by IVY ASHE

While many on the Island were enjoying a week of vacation, student-athletes at the regional high school were gearing up for a busy postseason. Three Vineyard teams qualified for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletics Association tournament, which began Wednesday as girls’ basketball and girls’ hockey played their first-round games.

Though hockey fell 3-1 against Fontbonne Academy, basketball picked up a decisive 55-38 win over visiting Randolph to advance to the division three quarterfinals. They will play Hanover at home today at 4:30 p.m. The team is seeded fourth in the division three south section bracket, and posted a 16-4 regular season record. With a 6-2 league record, they were second in the Eastern Athletic Conference.

Hanover is the number five seed in the bracket. Vineyard head coach Maureen Hill said Thursday that based on her initial impression of the Indians, the two squads are evenly matched.

“I think it’s going to be a good game,” she said.

On Wednesday, the Vineyard struggled through a first half marked by game stoppage and fouls, allowing thirteen-seed Randolph to pull within four points of a win. But the Vineyard adjusted in the second half, coming out strong and outscoring their opponents 17-5 to run away with the lead.

Coach Hill said that the Vineyard benefitted from a well-rounded offense. Sophomore Erin Hill led the first half scoring, notching 16 of her 20 points, but the second half was dominated by sophomore Sam Hargy and freshman Molly deBettencourt.

“Sam really stepped up--she hadn’t been scoring a lot in our past games, and she had 14,” Coach Hill said. “Molly really started hitting in the second.” deBettencourt closed out the game with 11 points. Senior Mariah Duarte had 8.

Across Edgartown-Vineyard Haven road on Wednesday, the varsity hockey girls faced their toughest opponent of the season at the ice arena. Fontbonne, despite being a lower seed than the Vineyard, is a perennial state championship contender.

“We were honest with them about that, that they were a good team,” head coach John Fiorito said Wednesday. Still, coaching staff had also told the team that “you give yourself an opportunity to play a game like this, and you never know what happens.”

The Vineyard hung with the Ducks through two periods, matching an early Fontbonne goal with an unassisted shot by sophomore Kylie Hatt in the second period. Junior goalie Jackie Hegarty kept the Vineyard in the game early on. Hegarty had 19 saves throughout the contest.

With the game tied 1-1 heading into the third period, the Vineyard stepped up their defensive efforts, holding the Ducks to just four shots. But Fontbonne took advantage first of a 4-on-4 situation and then of a power play to beat Hegarty twice and pull ahead 3-1 with five minutes remaining in the game. The Vineyard maintained intensity but could not recover from the goal deficit.

“Obviously, you want to win the game, but we couldn’t be prouder,” Coach Fiorito said. “We blocked more shots than I’ve seen in five years.” The girls close their season 12-6-2.

Boys’ basketball also qualified for the tournament, will host Westport Thursday afternoon. The boys were 13-5 in the regular season, and finished 7-1 in league play. They split the conference title with rival Bishop Feehan. This is the sixth year in a row the Vineyarders have been champions or co-champions in the league. The team is seeded fifth in the division three south section bracket.

Boys’ hockey fell just shy of the postseason last weekend, facing a win-or-go-home situation in its final games of the season. The team needed to win both of its last two contests in order to secure a spot in the bracket. The team hosted its annual Fairleigh S. Dickinson tournament over the weekend, and tied 2-2 with visiting Lynnfield in the first round. A shootout was held to determine who would advance to the championship game, which Lynnfield won. The Vineyard fell 5-0 to Weston in the consolation game. The boys close their season with a 6-9-5 record.

The swim team and the fledgling indoor track team do not compete in a bracket, instead sending individual athletes to divisional and state meets.

The indoor track team competed in the division five meet last Tuesday, held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston. Sophomores Juniper Ezanno, Aiveras Gedvilas, and Olivia Smith each picked up ninth place finishes in their events, with Ezanno turning in a 14 foot 11 inch leap in the long jump, Gedvilas running a 4:42.43 mile, and Smith completing the 55-metre hurdles in 9.33 seconds. The 4x200-metre girls’ relay team, comprised of Ezanno, Smith, Julia Hart, and Lee Hayman, was also ninth, and had a time of 1:55.27

Sophomore Jake Janek finished in 12th place in the 55-metre hurdles, with a time of 7.1 seconds.

The swim team sent two athletes to the division two state meet at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last Thursday, with sophomore Renee Goodale making her second straight appearance at states. Goodale picked up a 25th place finish in the 200-yard individual medley race (2:26.25), and a 28th-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:15.56). Freshman Lia Potter swam a personal best 1:05.9 in the 100-yard butterfly, good for 28th place.