating the balls would make them easier for quarterback Tom Brady to throw and his receivers to catch.

In two press conferences this past week, coach Bill Belichick has insisted he had “no explanation” for what happened before the game with the football. He said the team even conducted its own experiments to prove that weather or normal handling of the ball could account for their change in size. Brady said, “I would never break the rules.” I find it hard to believe what Brady is saying because he wouldn’t tell the press what was said behind closed doors to his teammates. But at the same time, this doesn’t make him guilty of cheating.

Personally, I don’t think the Patriots should be forced to pay large fines or be penalized more than a fourth round draft pick because it’s only ball pressure. It’s not the reason why the Pats beat the Colts. Some people have argued that Belichick deserves to be fired for this incident, especially with his history of SpyGate, where he was accused of illegally videotaping opponents’ practices. But it isn’t his job to make sure the balls are filled to regulation; this was out of his hands. The NFL continues to investigate and has not handed out a ruling yet.

Some people have complained that this incident will affect the winning legacy of Brady and Belichick, who have won three Super Bowls together. But, as they’ll show on the field next Sunday, this won’t put a dent in their legacies.

The winter swim season has been successful for both boys and girls teams up to this point. The boys have earned 6 wins and 3 losses, while the girls are 4-6. The key contributors for boys have been Nick Jones, Aidan Wright, Will Deboer, Shawn Doolin, and Eddie Geswell. On the girls side, Jodie O’Connor, Jillian Locke, Mackenzie Shoff, Ashlee Leslie, and Molly McCarthy have turned in solid performances. The boys standout wins were versus Hingham, Middleboro, Quincy, and Silver Lake (Senior Night). Girls had a big sweep of Quincy and North Quincy.

In terms of the postseason, Nick Jones and Aidan Wright made states in multiple events.  Jodie O’Connor is the only girl to make states, and has qualified for multiple events.

According to Senior Joe Ferrarini, the key to their success has been teamwork. “Though we had some major star swimmers on our team, if we did not have 2nd’s, 3rd’s, and 4th’s every meet, we would have not have won many of the meets that we did,” he said.

The swim season goes by quickly, but it isn’t over yet.  This year’s seniors have been instrumental in leading the team to its winning ways. Senior boys Geswell, Doolin, Adam Hayes, Ferrarini, Joey Pensoneault, and Thomas O’Connor lead a deep team. For the girls, Shoff, Locke, Amanda Schell, and Elisa Sandonato do the same for their resilient team. They’ll make the teams end their seasons on a competitive and a winning note.

Hanover High School doesn’t win all that many championships. I don’t like to acknowledge it, but it’s the truth. Things are certainly on an upswing and teams are performing well. Nearly three years ago it was the decision of then Athletic Director Fran Coyle to move Hanover athletics to the South Shore League. Fast forward three years and that decision doesn’t look like it was all that necessary. Hanover hardly dominates the Patriot League, but it definitely competes well. Is Hanover in the right place?

Right now, all the towns in close proximity to Hanover play in either the Patriot League or the South Shore League. Hanover is a member of the Patriot League Fisher Division (Small School). The Patriot League also has a large school division, the Keenan division. The Keenan division is made up of Duxbury, Quincy, Whitman-Hanson, Plymouth North, Silver Lake (Kingston, Plympton, and Halifax), and Hingham (Hingham Hockey plays an independent Schedule). The Fisher Division is Hanover, Scituate, Pembroke, Middleboro (Middleboro hockey plays in the South Shore League in a Co-Op with Hull), Plymouth South, and North Quincy.

Although it differs by sport, Hanover typically plays each team in the Fisher division  twice, in a home-and-home series, and each team from the Keenan division once. Hanover is the smallest school in the league and, in some cases, is the only D3 South team in the league. Rockland left the Patriot League in 2009 but before that they were in a similar boat to Hanover. Also, in my freshman year, the case used to be that Quincy High was in the Fisher division and North Quincy was in the Keenan.

