Last Thursday, Alvirne held its triannual Athletic Awards Night, this one being for the winter sports teams for the 2023-24 academic year. All in all, 25 athletes took home awards last Thursday night with seven varsity squads being honored.
For girls’ basketball, it was a season in which there were many accomplishments long before Thursday night, especially for a season where many pundits around the state had minimal expectations for the team. The Lady Broncos had players step up and perform eons ahead of expectations, and that, according to head coach Frank Girginis, was largely due to the hard work put into each and every game and practice.
Leading the way for the Lady Broncos was Sadie Rodgers. Earning herself the award for Hardest Worker, Sadie came to every practice and game ready to lead her team, both on and off the court. Even on the early Saturday mornings, she always had a smile on her face and wanted to get better and help her team do the same.
The Player of the Year Award went to Ella Hartson, who led the team in scoring, averaging 10.6 points per game in the regular season, and came away with a number of double-digit scoring performances, some of them in some of the most critical games of the season.
The HART Motivation Success Award was given to Rachael Allard who, in her high school career, battled her way back from a broken ankle and a torn ACL to hit what Coach Girginis called “the biggest free throws… at least in my time at Alvirne.” Shots that he claimed, “No one in this program, including myself, could have hit,” with the shots he is referring to being the three free throws that clinched the victory over Goffstown in the preliminary round of the playoffs this year.
For the boys’ basketball team, they gave out three awards: the Most Improved Player, a Coaches’ Award, and Team MVP.
The Most Improved Player was awarded to Alejandro Valenzuela who was one of the lone “big men” to stay healthy this year and had many key moments for the Broncos down the stretch in their quest for the playoffs.
The Coaches’ Award was given to senior Aiden Mills who is no stranger to being a team leader. Mills’ passion for the sport of basketball was clear all season as the lone senior on the team showed his experience, hitting clutch shots when needed and playing solid defense.
Team MVP to nobody’s surprise was given to junior Sammy DeWitt who led the team in many offensive categories as well as being given the honor of being named to the Division I All-State Second Team. DeWitt was a player this season who could put up a double-double on any given night and at times was scoring at will.
For the girls’ winter track team, the three awards were the Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Athlete, and Most Valuable Athlete.
The Rookie of the Year Award was given to Yevenlla “Jane” Makovly, whom the coaching staff endearingly nicknamed “G.I. Jane” as she was able to compete in many events in her first year in the track and field scene, doing well in just about anything that she competed in.
Olivia Rudy took home Most Improved Athlete this season as she has managed to bring herself from soccer star to now a star in soccer and track and field.
The girls’ track and field Most Valuable Athlete went to Petrina Ofori who competed in numerous events this season as a senior, including being thrust into the 4×400 relay anchor position at the NHIAA D-I State Championship Meet, as well as placing in the New England Championships in high jump, clearing 5’1″.
On the boys’ side of things, there were two Coaches’ Awards handed out as well as a Most Valuable Athlete. The Coaches’ Awards went to Aiden
Flaherty and Brent Dunning, while the Most Valuable Athlete was given to Colin Fay.
The hockey team, which serves as a co-op with Milford High School, the Alvirne-Milford Admirals, handed out four awards on Thursday night including an Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved, and MVP.
Bryce Larco of Milford High School was awarded the team’s Offensive
Player of the Year honor as he finished second on the team in points with 22, only behind Braydon Atwood who had 27. Larco’s 11 goals and 11 assists came at many key moments in the season including two against Goffstown, one in each matchup, with the first being the lone goal in a 1-0 victory at home and the second being the game-tying goal in a 2-2 tie at Goffstown down the stretch.
The team’s Defensive Player of the Year award was given to Cade Bouchard, also of Milford. Cade led his team in +/- this year at a +13 serving on the top defensive pair while also sporting the “A” on his jersey. Bouchard was a leader for this team on and off the ice, not only this season but throughout his high school career, earning himself the Defensive Player of the Year in his senior season.
The Most Improved Player Award went to Ryan Ricard who was fairly quiet on the score sheet this season but had numerous big plays on both ends of the ice, including a goal to give his club the lead against Spaulding. Ricard also led the team in blocked shots this season from the second defensive pairing.
Team Most Valuable Player was an award that was voted on by the players, and according to Head Coach Dave Thibeault, the player took the same direction as the coaches intended to, naming senior goaltender Trent Scarbro MVP. Trent has been a starter for four years for the Admirals and has accounted for numerous big moments in his time in Navy and Maroon with this season being no exception. Scarbro not only won the first playoff game in Admirals history with a 48-save night against Winnacunnet, but he racked up a .936 save percentage throughout the season to the tune of a 2.46 GAA despite a bit of a rough go of things to start the season for the senior.
Trent, along with fellow award winners Bryce Larco and Cade Bouchard will join Captain Ceddy Beaulieu in the All-Star Game this Saturday as Scarbro was given First Team honors and Larco, Bouchard, and Beaulieu were named as Honorable Mentions.
The swim and dive team issued five awards this season with a Most Valuable Swimmer on both the men’s and women’s side of things, as well as a Most Improved Swimmer, Most Improved Diver, and a Coaches’ Award.
The Most Valuable Swimmer (Women’s) was awarded to Mikaela Mendes, while the Men’s Most Valuable Swimmer, went to the lone male swimmer, Caiden Cox.
Most Improved Swimmer honors were given to Olivia Inzenga and Most Improved Diver went to Ariana Anderson, the team’s lone diver who worked as a swimmer and a diver this season.
Ella Bunk took home the Coaches’ Award for her hard work this season, serving as a team leader and star swimmer throughout the 2023-24 campaign.
The final team to honor their athletes on the night was the wrestling team. The group began by honoring their Division II State Champions-Logan Jacques (157 lbs), Cam Steed (165 lbs), Shawn Boudreau (215 lbs), and Morgan Gora (120 lbs)-with Gora’s title being the first girls’ wrestling title in Alvirne history. They also honored Jillian Boncore, who qualified for New England’s as a runner-up.
The team also handed out four awards: Most Outstanding Wrestler, two Coaches’ Awards, and Most Improved Wrestler. The Most Outstanding Wrestler Award was given to “Coach’s Kid” Shawn Boudreau. The two Coaches’ Awards went to Logan Jacques and Joey Lydan. Morgan Gora took home the Most Improved Wrestler Award, as throughout her high school career, she went from being someone recognized by being Kyle Gora’s sister to being recognized as Morgan Gora, Alvirne’s first female wresting State Champ.