Boys overpower CC Academy, Sturgis
BY STEVE SHEPPARD
After a tough loss to Avon the week before, the Whalers were ready when Cape Cod Academy visited the island last Thursday afternoon. And for much of the first half, the Seahawks were ready as well.

The Whalers enjoyed the home atmosphere over the weekend. Sophomore Eric Lowell (left) drives for two, while Tomas Smaliorius (24) and Kevin Stanton (41) keep a Sturgis player at bay. One of the Whalers' strengths this year is a deep bench.

Although Nantucket never trailed in the contest, the score was 16-14 with three and a half minutes to go in the first half before Nantucket went on a 10-2 run to close the stanza. While seven different Whalers scored in the half, Cape Cod Academy's Martin Greenberg accounted for 12 of his team's 16 points, en route to a game-leading 19 points.

The balanced effort from the Whalers, however, is why they are now 7-2 on the season, and why they readily dispatched both the Seahawks on Thursday (64-40) and Sturgis Charter School on Saturday (71-18).

For coach Beau Almodobar, the team's successful

start will be meaningful only if it can build on what it has learned and carry it over into the second half of the season. "We're coming up to some big games," he said after Saturday's home outing. "We don't want to lose our momentum."

With only three home games remaining on the schedule, beginning with next Wednesday's matchup against always tough West Bridgewater, the Whalers will be road-tested soon enough. "We've got to stay sharp," Almodobar notes. "So far, I still think there could be some improvement - we need to do a better job of protecting the basketball."

Overall, however, the coach is pleased. "I'm happy. A lot of people are getting to play."

As can be seen in the scoring distribution. Against Cape Cod Academy, Jordan Ferreira led the Whalers with 17 points, including three, 3-pointers, Josh Butler had 10 points, Delroy Lawrence, Andriques Farmer and Evan Hourihan each had 8 points (with Hourihan contributing a 3-pointer), Kevin Stanton had 7, Adam Spencer 4 and Eric Lowell 2.

Saturday's matchup with Sturgis saw the return of Nantucket's former girls' basketball coach Roy Porter, who is in his first year as head coach of the charter school's boys' program. He hopes to bring continuity to a team that has had several different coaches in the last few years.

Scoring for Nantucket against Sturgis were Ferreira with 11 points, Farmer with 10 points, Tomas Smaliorius with 9, Spencer and Hourihan with 6, Jordan Beans, Stanton and Butler with 5, Lawrence with 4, and Nick Phillips with 2.

Butler and Lawrence each had 7 rebounds. I