Heart, grit and determination were on full display from the Vineyard boys hockey and basketball teams Sunday with both posting dominant home wins. Each will advance in tournament play and have off-island playoff games later this week.
The Vineyard’s high school boys basketball team has gotten off to a scorching start to their season despite the winter cold, winning all three of their games by 20-point margins.
After a rough start out of the gate, the Vineyard boys bounced back in a major way against a hyped-up and undefeated burly Old Rochester Bulldogs team.
The regional high school boys took the lead in the second quarter and never looked back in a 63-53 upset of the Case Cardinals in the first round of the division 3 south sectional tournament Tuesday.
Despite a furious comeback that sent the game into overtime, the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School boys basketball squad fell to rival Bishop Stang in a playoff thriller at home Friday evening.
Several Vineyard winter sport athletes have been named to All-Star teams in their respective conferences.
In boys’ basketball, captains Izak Browne and Jack Roberts earned Eastern Athletic Conference honors for the second year in the row. Girls’ basketball captain Jennie Lindland also repeated as an All-Star, and was joined by senior teammates Katie Stewart (also a captain) and Maggie Riseborough.
They hadn’t played a game in two weeks, but the Vineyard boys’ basketball team brushed off the rust to overpower Bourne and advance to the quarterfinal round of the division three state tournament Wednesday night.
The final score of the game, played at home in the Sancy Pachico Gymnasium, was 77-44.
Senior captain Jack Roberts led the Vineyarders with 21 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, while cocaptain Izak Browne had 15.
