Monthly Archives: January 2012

January 13, 2012 · 11:21 pm

Wire-to-Wire 61-41 Win for Ipswich over Georgetown in Boys Basketball

Tyler Wade (17 points) dives after a ball going out of bounds.

Dan OFlynn (15 points) drives – Matt Gott (#40) defends

(Ipswich) Ipswich halted a five-game losing streak with a never-trail, 61-41, win over Georgetown on Friday night at Ipswich in Cape Ann League action.

The Tigers (1-3 CAL / 2-7 overall) were quickly off 5-0 on an Erik Fyrer drive and a Louis Galanis triple and never looked back.

Ipswich boosted the lead to sixteen (37-21) three minutes into the third quarter on three straight Erik Fyrer hoops.

The Royals, however, have Tyler Wade and he led a G’Town response back into contention with an old-fashioned three, a layup, and an assist on Pat Bjork’s layup.  That run left the Royals behind, 37-28, with two minutes left in the third quarter.

The next five minutes of play should be on the Ipswich season highlight film.  Nice passes, triples, and assisted baskets all showed up as the Tigers dazzled with a 17-2 run and took the doubt out of this one, 54-30, with 4 ½ left.

Mike Scola and Dan O’Flynn handed out the assists while Brenden Gallagher registered two triples during this surge.  Brenden also brought back the Bob Cousy (or is it Rondo?) flashbacks with a behind-the-back pass that sent Dan in for a layup he was fouled on.

Louis Galanis takes a turn at shadowing Tyler Wade.

For Georgetown (0-4 CAL / 3-6 overall), it was a frustrating fourth consecutive loss.  Tyler Wade (17 points) was kept busy with a series of Tiger defenders and frequently set up teammates for shots that didn’t fall often enough.  Equally excruciating for the Royals was missing seventeen of the thirty-three free throws they took.

GHS coach Mike Rowinski’s frustration boiled over two minutes into the second half when he pulled all five starters off the floor.

I saw Ipswich in their overtime loss at Amesbury earlier.  The most improved player since then was Erik Fyrer.  The 6-4 sophomore was foul prone and frustrated at Amesbury.  In this one, he fouled less while blocking and rebounding more.  He showed a nice touch around the basket collecting twelve points.

Guard Dan O’Flynn (15 points) led the Tigers in scoring getting all his points on layups and free throws.

The two teams will meet again at Georgetown (January 30th) in a nonleague game.

Ipswich box score

Georgetown box score

(The pictures above and below enlarge significantly if you click on them.)

Tyler Wade (17 points)

Erik Fyrer (12 points)

Dan OFlynn shirt pull

Sam Hurst-MacDonald putback

Matt Jaeger gets two

Georgetown clears bench

Christian Gesualdi gets two

Erik Fyrer blocks Tyler Wade shot

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January 11, 2012 · 11:35 pm

Late Surge Sends Lynnfield to 66-53 Victory Over Triton in Boys Basketball

Steve Carangelo (17 points) hits a 4th quarter three for Lynnfield

Pat Kearney (17 points) drills a three as Pioneer coach Scott MacKenzie watches

(Byfield)  The Lynnfield Pioneers blew open a close game in the fourth quarter and defeated Triton, 66-53, on Wednesday night at Triton in Cape Ann League play.

Lynnfield (5-4 overall / 3-0 in the CAL) had a tenuous, 50-48, lead with six minutes left but put a 15-2 hit on the Vikings over the next five minutes to win going away.

The primary villain in Lynnfield’s spurt was junior Steve Carangelo (17 points).  The CAL All-Star of 2010-11 registered eight unanswered points with two long ones and a layup to boost the Pioneers to a 10-point spread with 4 ½ minutes left.

There was more Lynnfield damage ahead as Kevin Gamble (13 points) scored twice in close and added a free throw while Pat Kearney (17 points) hit a jumper.  The only offense Triton had to show during all this was two Jedd Hutchins free throws.

