Although Tuesday’s boys’ lacrosse game between the Vineyarders and the Whalers from Nantucket had all the makings of a classic barn burner between two inter-Island rivals, the game in the end provided plenty of smoke but little fire.

Just about every game this season for the boys’ high school basketball team has gone right down to the wire, which has provided last-minute thrills for some fans but conversely has caused something like an ulcer for coach Mike Joyce.

“All these games seemingly are decided by a single shot in the final seconds,” Mr. Joyce said following the Vineyarders’ 86-85 loss to Wareham on Tuesday. “It may be great for the fans, but it’s not easy on the coach. I think they’re trying to give me a heart attack.”

BreAnne Russell, sophomore forward on the high school girls’ hockey team, aptly sums up her love of the game by comparing it to a well-known circular food item.

A great coach once said, “What counts in sports is not the victory, but the magnificence of the struggle.” By that standard, the boys’ basketball team’s magnificent but ultimately heartbreaking 83-76 overtime loss to Wareham in the second round of the Division 3 south region state tournament on Wednesday must be considered a success.

In one of the more exciting high school games in recent memory, the girls’ varsity lacrosse team scored two goals in the final two minutes to win yesterday’s quarterfinal game of the MIAA Division II South tournament by a final score of 13-12.

With the win, the fifth-seeded Vineyarders (14-4-1) advance to a semifinals game against eighth-seeded Duxbury (14-4-1). The game will be held on the Island Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at the regional high school main athletic field.

The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School boys’ tennis team is offering its services to any business or individual who needs help around their home or place of business in exchange for a financial donation to the team.

In the past the tennis booster club has held an annual round robin tennis tournament and solicited donations from local businesses. It was a lot of work and the club was always contending with weather.

This year the booster club, comprised of team parents, decided to give the boys ownership of the team fundraising.

Hoops All Stars

Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School is proud to announce that Kia Minor, Julie Perry and Mark Reppert have been chosen to play in the Cape Cod High School All Star Basketball Games at Sandwich High School on Sunday, March 16. Girls play at 2 p.m. and the boys at 5:30 p.m.

In April the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School girls’ lacrosse team has a trip of a lifetime planned. Fifteen student athletes from this year’s team will be proud representatives of the Island community as they compete internationally playing lacrosse against the best high school teams in England.

The final game of the season for the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School football team on Saturday offered plenty of excitement for the homecoming crowd, as the Vineyarders rolled over Brighton by a final score of 41-8.

It was a satisfying win for players and coaches — as well as the approximately 500 fans in the stands. For the past 50-plus years the Vineyard has played Nantucket the weekend before Thanksgiving, but this year the opposing players were dressed in Brighton’s red and yellow instead of the Whalers’ customary blue and white.

After a season fractured by illness that forced the cancellation of several practices and games, the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School field hockey team had to endure even more adversity last week when they drew Nantucket in the opening round of the MIAA Division II south tournament.

The Vineyarders lost 2-1 in a taut, well-played contest over on the sister island, but the final score does not begin to tell the whole story.

Coach Lisa Knight offered a blunt evaluation of the season.