Daughters take down moms on b-ball court

CORNWALL — The ladies — young, and, um … not so young — came to play. Moms (mostly) from the group that meets Wednesdays in the Cornwall Consolidated School (CCS) gym went up against the CCS Region One champion girls Sunday afternoon, March 7. They collected items for the Cornwall Food Bank while collecting fouls and bruises on the court.

Yes, we’re going there. As attractive and classy as these girls and their moms are off the court, they brought a slightly lower level of pretty to their game.

The moms wore brightly colored, tie-dyed CCS Walk-a-thon T-shirts, an assortment of padding, a knee brace or two and looks of sheer determination. Whether that was to win or not to collapse of exertion remained to be seen.

Taking the court and cheering their team name, “U80� — in soccer, that would denote players are under the age of 80 — the 15 moms quickly gauged the level of aggressiveness the 10 CCS team members were bringing. They ramped up their game and the action was lively.

The crowd cheered for both sides, and it was not uncommon to hear shouts of “Go, Mommy!�

Down 28 to 12 at the break between the two 16-minute periods, U80 players huddled to discuss strategy. Coach Rick Kearns (dad to a CCS player, who called him a “traitor�) suggested they pick up the pace. Easy for him to say, was the general reaction.

He eventually decided to let them run some plays they have been practicing, even though their goal on Wednesdays is to stay in shape. Knowing endurance was not their strong suit against the girls, they continued their strategy of subbing out all five players at each opportunity.

As for the girls, they were confident, to say the least. They were not running plays, since they had a ringer or two to round out their team. Beyond that, they declined to reveal their strategy, accusing this U80 reporter of being a spy.

In the second period, the U80 ladies scored on some impressive plays, determination and raw talent. The U80 inside defense became so good, the girls went to outside shots, wowing the crowd with a high percentage sunk.

In the end, it was 53-26 in favor of CCS. Those ladies seemed barely out of breath, and had nothing to be embarrassed about. After a quick group photo, both teams cooled down by delivering a big pile of food and other donated items to the food bank.

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less