Archive for February, 2010

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   When the Walpole High girls’ basketball team stung Norwood in a rematch that ushered the Rebels back into the state tourney on Thursday, February 11, it was the biggest moment of the 2009-2010 season for a program that was still trying to find itself.
   Until the next week, that is.
   What the Rebels did in their two games of the annual Rebel Hoop Classic last Tuesday and Wednesday almost goes beyond description, as the team that had just won only for the tenth time this year came within one basket of not only winning the Classic title back from Oliver Ames, but of sweeping a pair of league champions that came into the Classic with a combined record of 33-5.
   All season long people wondered if Walpole High even belonged on the same court as this year’s Div. 2 state powers, and the proud team, which wanted to remind everyone where the Rebel Hoop Classic is …

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   The Walpole High boys’ hockey team had already been eliminated from tourney contention before the final week of the season, but both Milton and Norwood might have been thinking that someone forgot to tell them that.
   Looking for a bit of payback for this year’s frustrations, the Rebels took on a pair of teams last week that had beaten them by a combined 8-3 at the Iorio Arena, and came close to sweeping their opponents on their own home ice.
   Walpole came close to avenging a 2-0 loss to Milton and vexing goalie Mike Muse last Thursday after the Wednesday meeting was snowed out, and then succeeded in avenging a stinging 6-3 los at the hands of the Norwood Mustangs with a tight, 2-1 victory Saturday.
   The split had moved Walpole’s overall record to 7-11-1, with one game left against non-league foe Acton-Boxborough of the Dual County League.
   The boys were shut out by the A-B Colonials 4-0 Wednesday night to close the year at 7-12-1, but that doesn’t negate a competitive season in one of the toughest leagues in …

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   It’s pretty common practice for a hockey coach to pull his goalie in the waning minutes of a game in order to try to get a goal that would tie the score, thus avoiding a loss.
   However, when Walpole High girls’ Coach Joe Verderber decided to pull freshman goalie Bethany Welch after an outstanding effort against league-leading Norwood, Walpole’s archrival, the game was already tied.
   That’s because in this situation, a tie just would not do.
   If the Rebels tied, the Mustangs would still win the title, ending up in a three-way tie for the crown. But if the Rebels won, it would be them instead in the three-way tie, getting a share of the Bay State Herget title for the first time ever in their brief, five-year existence.
Off came Welch and on went senior Kristen Morrissey.
   With time winding down in the game Morrissey put a shot on net, and Norwood goalie Christina Frasca made the save.
   Frasca …

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   It has long been a practice for Walpole High wrestling coaches – from Barry Greener right up to current coach Devin Pacilli – to take a cursory look at the dual meet season and instead focus entirely on the individual postseason.
   While a lot of dual meet wins are nice, the goal has always been to see how many individual competitors the program can get deep into the postseason, and the Rebels have always been quite good at pursuing that aim.
   But if Saturday’s performance at the Div. 2 Metro championships at Needham High are any indication, this could be a record-setting year in that department.
   Just a week after Pacilli forsook the team states championship at Reading High in order to rest the weary and heal the sick, the Rebels literally tore through Div. 2, winning five of the 14 weight classes.
   Not only are five Rebels now sectional champions, but all five are moving on to the Div. 2 all-states this coming weekend …

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   There’s nothing like Rebel pride, especially when it comes to the Walpole High girls’ basketball team.
   One week before Dan Ventura of the Boston Herald named The Walpole Rebels the best Div. 2 girls program of the past decade, the struggling Rebels stopped struggling and blew away two league rivals to up their record to 10-8.
   Not only did the Rebels assure themselves of yet another spot in the postseason, but they also roared back to create a three-way tie for second place in the Bay State Herget behind unbeaten champion Wellesley, with themselves, Norwood and Natick all finishing at 9-7.
   The Rebel resurrection last week was nothing but staggering.
   After scraping by the Wildcats at Milton High 46-43 the first time the teams met, the Rebels enjoyed senior night last Tuesday with a dominating 63-38 victory.
   Whereas the Rebels over the first few weeks had trouble shooting and finishing, and the inside presence was often riddled by …