The Silver Lake High boys’ basketball team might not have made it to the MIAA postseason tournament this year, but that does not mean there were not any Lakers connections in it that did well.

In fact, there was one Laker whose team thrived this postseason. That would be former Silver Lake boys’ basketball coach Rick Boulrisse, who continues to work in the school’s wellness department as a physical education teacher.

Boulrisse, who was the Lakers head varsity coach from 2005 to 2007 (and an assistant for a few years prior to that), currently serves as the Mashpee Falcons head coach–and they are having an excellent season. With him in charge, they won the Division 4 South playoff bracket, giving them an opportunity to play at TD Garden for the MIAA State semifinals. It is the first time the Falcons have ever made it to this level in the playoffs; they have also never won a state title.

In order to make it to TD Garden, Boulrisse’s Falcons came up with a 73-54 win over a South Shore League rival, the Cohasset Skippers, on Saturday, March 10.

Boulrisse has been the head coach at Mashpee High since the start of the 2012-2013 season. Prior to his tenure at Silver Lake, Boulrisse, who is from Maine, coached basketball at Sumner High School in his home state.

The emergence of some underdog playoff teams has been a major development during this year’s MIAA boys’ basketball tournament. Of the 16 teams remaining by the state semifinal round, 10 of them had never won a state title, Mashpee included.

This past season, the Lakers just missed out on a tournament appearance, finishing out the year at 8-12. They did finish the season on a high note, winning their last two games.

Jessica Zeoli

Express correspondent

The Plympton School Committee met Monday, Feb. 26 to discuss the current physical and financial state of the Dennett Elementary School. The first update was regarding the sign at the end of the driveway of the school. There are plans for the entrance to contain a lighted sign, important for informing unfamiliar visitors of the school’s whereabouts, especially at night. The school is currently seeking quotes for this project, which is suspected to be easy, as there is a meter located closely behind where the sign would be placed, according to Chairman Jon Wilhelmsen.

The Dennett Elementary has been experiencing water filtration issues over the past several years, which should be coming to an end shortly, according to Wilhelmsen. The water treatment project has been progressing quickly, and a contract is due to be signed prior to April vacation. The school could then use April vacation or the beginning of summer to conclude the project. The committee expects there to be safe drinking water provided at the school by fall.

Along with the safety of the water, the safety of the current playground at the Dennett is being evaluated. The committee announced that following February break they are planning to contact Marshfield Public Schools, who have adopted a safer playground model within the past three years. The committee hopes for suggestions and may follow Marshfield’s model for safe recreation.

The committee continued the meeting by discussing the new tiles that have been installed by the 2nd and 3rd grade wing of the school. They had been popping out of the floor, in desperate need of repair. The school followed Kingston’s new tile renovation as the tiles used are durable, soundproof, and easy to clean, saving the school money on maintenance.

The generator at the school has experienced significant issues, resulting in  budgeting for a new one. The school anticipates spending $69,850.13 on the project, as wiring, purchasing, and a short time rental of a new one are included in the pricing.

In addition to budgeting for a new generator, the committee discussed appropriately increasing funding to professional development and special education. Joy Blackwood, Superintendent of Silver Lake Public Schools discussed how surrounding districts are planning to raise budgeting 6.5% for special education, resulting in Silver Lake’s participation. Professional development is in a $6000 deficit by the end of the school year due to graduate program financial aid provided through the district. However, with a high number of retirements projected for 2019, the district finds it best to increase funding of professional development and training for the new hires taking the positions of those retiring.

With this increased budget for professional development, it would help aid in restructuring the previous year’s programs for faculty. By doing so, it is able to ensure the district is in compliance with civil rights for the state. The program would train and gain recognition for inexperienced teachers on historically marginalized subgroups and ensuring no equity gaps in the classroom.

In efforts to help the town’s budget, it was suggested by Superintendent Blackwood to split the cost of new textbooks to be ordered at the end of the school year in half, progressively paying it off throughout two years. She also suggested there may be sudden retirements within the district, which could, in fact, help the school’s budget as well.

As of Feb. 26, there are 204 students enrolled at Dennett Elementary, with one more month for students to enroll.

The meeting ended with dates to remember for the upcoming month of March:

March 9 – Early Release Grades 7-12: 10:45 a.m.; Grades K-6: 12 noon (NO lunch served)

March 22 – Early Release Grades K-6: 12:45 p.m. Parent Conferences

March 26 – Next Plympton School Committee Meeting.

The Silver Lake High wrestling team has some of the top wrestlers in their respective division in the state. They earned the opportunity to prove this last weekend, competing at the Division 2 State meet at Milton High School.

In all, the Lakers sent three wrestlers to the meet, an indication of the caliber of wrestlers they have within the program. Even after such a strenuous meet against stiff competition, their season is still alive.

That is because junior Dan Walsh (120) earned a sixth place finish at the meet, so he earned a ticket to the All-State tournament. In all, he went 3-3 during the two-day tournament which was held on Friday and Saturday. His final bout was for the fifth place spot so he would have made it to All-States regardless of the outcome of it.

Walsh was not the only Laker to compete over the course of the weekend either. Senior captain Gavin Hamilton (182) and sophomore Kyler Baur (106) also wrestled over the course of the weekend.

Hamilton came up with a big 9-1 major decision win over a North Andover grappler where he was clearly in control. His opponent’s only point of the match came with 34 seconds remaining on an escape. Plus, his opponent had an injury timeout about 30 seconds into the second period. Ultimately, Hamilton would fall in the consolation round of eight, so he did not advance further in the tournament; Baur dropped his two matches during the state meet.

Earning the right to wrestle at the state meet is a major accomplishment in itself. Seeing how the Lakers had three men wrestling at it–two of which are expected to return next season–they certainly have reason to be confident in the future of their program.

Walsh will compete at All-States this Friday and possibly Saturday at St. John’s Prep in Danvers.

To start the week, the Silver Lake boys’ hockey team sat at 6-9-3 and for most teams, that would mean they would have to win out the rest of their season to make the playoffs. However, the pressure is off this time for the Lakers as they already earned their playoff spot last week.

The Lakers clinched a playoff spot last week as they shellacked Cardinal Spellman, 13-3, on Monday, Feb. 5. The win gave them a spot in the playoffs via the Sullivan Rule. This rule states that if a team has a .500 or better record against teams in their division or lower, then they will get into the playoffs. This rule also helped the Lakers to a playoff appearance last season, despite the team not enjoying as much success as a whole back then.

Since the Lakers are in Division 3 for hockey–the lowest division–they earned the spot since they were 5-3-1 against teams in their division to start the week. The non-league games have not been an issue for the Lakers, it’s just that they were 2-7-2 against Patriot League competition, most of which features Division 2 teams. If this is any indication, then the Lakers are in a pretty good spot as they gear up for the tournament.

After all, they did dominate Spellman and got freshman Gavin Belliveau his first career varsity win in net. Ryan Sullivan had a team-high three goals while Nick Solari, Bobby Guilford and Dave Marani each chipped in two goals apiece. The other goals of the game went to Alex Heffernan, Andrew Johnson, Sean McNeilly and John Evans. Needless to say, it was the most amount of goals the Lakers have put up this season.

The Lakers next game is a good test for them because they are set to face Sacred Heart of Kingston, a fellow Division 3 team who will likely make it to the playoffs. That one is set for Saturday, Feb. 17 (5:00 p.m. start time).

The Silver Lake wrestling team has enjoyed its share of ups and downs this season, but they have still enjoyed plenty of success this season and have a bright future ahead of them.

At the beginning of the month, the Lakers stood at 7-11 in their team meets on the season, but that does discount what they have accomplished this year. Not only do they compete in a tough division, but they have individuals on the team who have enjoyed a great deal of success in competitive tournaments thus far.

A prime example of this would be the team’s 120-pound wrestler Daniel Walsh coming in second at the Cape Cod Invitational tournament and third at the Marshfield Holiday Invitational over Christmas break in December. At the start of the month, he was 27-6 in his matches on the season.

Gavin Hamilton (182) and Kyler Baur (106 and 113), who have been starters all season, are also thriving. Hamilton was 20-11 and Baur was 20-14 this season as of February 1.

The team has also had some freshmen step into big roles such as Scott Snell (106) and Kyle Cipullo (195). Snell was 10-3 on the year and Cipullo was 11-15–showing impressive levels of varsity success for first-year high school wrestlers. Plus, a healthy Kyle Fries has been an asset at the 138-pound weight class during the second half of the season after missing the first half of the year.

The Lakers wrapped up their Patriot League Keenan Division schedule on Wednesday, Jan. 31 with a 51-27 win over Whitman-Hanson. As a result of the win where Baur, Walsh, Hamilton, Cipullo and Will Barkowsky (160) all had pins for the Lakers, the team finished second in their division standings with Duxbury at 3-2 in league matches.

Select Lakers wrestlers will compete in individual tournaments in the coming weeks.

Going up against tough Patriot League competition, the Silver Lake High boys’ basketball team continues playing competitive basketball.

