The number of students taking part in winter sports was higher this season than it has been in more than a decade, according to HHS Athletic Director Mr. Hutchinson. And while boys hockey and basketball had memorable tournament runs, Hanover athletes excelled in the classroom as well. The average GPA of the winter student-athletes was a 3.70 and all 18 teams earned MIAA Academic Excellence Awards. Congratulations to the athletes and coaches on a great season!
Boys Hockey
The boys hockey team had a promising season right from the start. Led by captains Connor Morris, Zach Taylor, Drew Cratty, and Paul McCabe, the team swept the league with a regular season record of 19-0-1. The top-seeded Indians cruised through the Division 3 South playoffs at Gallo, shutting down every opponent and landing a well-deserved spot in the state championship game. Unfortunately, in this year’s final at the TD Garden, the Indians fell short 2-1 to defending champ Shrewsbury. The team’s final record was 24-1-1 and the league MVP was given to Taylor, the team’s high scorer. Kevin Chandler was outstanding as goalie throughout the season. Cratty won the 2017 Jim Gormley Scholarship Cup.
Under the leadership of Coach Abban, the team’s 14 seniors have had an impressive career. According to the Patriot Ledger, the Indians went 80-11-7 with a 15-3 mark in the tournament since these players were freshmen in 2014-2015. This group won South Sectional titles in 2016 and 2018, plus a Division 3 state title in 2016.
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team’s quest for a repeat state championship ended in the Division 2 South semifinals, a bittersweet moment that capped a stellar season. Seeded 5th in the tournament, the squad lost to top seeded Boston Tech, 58-47, on March 7. JP Landry scored 18 points and two-time league MVP Matt Delahunt added 17. But Tech’s offense came out on top.
Coached by Mr. Hannigan, the team went 17-4 in the regular season and finished with an overall record of 19-5. Delahunt scored his 1,000th point and he, Landry, Aaron Boise and Jake McInerney were named Patriot League All-Stars. This was the team’s first season in Division 2 South after winning the D-3 South title last year. The captains were Matt Delahunt, JP Landry, and Aaron Boise. Eight seniors – Landy, Delahunt, Boise, McInerney, Jeremy Openshaw, Liam Flynn, Dan Hamza and Aidan Henderson – are graduating this year. But their legacy, combined with a pool of younger talent, will hopefully keep the program just as competitive.
Girls Hockey
The Cohasset-Hanover girls hockey team fell in the first round of Division 2 action to the Norwood Mustangs, 3-2. Led by captains Alyssa Wilcox, Morgan Lundin, Kate Mccarthy, and Lindsey Beiche, Co-Han was seeded 21st after finishing the regular season 8-8-5. Norwood, the 12th seed, won a hard-fought contest. Hanover’s Jacqui Manning, Anna Tedeschi, and Lily Tobin were named League All-Stars. The Scholar Athlete was granted to Morgan Foley and Lundin was given the Sportsmanship Award.
Girls Basketball
After graduating several strong senior players last year, the team went through some rebuilding this year. Led by captains Taylor Scott, Lauren Gelly and Bridget O’Connor, the team fell short of qualifying for tournament with a record of 6-14. Scott and Janey Devlin were named Patriot League All-Stars. Though the team will lose its senior captains after this season, the remaining three starters and juniors Devlin, Erin Flynn and Kathryn Fallon will look to be leaders for next season.
Wrestling
Led by captains Rian Boutin, Cade Frucci, and Steve Zinke, Hanover wrestlers formed a joint team with Norwell for a solid season. They competed with heart and sent several athletes to state competition.
Though Boutin was sidelined this season with an injury, he and other seniors had memorable careers at HHS. His personal highlight was a gritty overtime win at the Cohasset tournament last year when he cracked open his head during the match.
Gymnastics
Although the team was very young, Hanover gymnastics proved that age did not matter this season. Captains Abby Stone, Julia Leskow, and Kaylee Harris led the team to a league title with a record of 12-0-0. Freshman Kaylene Boutin was an all-around all star, along with sophomore Hannah DeRice on floor, bars, and vault. The team broke the school record score of 136.95, held since 2003. With such young talent, the program will have nowhere to go but up.
