GOOD Morning Wilton features Wilton High School sports photos taken by Gretchen McMahon Photography, who shot all images unless otherwise noted. The WHS Athletic Department has provided results and updates, including write-ups from coaches, teams and boosters. Scores and results are also compiled from CIAC and FCIAC when available. Additional materials of interest can be submitted to GMW for consideration submitted via email.
[Editor’s Note: This update was originally published Friday, Jan. 28; additional scores have been added or updated.]
Message from the Athletic Director
Hello Warrior Nation!
What an exciting week we had in athletics. Congratulations to all teams, but especially the girls ski team. The beginning of this season it was said to me that this would be a rebuilding year. Well, I guess you built your skills quickly because you are standing at the top of the leaderboard once again with an undefeated season so far, 38-0. Wow! Also at the top is our boys basketball team. They are currently tied for first in the FCIAC with a 7-0 FCIAC record, and a 10-1 overall record. Seven of our 10 teams have qualified for the CIAC tournament already, with this week starting the postseason for indoor track. We wish you all the best of luck as your seasons progress.
[Last] week we opened the athletic venues to 50% capacity, and all went exceptionally well. Thank you all for your continued patience as we press on through the pandemic.
Girls Basketball
The Wilton High School girls basketball team continued its push toward the post-season, playing a grueling stretch of the schedule with four games in a six day stretch.
First up on the Warriors’ schedule on Saturday, Jan. 22 was the undefeated Southington High School Blue Knights. After a back and forth battle, the Warriors came up short. Final score of the game was 27-39. Leading the way for the Warriors was freshman Mia Sommer with 7 points. Seniors Catherine Dineen and Leah Martins were right behind her with 6 points each.
On Monday, Jan. 24, the Warriors took on the Staples Wreckers of Westport. After another tightly contested battle, the Warriors suffered another loss. Pushing their record to 6-5. Leading the way for the Warriors were seniors Ellie Copley (pictured above, left, in the main image) with 9 points and Katie Umphred with 9 points. Martins chipped in with 5 points.
On Tuesday, Jan. 25, the third game of this grueling and pivotal part of the Warriors schedule was against the Stamford High School Black Knights. On this night, the Warriors would not be denied. In what was an inspired performance and a complete team effort, the Lady Warriors beat the Black Knights 57-45, and pushed their record to 7-5. The Warriors are only one win away from a state playoff berth. Leading the way for the Warriors were sophomore Ashleigh Masterson with 13 points, Dineen added 12 points, and Copley, Martins and Umphred added 9 points each.
[Editor’s note: Wilton faced the St. Joseph Cadets of Trumbull on Thursday, Jan. 27; they lost 40-50. This will be included in next week’s write-up.]
The junior varsity team now has a record of 9-1 after wins over Southington, Staples, and Stamford. Maddie Dineen and Mary Scally have been leading the way on the offensive end.
The freshman girls basketball team is now 8-0 after wins over Stamford and Staples. Against Stamford, the Warriors jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Julia Nanos was outstanding from the perimeter, totaling 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Kaitlyn Zizzadoro led the team in steals and assists while also tallying 11 points. Cosette Lepore and Giuliana Scaturchio added 6 points apiece, Riley Casey had 4 and Abbey Byrnes and Addison Von Loeser had a bucket each in the 47-19 victory.
The Warriors faced their toughest test to date against the Wreckers and trailed by 5 points at the end of the first quarter and again at halftime. The third quarter saw a barrage of points from Wilton as they turned a 17-12 deficit into a 30-25 lead. Three Nanos 3-pointers in the span of five possessions turned the game around in the Warriors’ favor. The lead ballooned to 14 in the early moments of the fourth quarter with two Lepore baskets and a Scaturchio runner, and Wilton held on for the victory, 40-31. Zizzadoro tallied 10 points in the win, Nanos had 9 as did Lepore. Byrnes chipped in with 3 points and Von Loeser had 4 points on two nifty put-backs and was a menace on the boards teaming with Abby Phelan to help lead the team in rebounds.
Boys Basketball
The varsity boys basketball team took on the Stamford Black Knights on Jan. 21. The Warriors trailed by 1 point at half time but the defense stepped up in the second half to seal the win with a 62-47 victory. The Warriors were led by senior captain Kevin Hyzy with a career high 31 points. Parker Woodring and Zarius Eusebe (pictured above, right) both chipped in 9 points respectively. Eusebe led the team in rebounding with 12 rebounds. Woodring had 8 rebounds while Kevin Hyzy chipped in with 6 rebounds. Tommy McKiernan and Kevin Hyzy each had 4 steals a piece. Eusebe and Woodring had 4 assists. With the win, the Warriors upped their record to 8-1 overall and 5-0 in league play.
Wilton took on one of the preseason favorites when they traveled to Staples High School in Westport. The Warriors took a 1-point lead into halftime. However, the Wreckers fought back to tie it at the end of regulation. Wilton would win in OT 6-3 to seal a 3-point 50-47 victory. The Warriors were led by senior captain Woodring with 14 points, 16 rebounds and 3 assists. Max Andrews got his first start of the season and scored 9 points. Craig Hyzy gave a big spark off the bench with two early 3-pointers. Kevin Hyzy, Spencer Liston and McKiernan all helped out with 5 points each. With the win, the Warriors up their record to 9-1 overall and 6-0 in the FCIAC.