This year both the Plymouths left the fledgling Atlantic Coast league to join the Patriot League. The ACL has Marshfield, Falmouth, Nauset, Dennis-Yarmouth, and Sandwich. As noted in the Boston Globe, Marshfield may have to leave the ACL simply for convenience and expense reasons. Their only realistic option would be to join the Patriot League where they would be a real dominant program in almost every sport.

The South Shore League is made up of smaller schools, and for the first time this year split into two divisions. The Small School division contains Cohasset, Hull, Mashpee, Monomoy (Chatham and Harwich), and Carver. The Large division is East Bridgewater, Abington, Norwell, Randolph, and Rockland. Randolph just joined this year after being an independent and a former Patriot League member. The SSL has its strengths and weaknesses. The small division is relatively weak except for Cohasset. However, the large has enough good programs that in every sport a couple of teams would challenge, if not be superior, to Hanover. The reality is that Hanover teams would find themselves with a lot more success in the South Shore, albeit against lesser competition. It would give Hanover more games with schools in the same MIAA division and schools a division lower. Some may say that’s a positive, others may not. The case may be that Hanover is better off playing bigger and better schools in the regular season, because it challenges them more and in the post-season they are better prepared than most teams. Others may say that facing those schools may make Hanover battle-tested, but that it doesn’t really lead to all that much improvement and it’s better to face schools of similar caliber that they could and would see again in the post-season. Hanover would be among the top three in enrollment, if not the top school, in the league. One thing in favor of the South Shore League, it has been finding an equal amount if not more success in the post season when compared to the Patriot League.

Hanover may be stuck playing some bigger schools, but it’s hard to argue that the Indians don’t compete. There may not be a lot of league titles, but there are also very few teams that have miserable seasons.

Hanover is not Dedham. Dedham High School participates in the Herget Division of the powerful Bay State Conference and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. In 2009, the Marauders, who are the smallest school in the league, declined an offer to join the Tri-Valley League which has schools of a similar population. The Bay State Conference pledged to work to make the conference more equitable, including the possibility of adding more small schools to the league, but has not yet done so. For comparison, Hanover has a population (2010 Census) of  13,879 and an enrollment of 782. The biggest school in the league is Quincy High School with an enrollment of 1,519. Dedham has an enrollment of 765. The biggest school in its league is Framingham with an enrollment of 2,040 and only one other school under 1,000 students (Milton). Dedham usually finds postseason success as a lower seed and are a tough draw, just ask the Field Hockey team. For reference, the Highest enrollment in the South Shore League is Randolph at 779 and after that there are none above 700 students.

Hanover just doesn’t have the depth that other towns have. It’s a town that loses a lot of high level athletes to private schools. Hanover also loses a lot of athletes that don’t find stardom or even play at some of those private schools, where at HHS they would be solid contributors. It’s a disadvantage that we have to live with. I think for now, Hanover has to be content with where they are. The South Shore League doesn’t really make sense logistically. Hanover doesn’t compete with a lot of those towns in youth leagues and it would ruin some traditional rivalries. It’s up to future grades to get their best athletes out on Gerrish Field or in Amaral Gym rather than up at BC High or Xaverian. Then, Hanover will find plenty of success, bigger schools or not.

The Patriots are gearing up to face the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium this Sunday in the AFC Championship. The winner will compete in Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 6.

Last Saturday, Tom Brady and his team were able to fend off the Baltimore Ravens and come back twice to win the AFC Division round. Twice they were down by 14 points yet came back for the win. Tom Brady had a magnificent game with three touchdowns, completing 33 out of 50 passes and throwing 367 yards. Both Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola had a big game, catching a total of 189  yards. The  Patriots also had a clever play where former Kent State QB Julian Edelman, playing wide receiver, caught a bubble screen pass from Brady and threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Amendola.

In the NFC Championship game this weekend, the Green Bay Packers will play the Seattle Seahawks to determine the other team heading to the Super Bowl.

