The annual auction to benefit the boys’ high school hockey program is on Saturday, Jan. 17, at 6 p.m. at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown.

It’s basketball season, and Maureen Hill is on the move. This year is her first as head varsity coach for the regional high school girls’ basketball team, but she’s still coaching the middle school girls’ travel team that last year went 23-2 and made the state tournament finals. Afternoons are packed with basketball practices as she zips back and forth between the high school and the middle schools for drills and scrimmages.

Most high school sports feature a trickle-up effect, in that athletes begin playing their sport before reaching freshman year, and have gained the skills needed to succeed at the higher level of play. Some sports, like hockey, require a bit more specialization, making the trickle-up even more important. And this year, participation gaps at the youth hockey levels have led to disparities on the high school teams.

Rainy Goodale picked up five first-place finishes in her age group (40-44) at the New England and Colonies Zone Short Course Meters Championship.

High school football alum Michael McCarthy recently signed a professional contract with the Geneva Seahawks.

Sand mining, the need for community support and a permitting system that some Island fishermen say is flawed and broken were key topics at a recent meeting of the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust.