While most Kent students were heading home to start the holidays, members of the boys and girls varsity hockey and basketball teams spent the few beginning of break at Christmas Tournaments.

Despite an opening hot-streak, girls varsity hockey head coach Mr. Rousseau warned that any tournament is a “whole new game” and that each matchup will have a strong intensity. With strong competition all around this year, and opponents at the tournament being potentially the most skilled teams so far in the season, Rousseau urged the need for the team to play better and better each game to test their mettle. The team opened their tournament with a close 4 – 3 win against Lawrenceville, followed by a decisive 7-2 win over Choate-Rosemary Hall. In the championship game against Loomis the team managed to tie, falling just short of a perfect record.

With the boys varsity hockey team suffering a few tough losses recently, captain Tommy Tanner ‘17 knew the team could use the tournament to “get back on track” and show recent improvement on the team’s power plays in particular. They traveled to Avon Old Farms and had a strong start with a 4-0 win against Trinity-Pawling. Following this, Kent had another dominating victory with a 5-1 win against a traditionally strong Gunnery team. Loomis, thought to be the team’s biggest threat this season, held Kent to 2-2 tie, and although it may not have been a win, it demonstrates that the boy’s team can compete with anyone. To finish off their tournament, Kent faced Tabor Academy, winning in a solid 3-1 fashion.

Girl’s basketball competed at Miss Porter’s School. It was a rough tournament for them, unfortunately, starting with a difficult 25-48 loss against Berkshire, followed by losses to Cushing and Deerfield (with respective scores of 37-49, 43-56). Despite disappointing results, captain Megan Landrigan ‘17 believes  “if we play hard we can beat them” citing a need for more consistent play in the future. With a younger, smaller team, the lack of size will be an issue for Kent, but Landrigan states that “the transition game is where we thrive” and hopes that they will be able to utilize this asset more effectively throughout the season.

Regarding the boys varsity basketball tournament, Captain Andrew Richards ‘18 commented that “Coach has been putting us through very competitive practices” and believes the team’s strong depth and play on both ends of the court allowed Kent to succeed. In a stacked tournament, Richards expected the team to be “fired up” by the opportunity. The team showed just this in a 67-51 win against Peddie and a 64-57 win against Episcopal Academy. Despite early success, the team fell to the Hill School in a nail-biting 62-64 loss, showing room for improvement, but still a strong showing.

On the whole the tournaments were a good experience for the players — who headed home thereafter for some well-earned rest.