The New England Patriots clinched the AFC East this past Sunday with a 41-13 crushing win over the Miami Dolphins. It’s the sixth straight season that the Patriots have won the AFC East, which is very impressive. The Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts also clinched AFC playoff berths.

So far, only one NFC spot has been claimed, won by the Arizona Cardinals. There are still 21 teams vying for the eight remaining playoff spots. Who will win them is anyone’s guess.

If the Patriots win this Sunday against the horrid 3-11 New York Jets, they will also get a first round playoff bye and home field advantage for the remaining playoff games. The Patriots are one of the best teams when they play at home, almost impossible to beat.

If you walk into the Ed Amaral Gymnasium through the cafeteria, turn around, and look up, you will see among others, a banner for Boys Basketball League Championships. The last year listed? 1990. Since Nick Hannigan was chosen as the Varsity coach in the summer of 2012, it is something he has emphasized to his players must change. He doesn’t care about 1,000-point scorers and individual goals; he wants the team and the program to achieve and succeed. If someone breaks 1,000 and is an all-scholastic along the way, good for them. This is one of Hanover’s best chances in recent seasons to have a new year put on the banner.

The team might not return as much experience as others, but it’s returnees are more talented than most. Senior Captain Jack Buckley is back to start for his third straight year, and may very well exceed 1,000 points. Two games in, he is already averaging a double-double. Senior Captain Jack Phelan is also back for his third varsity season after he was called up midway through his sophomore year. He runs the Hanover offense well and is a tough defender,  already putting out two very good games. Junior John Carroll is the final team member going on his third varsity season, called up during his freshman year. An excellent shooter and vocal leader on the floor, Carroll put up 14 points on Seekonk and 8 on Quincy. Matt McGillivray, Zach Thomson, and Evan Elkhill were also on varsity last year, some longer than others, but nonetheless they have been big factors for Hanover so far. The Indians also have been supported by an influx of JV players coming off a successful year. Freddy Damon, Jonny Ferrarini, Pat Flynn, Justin Paskell, Jeff Davis, Zach Chase, and Adam Murphy have all filled roles for Hanover this year.

The team is two games into the season, so maybe preview isn’t the apt word. But in two games, Hanover has proven they are going to be good. On December 12th, Hanover opened up with Seekonk at home in front of a large crowd and demolished them to a tune of 74-47. That was followed up with the opening of league play against the league’s premier team, the Quincy High Presidents.  After getting blown out of the gym in Quincy last year, Hanover lost to Quincy 80-72 at home on Tuesday. Hanover played competitive and fiery all game long in what was a physical contest but Quincy’s talent, experience and strength won out. Jack Phelan had a well-rounded game, Jack Buckley had 26 points and 12 boards and Evan Elkhill emerged with 18 points of his own. Hanover goes to Patriot Fisher foe North Quincy on the 19th.

The team is looking as strong as ever, and as as long as guys in lesser roles continue to do well, Hanover will be one of the best teams around this year. The League title is very much in their grasp. Scituate is always very tough and matches up well with Hanover. North Quincy has been to the Divison 1 South Sectional Final in two consecutive years, and even though they have lost a lot of their talent, they reload as well as anyone and are always a challenge. Pembroke, Middleboro, and Plymouth South will compete to have a say in the matter as well. On the Keenan side, Hanover might come into some games as the favorite, but there will be no easy games. D3 South is also open for Hanover to make a move, but time will tell how good teams like Wareham, Rockland, and Martha’s Vineyard actually are.

On another note, the Ed Amaral tournament is back after a couple of years hiatus. Hanover will be hosting the tournament over winter break, on the 27th and the 28th. The participants are Holbrook, Medfield and Hanover. Opening night on the 27th will kick off with Norwell-Medfield ollowed by Hanover versus Holbrook. The consolation and championship games will be determined from those results. Things are looking up for the Indians this season; as long as they keep working hard, things will fall into place.