For senior captain Max Molinsky, going into Friday's home game against undefeated Kolbe Cathedral means a little extra preparation. The Kolbe Cathedral Cougars proved to be too much for Weston and vanquished the Trojans, 78-55, to raise their record to 15-0, 9-0 in the SWC. Kolbe got off to an early 20-9 lead and then stretched that to 30-13 before Molinsky and senior captain Evan Blitzer (15 points) headlined a 14-3 run to near the end of the second half, ultimately going to the locker room with the Trojans down by seven, 36-29. Ultimately, the constant offensive attack from Kolbe coupled with its full-court press on defense was too much for Weston to control. Senior captain center Lyle Mitchell led the Trojans with 19 points and six rebounds.

The Staples boys swimming and diving team's four-meet winning streak ended Friday with a 97-89 loss at the Westhill-Stamford co-op team. Sophomore Jonathan Blansfield continued his season's success by ruling distance events with victories in the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.80) and 500-yard freestyle (4:56.21). The shallow depth of 3.5 feet differs from Staples' pool and swimmers to start their heats diving from the blocks. The National Federation of Swimming requires that all races begin in the water under this condition and so not starting on the blocks is something the Wreckers aren't accustomed too.

[...] on an evening full of pronounced swings, the Vikings came through with the final and most decisive one, scoring the final seven points to pull away to a hard-fought 67-58 victory. [...] the Vikings had no answer for the Wreckers' Peter Rankowitz, who scored a career-high 30 points and almost single-handedly kept his team within striking distance. Westhill took a 60-54 lead with 3 minutes left on a drive by Mark Edwin, but Rankowitz scored first on a reverse, then inside off a nifty pass from Argosh to trim the deficit to a basket with 2:02 remaining. Yves Cassamajor started the decisive run by scoring in the paint, and Dobbinson, following a Staples miss, drove by the defense. Westhill got within three at the half, then completed what turned out to be a 26-7 run on a three-point play by Dobbinson that put it up by seven points.

Fairfield Ludlowe won the competition with 156 points, followed by St. Joseph (145.5), Fairfield Warde (134.5) and Greenwich (132.5). [...] senior captain Jacquelyn Fritz and juniors Maddie Mann and Olivia Stanley earned All-FCIAC honors. [...] cheering for the Lady Wreckers were senior Mikaela Kirby, juniors Alexa Casimir, Jasmine Henry, Hannah Weinberg, Stanley, Mann, Zoe Googe and Nicole McNees, sophomores Emma Mikesh, Katie Kelly, Annie Raifaisen, Amanda Streiter, Taylor Cusa and Eliza Yass and freshmen Olivis Blevins, Alexa Davis, Kana Higuchi, Samantha Troy, Lindsey Gianitti and Sarah Ellman.

The first time that the King School boys basketball team met Fairchester Athletic Association rival Greens Farms Academy, King took the powerful Dragons to overtime before losing. GFA wasn't interested in creating that much drama in Monday night's rematch at King's gymnasium. The Dragons were on fire from the 3-point arc and rolled to a businesslike 66-51 triumph. For GFA (14-3 overall, 10-3 FAA), it was the Dragons' school-record 11th consecutive victory and allowed them to solidify their hold on second place in the FAA standings behind leader Hamden Hall (8-1). [...] he sat out nearly eight minutes in the first half with foul trouble and seven minutes in the second half due to the Dragons' big lead. Both players fought foul trouble and Reggina had an unlucky evening on the perimeter with many jump shots going in and out. King's latest 1,000-point scorer, senior guard Drew Sawyer was held to 10 points as Obi's presence in the lane stopped a lot of penetration. Contact Advocate staff writer Rich DePreta at 203-964-2275.

Despite dealing with absences, the Weston gymnastics team continues to handle anything that's thrown its way. Floor exercise (30.8) was next, followed by the balance beam (25.15) and the uneven bars (23.3). Senior captain Alexis Gandal (28.7) was next and had her highest score on floor (8.0), followed by vault (7.8), beam (7.3) and bars (5.6).