At the start of the week, the Lakers were 4-8 after dropping both of their bouts last week. Even so, they continued playing tough and still have the opportunity to end the season on a strong note down the stretch against some solid competition.

The Lakers have shined on offense throughout the season. Specifically, Tyler Duggan and sophomore Nolan Hughes have been leaders in the team’s scoring effort. Only a sophomore, Hughes is only cracking into his potential now and there is plenty of reason for the Lakers to be optimistic about his rise for the team. After all, he stands tall at 6-foot-4, so that size is a major asset for the team, especially in the paint. 

There is definitely reason to believe the Lakers should play well down the stretch. They have been competitive in just about every game they have played in this season and if a couple of bounces went a couple different ways, they would be sitting at 7-5. This is because they had a tight 2-point loss to Scituate on January 23, lost to Duxbury 50-45 on January 19 and dropped a 55-50 bout to Sandwich on December 27.

Those are certainly teams the Lakers would have a great chance to beat if they have a rematch. In fact, they have a rematch on the road against Duxbury on February 15, so that one is bound to be a nail-biter.

Against Scituate last week, Hughes had three shot blocks while Matthew Bettle had one more. Tyler Duggan, Josh Gilbert and Danny Duggan all showed off their touch from outside range, sinking at least one 3-point shot each.

The Lakers next game is this Friday, Feb. 2 on the road against the Quincy Presidents  at 6:30 p.m.

The Silver Lake High girls’ basketball team is not only in the hunt for a playoff spot, but they could end up being one of the higher seeds in their respective bracket if they keep excelling like they have this season.

To start the week, the Lakers had a robust 8-3 record as one of the top teams on the South Shore. Offensively, they have continued to play well, regularly scoring more than 50 points per contest.

A major reason for that is they are an experienced team. Last season, they only had four players who had played varsity basketball prior to the season. This gave many players on the team extensive varsity experience–and they capitalized on the situation.

Now, the Lakers have six seniors listed on their roster: Alex Bachelder, Annabelle Boudreau, Sydney Kehoe, Emily Hapgood, Allie Crawford and Alyssa Nelson.

Crawford has been strong on both sides of the ball for the Lakers thus far and offensively, Kehoe, Nelson, Boudreau and sophomore Holly Reeder-Morning are a few of the many players who have shown prowess for the Lakers so far this season.

The Lakers have also played tough defense this season.

An example of this would be their 43-34 win over the Duxbury Dragons on Friday, Jan. 19.

So far, the Lakers have been just about as good at home (4-1) as they have been on the road (4-2). They have also done a nice job handling their tough Patriot League schedule (5-3 in league play) which features the likes of Duxbury, Whitman-Hanson, Quincy and Hingham, among others.

Some early momentum may be a part of the season why the Lakers have enjoyed this early success. Three of their first four games were non-league matchups and they won all of those three games.

The Lakers next game is this Friday, Jan. 26, at 6:30 p.m. when they will face the Whitman-Hanson Panthers on the road.

For most of the game, the Silver Lake high boys’ hockey team hung right in there.

Ultimately, however, their opponent surged late in the game and the Lakers (3-4-1) fell to the Whitman-Hanson Panthers (5-3-1) by a 3-1 score at Hobomock Ice Arena on Wednesday, January 10.

The Panthers had an early edge in the first period, spending most of their time on offense. They outshot the Lakers 6-4 in that span but were unable to score a goal as Alden Maguire played well in net. Defenseman Nick Iarossi had a great shot block with five seconds left in the period, preventing what could have been a goal.

In the second period, the Lakers would come out strong offensively. Defenseman Gregory Wolff netted the first goal of the game to put the Lakers up 1-0 less than two minutes into the period. He found the top right shelf and took his shot from around the blue line. Defenseman Liam Kelleher had the assist on the goal.

The Panthers were able to get some offensive momentum going as the game wore on. They tied the game up at one apiece with 6:17 left in the second period with a hard slapshot from inside the left faceoff circle. In the third period, they were able to put the game away.

The Lakers got outshot 10-3 in the third period and the Panthers took advantage of that. They scored goals with 5:49 remaining and 3:33 remaining to put the game away.

In the final couple minutes of the game, the Lakers were down a man because of penalties, so they faced long odds of making a comeback.

David Marani, Alexander Heffernan and Bobby Guilford comprised the Lakers first line of forwards in the game; John Evans and Nicholas Iarossi were their first defensive pairing.

The Lakers next game is this Saturday, Jan. 20 at Hobomock Ice Arena against Hanover (3:10 p.m. start time).