[Editor’s note: Wilton faced the St. Joseph Cadets of Trumbull on Thursday, Jan. 27; they won 62-47. This will be included in next week’s write-up.]
The Wilton freshmen boys basketball team lost a heartbreaker on Saturday, Jan. 22 at Stamford High in double overtime. With 25 seconds left in regulation, Luke Ginsburg nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game. After a missed free throw by Stamford, Wilton missed two attempts with seconds remaining to seal the win. It was a great effort by the whole team. Stef Cross led the Warriors with 23 points and 9 steals. Ryan Luchetta picked up the slack with 13 points.
Gymnastics
After suffering losses to Trumbull and St. Joseph’s High School, but beating Foran on Saturday, Jan. 22, the Warriors returned home for their first home meet of the season on Tuesday, Jan. 25, to beat Stamford and Westhill. The highlight of Tuesday’s meet was a 9.15 score for Justine Biersack on the Floor. The team score has steadily been rising thanks to the return of several members from COVID. The next meet was held Tuesday, Feb. 1 against Staples at the Westport YMCA. [GMW will have more details on the meet next week.
Girls Ice Hockey
On Saturday, Jan. 22, the Wilton girls ice hockey team took on the Masuk Coop and came out victorious by a 3-1 score. Scoring for the Warriors were Natalie Richardson, Isabel DiNanno and Sara Comisky. Emily Johnson played the entire game in net for the victory. On Wednesday night, Jan. 26, the team traveled up to Simsbury to take on the NW Catholic Coop and fell by a 5-6 score. DiNanno, Kaelin Burke, Richardson, Jane Hulse and Kate Lane all scored for the Warriors and Johnson again played the entire game in net.
[Editor’s note: Wilton decisively beat Fairfield Co-Op on Friday, Jan. 28, 10-2; details will be included in next week’s write-up.]
Girls/Boys Indoor Track
For the final weekend of the qualifying portion of the indoor track season, Wilton indoor track team athletes once again traveled afield in search of bigger tracks and faster and farther performances to qualify for the league and state championships.
The performance of the day was turned in by senior Ryan Johnson at the SCC Coaches Meet at Hillhouse in New Haven. Competing for the first time wearing spikes, Johnson missed the 20-foot mark in the long jump by half an inch, a two-inch improvement on his previous best and good for fifth in the event.
Senior Emily Mrakovcic equalled that placing in the 600m in 1:43.80, freshman Lia Lombardi took second in the 1,000m in 3:15.96, and Vivien Latt cleared a personal best height of 8-0 to place sixth in the pole vault.
Meanwhile, a group of boys went to the now-familiar environs of the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory in Manhattan to compete in the New Balance Games. Senior Malcolm McCormick was first up, clocking 4:34.38 to place 18th in the invitational mile.
A trio of middle distance runners toed the line in the 1,000 meter run. Junior Mikey Byrnes proved the quickest with a PR 2:48.69, followed by senior Garrett Moe (2:49.33 PR) and sophomore Alex Cohen (2:53.33).
Two sprinters competed in the 300m, with both setting personal bests. Thomas Welch clocked 39.20, followed by Jason Miller in 39.82.
Girls Ski
The Wilton ski team’s race scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20 was canceled due to snow, always an interesting thing to happen. The league has rescheduled that race and one that Wilton missed the first week of January to give the Warriors a busy race schedule last week and this week with races scheduled the Tuesdays and Thursdays both weeks. The first make-up race was Tuesday, Jan. 25 and the team again placed first out of nine teams. The race was close this week, but Wilton narrowly beat Hand High School of Madison to win the race. At the race on Thursday, Jan. 27, the girls placed first out of 13 teams. Darien and Hand of Madison were a close second and third place.
Their final regular season races were scheduled for Monday, Jan. 31 and Tuesday, Feb. 1, (with details to come next week) and the state championships to follow.
Boys Ski
The Wilton boys ski team has moved up in the ranking. They took third place out of 13 schools on Tuesday, Jan. 25.
Boys Swim and Dive
The Wilton High School boys swimming and diving team took a tough loss (77-100) to the New Canaan Rams on Wednesday, Jan. 19, and began the next week on the road against Westhill, suffering another tough loss with the score of 77-97.
The team’s meeting against the Greenwich Cardinals was postponed until Monday, Jan. 31. The Warriors will finish out the week hosting the Norwalk High School Bears at home for the season opening home meet which will be challenging for the Warriors. (Details on both will be forthcoming in next week’s update.)
Wrestling
The Wilton wrestling team was on the road Wednesday night, Jan. 26 against the New Canaan Rams. Although they did not come out with a winning score, they were led by strong showings from Michael Arbisi and Stephan Scavetta. The Warriors’ scheduled tournament at Brookfield High School on Saturday, Jan. 29 was canceled due to the snowstorm, but the boys were scheduled to face off against Stamford on Monday, Jan. 31 (details next week).