The Duxbury High School sailing team hosted its first home meet of the season on Saturday at the Duxbury Bay Maritime School.

Let’s take the pressure off DHS baseball coach Gordon Cushing before the season even starts.

They knew they had the talent. All they needed to do was rid themselves of the specter of being eliminated by Fontbonne two years in a row. The way they came out in the first period eliminated that worry, and starting the second period it looked like they were ready to get down to serious business.

You couldn’t ask for a better match-up, as the Duxbury High School girls’ hockey team goes after its first State championship on Sunday against their annual playoff nemesis, Fontbonne Academy.

 

I guess we can call them The Little Engine That Could. Coming within one goal of failing to make the MIAA Division I tournament, the Duxbury boys’ hockey team wouldn’t give up, tying Arlington Catholic in their final game of the Cape Cod Classic and ending their regular season with a 7-7-8 record.

There was only one team with a worse record in the Division I South Sectional Tournament, so not much was expected of a young Duxbury team when they were pitted against No. 4 Bridgewater-Raynham (14-5-1) in last Wednesday’s first-round play.

The Duxbury girls’ hockey team got spectacular goaltending from freshman Rachel Myette, while classmate forward Jackie Nolan’s first-period goal proved to be the game-winner in the Lady Dragons’ 7-0 blanking of No. 10-seed Canton on Sunday afternoon at the Foxboro Sports Center.

Second-seeded Duxbury had beaten the Bulldogs during the regular season, 5-1, but they knew Canton could be a tough draw and they proved it throughout the afternoon, testing Duxbury’s freshman netminder, while being denied on every occasion.

At the 12:53 mark it was pure hustle on the part of Nolan, as she outraced a pair of Canton defenders to a clearing pass and beat goaltender Sarah Healey for a 1-0 lead.

With a packed gymnasium and a student body ready to explode with every Duxbury basket, it couldn’t have started any better for the Dragons, as Justin Marino gave Duxbury a 5-0 lead. After that the dream fell apart, as the No. 5-seeded Oliver Ames Tigers went on a 26-2 run over the next seven minutes to put the game away in a 69-53 win over the Dragons.

Coach Gordon Cushing had warned his team that being in post-season play is a lot different than playing regular season games in the Patriot League. It took the final eight minutes of Tuesday night’s win over Quincy to drive that point across.

Senior Jonathan McKinley ran a personal-best time of 4:22.17 in the mile, less than two seconds behind winner Wesley Gallagher of Pembroke, to take third place in Saturday’s MIAA Division III State Meet at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.
McKinley’s performance earned him a spot in this weekend’s All-State Meet that will crown the Massachusetts state champion in the mile.
Senior Emily Doyle was equally impressive in the 300 meters, as she ran a blistering 41.43 to take second place behind Becky Stoyle (40.68) of Pembroke and earned a spot in next week’s state championships.

The girls’ hockey team extended its winning streak to 15 games with an 8-0 thumping of Marshfield on Saturday afternoon at The Bog. It was a good tune-up for the Lady Dragons, as they prepared to take on Hingham on Tuesday morning in Rockland in a battle of Eastern Mass. powers.
It was Senior Day for Coach Friend Weiler’s team, as seniors Briana Connolly, Keri Gould, Olivia McCarthy, and Kayla Errasti were honored, along with their mothers, who came down to ice level to receive  bouquets of roses.

The Duxbury girls’ swim team capped off an undefeated regular season at the Division II state finals at Harvard on Sunday by placing in every event they entered and finishing third in the final results. 
In a meet that came down to the last relay of the day, Duxbury went into the 400-yard freestyle relay tied with Weston and East Longmeadow for third place.  The relay team of Sarah Goldberg, Shelby Rader, Avery Riddle, and Emily Hutchinson finished in third place with a season-low time of 3:42:75.

If there is one thing Coach Gordon Cushing’s basketball team learned on Sunday night at Bridgewater State, it’s that playoff basketball is not like regular season play in the Patriot League.
The tempo is faster and the defensive pressure is more intense, so turnovers and poor shooting aren’t going to keep you in the tournament. Those two problems reared their ugly head in Bridgewater, as the Dragons stayed close for 24 minutes (38-32), then watched the wheels fall off their wagon in a 64-38 loss to Oliver Ames in the opening game of the Harry Lehmann Memorial Tournament.

The Duxbury boys’ swim team spent Saturday at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool with seven swimmers competing at the Division II States.  This marked the last meet of the Dragons undefeated season and the last high school meet for senior co-captain Barry Su. 
The Dragons started the meet off in fine form with the team of Ian Wilson, Barry and Arthur Su, and Mike Connolly taking tenth-place in the 200-yard medley relay. Connolly led the team at States and was the only swimmer to score points in an individual event. He swam a season-low 1:51.87 in the 200-yard freestyle event, taking 10th place.  Also swimming his best time in that event, was Arthur Su, who finished in 16th.

There will be an indoor golf tournament at the Kingsbury Club starting on Feb. 28 and continuing to March 10 to raise money for the Duxbury Lacrosse Boosters. There are a limited number of openings for a 7 p.m. tee time, so players will be slotted on a first come-first serve basis.