Inside the winter sports season: post season bound?

Senior+Melanie+Hingher+takes+a+shot.

Provided by Sue Hingher

Senior Melanie Hingher takes a shot.

The fall sports season of 2015 at Massapequa High School was as successful as ever.  The girls varsity soccer team won their third straight state title, boys and girls varsity volleyball both won county titles and the football team found itself in the “Nassau County Big 4” for the fifth year in a row. The winter sports season hopes to bring in as much success as the fall sports as the Chiefs will see action on the court, on the ice, and on the track.

Basketball

The Boys Varsity Basketball team took the court for their opening game of the year on December 3 at MacArthur, though it wasn’t the Generals who they played. They played and beat Hjemly, a team of students from Denmark. The Chiefs came out victorious, winning 72-40. Kevin Voigt scored fifteen points, Tommy Amendola scored twelve points and Chris Wasson and Justin Lynskey each scored thirteen points. After beating Hjemly, the Chiefs were right back at it the next day at MacArthur as this time they beat the Generals 49-32. Tommy Amendola was the lead scorer with twelve points, Kevin Voigt had nine points, and Gary Rettig had seven. The team is coming off of a 2014-2015 regular season which saw them go 10-7 through seventeen regular season games. Unfortunately, they were knocked out by Elmont in the second round of the playoffs. Coach Voigt, who is also a gym teacher at MHS, remains optimistic about this year’s team despite the team’s inexperience.

“Our goal each year is to reach, compete, and win in the postseason,” Coach Voigt said. “This year’s team will be inexperienced at some positions, but all of our players have been working hard every day.”

Senior Mario Festante is also looking forward to this season though it will be his final season on varsity.

“We just have to work hard and we should be successful. We have a lot of guys that can play and play well,” he said.  

Most Massapequa sports fans know that Massapequa holds its biggest and most entertaining rivalry against Farmingdale. Never is this more evident than during the football season, but it is also present during the basketball season.

“We want to beat Farmingdale, they’re our biggest rival and we want to make a statement to the rest of the conference,” said Festante.
As seen in all sports, young teams, though inexperienced as this team, are always poised to compete. The leadership of the seniors on this team will be key as ten of the team’s seventeen players are juniors and sophomores.

The Girls Varsity Basketball team has also had a pleasant start to their season as they also won the first two games defeating St. John the Baptist 63-53 and North Shore 66-57. Of the Chiefs’ one hundred twenty-nine points total scored in both of those games, senior Melanie Hingher had sixty seven of them. Hingher is definitely a player to look out for on this year’s team, as she also led the team in scoring last year.

The team is coming off of a 2014-2015 season that saw them go 18-2 in 20 regular season games. They also went 10-0 within their conference. Unfortunately they suffered a heart -breaking loss to Baldwin in the Nassau County Championship game. The team is also under new management this year as Lockhart gym teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Shackel-Scott will be taking over the head coaching position, a spot previously held by MHS gym teacher Mrs. Shari Roessler. The new coach has a very optimistic outlook on this season since it is her first as head coach.

“Massapequa Girls Basketball has a winning tradition,” she said. “I anticipate that this tradition will continue this year if they remain dedicated and play with passion and pride.”

The Chiefs look to bring last year’s success into this year though they are under new management.   

“There is a quote that says ‘success is never owned, it is rented, and the rent is due every day.’ Every day they step on the court they have to be the best teammate and become the best basketball player they can be, which involves a level of hard work and commitment.” Coach Shackel-Scott said.

Ice Hockey

The Ice Hockey team took to the ice on November 24 to open their season. They are coming off of a rough 2014-2015 season which saw them finish with a 3-11 regular season record through fourteen games played. Senior Doug Smith, who is playing varsity for a second year in a row and also one of three captains, remains optimistic about this year’s season.

“We don’t want to look too far ahead, we just have to focus on each individual game,” Smith said. “This year we have a special group of kids who, with hard work, are poised to accomplish big things.”

This year the Chiefs lost their first two games 4-1 and 6-1 but remained optimistic.

“In my final season playing Chiefs Varsity Hockey I would like to make it to the county championship game. Our team works very hard and hopefully we will see an outcome with our remaining games,” said senior and captain Corey Hutchinson.

Track and Field

The track and field team will look to carry over its success from the fall season into the winter season. Although track is more of an individual sport, the team must work together with the ultimate goal of going to the counties and beyond.

“We are definitely trying to make sure everyone has a place on the team. Going to counties would be great,” said senior Matt Danielsson.

The team also has many seniors and they are led by captains Aidan Smith, Joe Tesoriero, Tom Clarke, and Leon White.

“I want to have memories of all the athletes in their prime, I want to be able to look back and say ‘I did that, I made that,” said Danielsson.

The winter sports season at Massapequa High School will be as exciting as ever. This season will run from December through February. Spring sports tryouts begin on Monday, March 7, 2016.

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