The Hanover High School Unified basketball team made a powerful statement as they took on a team fielded by Student Council in a packed gym on Feb. 6. While the final score stood at Unified 79, StuCo 21, what counted more than the many, many (many) baskets made was the teamwork, sportsmanship, and friendship on display.
For the Unified team, top scorers were Danny Campbell, Bre Thomas, Jillian Richards, JJ Molina-Para, and Adel Mustafa-Rivera. Dom Castaldini and Maeve Patten showed determination as they made passes and grabbed rebounds. Molina-Para wowed the crowd with his 360-turns before sinking several baskets, and Richards’ countless steals from StuCo players were almost criminal.
The StuCo team kept their spirits high, with several members of HHS basketball teams making impressive shots. The atmosphere was festive thanks to the play-by-play of HHS senior Thomas Perkins, and the Hanover Hawk mascot rallying the crowd. Congratulations to players from both teams! Special thanks go out to Unified Sports organizers Ms. Mann and Ms. Gately, Athletic Director Scott Hutchison and all the fans in attendance.
The HHS Unified team will take part in a Jamboree at Abington High School on Feb. 12, playing teams from Abington and Carver high schools. We wish them best of luck!
Pioneered by Special Olympics, the goal of Unified Sports is to partner people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. By training and playing together, Unified teams promote inclusion, friendship and self esteem, according to the Special Olympics website. An estimated 19 million young people participate in Unified Sports nationwide.
The boys varsity soccer team is off to a good start this year, though they still realize they have room for improvement. After 10 games, Hanover has a record of 5 wins, 3 losses and 2 ties. Despite their middle of the road record, the team has had some ups along with the inevitable downs. Hanover started the season with a disappointing 1-0 loss at Rockland before school had even started. It was a game where they out-hustled and
Junior sweeper Liam Riley covers a Scituate forward earlier this year
outplayed Rockland for most of the game but they just couldn’t put one in the back of the net and it cost them. Their next game was at Top 25 Silver Lake, where they lost 3-1 but put up a great battle with the game being remembered as a moral victory. After two relatively easy victories over Middleboro and North Quincy, the team traveled to Pembroke for what might have been their toughest game all year. Facing arguably the best team in the league, Hanover played an incredibly tough game all around and led Pembroke for a good portion of time after a Zach Chase goal. Toward the end of the game, Pembroke dominated play and scored in the last 5 minutes of action to force a tie. It was an upsetting result at the time but, looking back, the team acknowledges that they nearly beat an exceptional team that has been dominating all year.
Despite the Indians playing a fiery, competitive style all year coming into the Scituate game, the Sailors took it to them for a 4-0 drubbing in which Hanover showed little resistance. Hanover quickly recovered, coming back to beat Plymouth North 3-0 and program nemesis Hingham 1-0, a feel-good win for the Hanover program and alumni as well. The following week. Hanover beat Plymouth South 1-0 with Joe Maguire getting the deciding goal. After a rain postponement last night Hanover felt another game slip away as they tied Quincy 2-2. Despite scoring 2 well executed goals and controlling play in surges for a lot of the game, Hanover let Quincy steal a point by scoring on 2 set pieces.
Captain Drew Zwart still regards the season a success at this point. “We have a young team and a lot of younger guys have stepped up big time,” said Zwart. “The team chemistry has been great and everyone gives everything they have. All the seniors have been good examples as well as fellow Tri-Captains Johnny Ferrarini and Jack Phelan. They play their heart out and bring physical tone to every game and people follow their lead.” At this point in the season Ferrarini has kept opponents’ totals low with good defensive games while Zwart (5), Nick Kelsey (5), Chase (2), and Maguire (2) have done the bulk of the scoring.
Hanover’s record might be surprising to some outside the program who saw a lot of inexperience in this year’s team. Zwart himself was somewhat
Sophomore midfielder Zach Chase scores a goal in a 2-0 victory over North Quincy. Nick Kelsey scored for Hanover as well
surprised with how well the team has battled. “Not to say I didn’t think we could compete with teams like Hingham, but the fact that we came out and took it to them shows hows defiant of a team we have. On any given day we can compete with any team in the state.”
The second half of the season will be similar to the first, a mixed bag of very good teams with some sub-par teams that can still pose a threat if overlooked. Hanover will face Patriot-Fisher foes Scituate, Pembroke, Plymouth South, North Quincy, and Middleboro each one more time as well as match ups with talented Duxbury, Whitman-Hanson and Rockland squads. According to Zwart, “The biggest challenge going forward is taking advantage of our opportunities and building upon leads, our defense has been exceptional all year and played large minutes, but we still need to take some pressure off them by expanding the difference margins in our games.” If the team can do that, they have a chance to make a deep run in the state tournament.
Hanover resumes play on October 7 against North Quincy. You won’t want to miss it.
The Hawk 