Poor execution cost the Weston girls basketball team Saturday. Weston was 11-for-49 from the field in a 45-35 home loss to Haddam-Killingworth. Senior captain Lianna Hursh led the Lady Trojans with 10 points while senior captain Ellie Martin and junior Taylor Swanson each had nine points.

Host Staples survived a feisty and talented Westhill team, coupled with losing one of its starters, senior Sydney Houseworth in the fourth quarter to a knee injury in a 42-40 victory. [...] the Wreckers, who raised their record to 10-6, 9-5 in the FCIAC, were missing its sixth man, freshman swingman Maggie Fair, who is awaiting the results on an MRI. Morale is high since our improbable win over Wilton on Tuesday and has us revitalized, but we have to take stock with the injuries we have and our personnel. [...] a drought struck the Vikings in the second quarter and they only scored one point, a D'Alessandro free throw, and Staples led 21-15 at the half. Bukovsky scored a game-high 17 points, seven in the quarter, and set up senior Jessica Coelho's layup. The Wreckers also did it on defense, forcing 10 Viking turnovers in the first half, 16 overall. Nolan hit two front ends of a one-of-one to keep Staples ahead, 42-40, but missed the back end both times. Coelho, who had four blocked shots, forced D'Alessandro to fumble it and Wrecker sophomore Sophie de Bruijn came up with the game-clinching steal. S-Coelho had 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocked shots and 1 steals.

Give the Weston girls basketball team credit for its tenacious play against Kolbe Cathedral Thursday. Weston played well for the most part and had a chance to upset the perennial basketball power in a road game at the Sheehan Center. [...] the Lady Trojans didn't execute well at all times, from missed free throws and turnovers in the first half, and poor shot selection in the second half, they fell short to Kolbe Cathedral, 56-47. Kolbe Cathedral used its speed, quick hands and athleticism in taking a 6-2 lead after sophomore Aailyah Christy stole it from Weston and set up a fastbreak layup. Senior captain Lianna Hursh (11 points, three rebounds, three assists, one steal, one blocked shot), who hit a 3-pointer in the opening quarter for the team's only trey of the night, gave the Lady Trojans a 15-14 lead with a layup, which was their last advantage of the night. Freshman Kristin Caolo (two points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal, one blocked shot) contributed to the surge with a putback off the offensive glass and Swanson, who was 5-6 from the line overall, a perfect 4-4 in the second half, hit two free throws to make it 41-40. Martin (two steals, one blocked shot, two forced turnovers) had a knack of tying up the Lady Cougars for jump balls and one of her four tieups followed Swanson's free throws, which gave the Lady Trojans possession and a chance to take the lead. Mahony (one point, six rebounds, one steal, four blocked shots) and Koch (two assists, one steal) contributed for Weston.

The Staples High School boys indoor track team won the FCIAC Team Championship, snapping a string of five consecutive league titles by the Danbury High boys. The central figure in Staples' triumph was junior Henry Wynne, who ran to FCIAC championship gold in the 1,000 meters, 1,600 and added a gutty second place finish in the 3,200. Staples pulled away for good Thursday when Dean Hefnaway (13-feet-6) and Matt Mula finished 1-2 in the pole vault. In the boys 4 x 200 meter relay, the Greenwich quartet of Marcus Motill, Elijah Dume, Nick Pulitano and Ryan Kelly were crowned FCIAC champs in 1:32.24. Since our relay won at the Yale Invitational, we felt we could put up a special time. In the 4 x 800 meter relay, the new Ridgefield High foursome of Billy Arnold, Blake Liebling, McCall Keller and Connor Findlay took first place in 8:27.10, nipping runnerup Staples (8:27.67). In the 1000 meters, Staples' Wynne was crowned FCIAC champion in 2:31.66. In the 55 meter hurdles, Norwalk's Adam Robertino was crowned FCIAC champ in 7.78 seconds. In the sprint medley relay, the New Canaan foursome of George Bennett, Austin Deery, Henson Orser and Alex Spinu won in 3:42.24 ahead of Ludlowe (3:44.38) and Danbury (3:44.46). In the shot put, New Canaan's Rami Hanadan was crowned FCIAC champ with a throw of 49-feet-7.75.