Risley, Puleri Named Athletes of the Week

The holidays are a time for family, and the holiday break just ended was a good time for a couple of standout athletes with strong family ties on their teams.

 

So it is a good time to honor them as the iBerkshires.com/Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Athletes of the Week.

 

At Lee, Emma Puleri is the leading scorer this winter on a girls basketball team that started 2020 by continuing a four-game winning streak.

 

The sophomore has a team-high 11 3-pointers and is averaging 14.6 points per game.

 

In the Wildcats' last game of 2019, she scored 15 in a win over Mount Everett. On Friday, she had 16 in a win at McCann Tech.

 

Together with classmate Caroline Maloney (13.4 ppg), Puleri has helped Lee (4-1) win its four games by an average of 26 ppg for coach -- and Emma's dad -- Rick Puleri.

 

Like the Lee girls, the Wahconah hockey team is looking to get back to the Western Massachusetts tournament after missing the last couple of winters.

 

Wahconah is off to a good start with a 4-1-1 record, and keeper Jake Risley is a big reason why.

 

The Taconic High senior made 19 saves and left with a 5-1 lead after two periods of an eventual 6-2 win at Mount Everett on Saturday. Two days earlier, he kept Wahconah, which plays in Division 3A, ahead most of the night against Division 3 Minnechaug before the Falcons took advantage of man-up opportunities to pull away in the third.

 

"He's very solid in the net," Wahconah coach Matt Risley said on Saturday. "Granted, he's my son. He'll have to read this, I guess.

 

"He's very solid back there. ... Our guys have 100 percent faith in him. He keeps us in a lot of games that maybe we shouldn't be in."

 

The iBerkshires.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.