Update

 As we approach the holiday break, it is a good time of year to remind ourselves how lucky we are to live in such a wonderful community.  The number of alumni who come back and watch the various teams play is really amazing.  Panther nation gets bigger every year and the amount of pride people take being from Whitman and Hanson is truly special.  We want to take this time to wish everyone a very safe and happy holiday season.

And now let's update our winter sports teams.

A good place to begin is with our girls basketball team which has picked up right where they left off.  Despite graduating most of the team, the Panthers have reloaded with a lot of talented young players and they have jumped out to a 2-0 start.   Friday night the girls posted a 42-38 victory over Plymouth North (2-1). Freshman Jenna Mishou paced the Panthers with a team high 11 points off the bench. Sophomores Cassidy Briggs (10 points) and Lillie Mackinnon (8 points) were key to igniting the Panthers in the second half after trailing by 2 at halftime. The team is back on the road Tuesday night when they travel to Silver Lake. 

The boys basketball team is also young this year and they opened the season by surprising one of the top teams in the league when they beat Pembroke, 77-68 behind huge nights from Drew Daley and Evan Yakavonis (19 points apiece).  On Friday though the Panthers lost a heartbreaker by 1 point to Plymouth North despite a breakout performance from freshman Isaiah Bean-Brittain who exploded for 28 points.  The team will try to bounce back at home Tuesday night against Silver Lake.

Whitman-Hanson wrestling had a nearly perfect day at the Sandwich Early Bird Tournament Saturday. WH ended the day with 6 Champions and a 3rd and fourth place finish. We were a perfect record of 6-0 in the finals to secure a second place team finish behind Excel Academy who had 174 points to WH 160. Leading the way for WH was 106 pound sophomore Champion Charlie Lussier with 3 pins on the day. Charlie's record on the season is now 6-0 with 6 pins. At 113 pounds sophomore Christian Grimaldi also went 3-0 and also had 3 pins. Christian is now 6-2 on the season with 3 pins. Wrestling in the 132 pound finals was junior Austin Gamber. Austin went 4-0 on the day leading to his Championship and a season record of 7-2. At 138 pounds senior captain Braden Kain was 4-0 on the day leading to his Championship. Braden is now 8-1 on the season with 6 pins. At 145 pounds, senior captain Aidan Guiliani continued with a 3-0 day with 3 pins and is now 4-0 on the year with 3 pins. Rounding out the tournament for WH was senior captain Maddox Colclough at 285 pounds with a pin in the finals extending his season record to 2-0 with 2 pins. Freshmen PJ Katz wrestled at 106 pounds and went 3-1 on the day with 3 pins and finished in 3rd place. Rounding out the day was freshmen Tristan Foster wrestling at 126 pounds going 1-2 on the day and placing 4th.

Next up for WH is a home match vs. Carver HS on Wednesday December 21st at 6:00 pm.

The Whitman-Hanson Girls Track and Field team (1-1) downed Duxbury High School Friday night at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center 56-44.  Winners for the Panthers included Junior Leila Keaney (55 Hurdles, 10.92) and Senior Captains Anne Tilley and Sydney Pires who tied in the High Jump at 4'3". Pires also won the Long Jump at 14' 7".  It was Junior Savannah Kamperides winning the 600 in 1:51.75, Freshman Gabrielle Amado placing first in the 1000 in 3:32.16, and Sophomore McKenna McCarthy taking the 2 Mile in 12:51.

Whitman Hanson Boys Track and Field team competed against Duxbury High School's team Friday and lost 64 to 31. Whitman Hanson's top performer was Senior Captain Noah Roberts who won the Shot Put 35'7" and Long Jump 17'6"

and he was the Panther's fastest sprinter in the 55m 7.38 and the 300 m dash 41.53. Other noteworthy performances came from Ryan Crowley in the 55H 10.69,  Shane Johnson in the 600M run 1:40.53, Logan Bourgelas in the 1000m 2:53.71, and Alex Kehayias in the 2 mile 11:21.24. The 4 x 400 team comprised of Logan Bourgelas, Ethan Fostello, Shane Johnson and Bobby Silva posted the Panthers best time of the season with 3:53.47. The Panther's record stands at 0 - 2. 

Girls hockey is playing great in the early going posting a 1-1 record.  They lost a tough one to Duxbury Saturday when the Dragons scored late in the third to snap a scoreless deadlock.  Freshman goalie Sadie Watchhorn was sensational in net.  The girls opened the season with a thrilling 3-2 win over Marshfield.

The boys hockey team started with the iron of the league this year and suffered losses to both Duxbury and Marshfield.  Junior Zakk Spano gave the Panthers an early 1-0 lead Saturday over Marshfield but the Rams scored 5 unanswered despite Junior goalie Nolan Munroe turning in another good game stopping 36 Rams shots.  In Wednesday's 5-2 loss to Duxbury  Junior Alex Ethier scored twice for Whitman Hanson as the Panthers took a 2-1 lead into the third before Duxbury took control.

The Panthers record is now 1-2-0 (0-2 in Patriot League).  They will travel on the road and play Plymouth North, Wednesday 12/21.