Swimming and Diving
Led by captains Nick Jones, Brittney Champagne, Frank Gavin and Chloe McKee, the team sent several athletes to the Division 2 state tournament. Hanover’s top finisher was Lauren O’Sullivan, who placed 5th in one-meter diving. Jones finished 10th in the 100 individual medley. Danielle Taft earned 12th in the 100 free and 13th in the 100 back. Taft also combined with Channing Miller, Kelly Taft and Sarah Gavin in two relays. Next year’s swim captains will be Olivia Reddish, Lauren O’Sullivan, Danny Greene, and Danielle Taft.
Indoor Track
Hanover debuted its first indoor track team this year, giving members of the Cross Country and Track and Field teams an opportunity to compete yearround. Indoor track is definitely a unique experience, with a shorter track translating to more laps, and a festive air in the arenas where the meets are held. Led by Coach Barrett, the inaugural team was small and struggled to compete against larger, established teams. Still, the athletes trained hard and built the foundation for future success. Captains were Alyssa Nee and Nick Courtney.
Skiing
Some people may not be aware that HHS has a ski team, but though the squad is small, they have fun on the slopes every winter. The team practices and takes part in weekly meets at Blue Hills, and travels to larger contests at Ragged Mountain three times a year. While the team, led by Coach McRae, did not send any skiiers to tournament, members improved their personal performances throughout the season.
Hanover High School drama students shone as they performed and hosted the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild Competition on March 3. Hundreds of students from eight schools converged on HHS for the daylong event, each performing a timed play before a panel of judges. The top three schools moved to the next round and one step closer to the state competition.
For the third time in five years, the boys hockey team has earned a spot in the Division 3 state championship game. The Indians defeated Swampscott 5-0 March 14 to win the D3 Eastern Mass championship and a trip to the Garden. Manning Morris scored two goals, and Zachary Taylor, Connor Morris and Justin Conforti each added another. Kevin Chandler had yet another shutout in net . The Indians are hoping for a repeat of 2016, when they took home the state title.
Black Mirror: This British anthology series has been called the Twilight Zone for the new millennium. Released in the UK in 2011, this quirky, sometimes disturbing show about the potential pitfalls of technology debuted on Netflix in 2016. I finally began watching it recently and find each episode surprising and often a bit terrifying. Sometimes the crazy ways they imagine technology being used don’t seem so far from the current reality — counting “likes” to determine if you qualify for a job such as in Nosedive, or creating a clone of a loved one from a social media profile as in Be Right Back. Because it’s an anthology, you can watch the episodes in any order, one at a time or hours in a row. If you haven’t watched this yet, check it out.
Black-ish: Some family sitcoms get old fast, but this one on ABC has stayed original, in part because it hasn’t been afraid to mix humor with brutal honesty. Some episodes are used to highlight issues of race, such as season 4’s musical Juneteenth, when father Dre protests a school play about Columbus that whitewashes history (The one-minute 
The Vietnam War: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary takes 17 hours to watch, but I think it should be required viewing for every American. I learned so much: the tragic French occupation of Vietnam whose mistakes our own forces repeated, the U.S. government’s lies and missteps that brought us into war, the physical and psychological toll the conflict inflicted on both sides, the violent and divisive protests at home. I recognized so many connections between then and now, as our deeply divided nation struggles over its identity and priorities.
Alienist: This historical crime drama, which premiered on TNT in January, looks intriguing. A journalist, a prickly psychiatrist and a team of investigators work together to solve a series of murders in 1896 New York City. This unusual team pioneers true-life innovations in fingerprinting, forensic science and criminal profiling over a 10-episode series.
’80s, I could best relate to the working class Conner family struggling to pay the bills and get along with each other. And while I’m getting tired of endless remakes and reboots and find many of them pointless, I will give this one a shot. I’m curious to see what the characters will be up to this far into the future and how they’ll be impacted by current events. This premieres on ABC in March.
The Hawk 