Triton (3-5 overall / 2-1 in the CAL) had 5-point leads several times in the first quarter thanks to an old-fashioned 3-point play by Derek Paquette and later a jumper by Jedd Hutchins behind a nice double screen.

Blaise Whitman breaks away

The Vikings looked to be in serious trouble in the 3rd quarter when they trailed, 37-30, but they responded with an 11-4 run to tie the score at 41-41 with a minute left in that quarter.  A three by Jedd Hutchins (7 points) and two layups by hustling Rich Fecteau (8 points) keyed this rally.

The Pioneers pulled off some late-quarter magic in the first and third. Steve Carangelo had a steal and layup just beating the buzzer to end the first quarter.  At the end of the third quarter Triton tried to take the last shot but instead shot too early (and missed) giving lefty Pat Kearney time to can a long three from in front of the Pioneer bench at the buzzer.

Triton coach Dave Clay wasn’t shy about using his bench and ended up with ten players scoring.

Kevin Gamble (13 points) lay in

There was no fog in the Triton gym to cloud my mind but I failed to realize until later that the Kevin Gamble playing for Lynnfield and the interested parent in the crowd were connected.  Yes, it was the former Celtic Kevin Gamble.

Lynnfield made six 3’s including five in the second half.

Triton is at Rockport on Friday.

Lynnfield box score

Triton box score

(The pictures above and below will enlarge if you click on them.)

Steve Carangelo blocks Jedd Hutchins

Kevin Gamble converts Pioneer miss

Zack Alaoui layup

Ryan Clark layup

loose ball

Rich Fecteau runs at 3-point shooter Nico Varano

Steve Carangelo goes in on Mike Campbell

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January 9, 2012 · 11:00 pm

Ipswich Scores Twenty Straight in 62-40 Win Over Triton in Girls Basketball

Effie Markopoulos breaks away from the pack.

Freshman Masey Zegarowski paced Ipswich with eighteen points.

(Byfield) No surprises here even with a full moon.

Ipswich overwhelmed very inexperienced Triton, 62-40, on Monday night at Triton in Cape Ann League action.

Triton, now 2-6 overall and 0-2 in the Cape Ann League, has lost five straight.  Four of those losses have been by twenty points or more.  Beyond Jessica Canning (18 points) and Lauren Batter ton (9 points), this team is new to the varsity level of girls basketball.

Ipswich, 7-1 overall and 1-1 in the CAL, was a nightmare opponent for Triton having plenty of experienced players and motivation after a tough loss last game to Newburyport.

The Tigers crafted a seven-point run late in the first quarter into the start of the second quarter, and pulled away, 18-9.  Free throws by Brigid O’Flynn and Masey Zegarowski (18 points) started the streak.  A Julia Davis (12 points) layup (pass from Nyra Constant) and a Masey steal and layup finished it.

The Vikings found enough offense (several Jessica Canning baskets) to stay competitive (20-15) until 4:15 of the second quarter.

The rest of the half Ipswich played like the team that came in 6-1 and mixes an inside and outside offense as well as effective pressure defense.  It all clicked for the Tigers for the rest of the half and they put up twenty unanswered points to run away, 40-15, at halftime.

Jessica Canning (18 points) in Ipswich traffic

During this strong run, Ipswich made 3’s (Masey Zegarowski & Nyra Constant), got Julia Davis going inside (2 baskets), and turned turnovers into layups down the other end.  Impressive all-around display.

The second half was perfect for Ipswich coach Mandy Zegarowski because, with a big game ahead on Wednesday at home with Masconomet, she could rest the players who will be getting the long minutes versus the Chieftains.

It also worked well for Triton coach Karen Christian because her team could have some positive moments in the second half.  One impressive Viking was Jessica Canning.  She has a good outside shot.

2010-11 CAL All-Star Shannon McFayden took the opening tip in for an easy layup and never scored again in limited minutes.  Her offense will be needed against Masco.

Triton travels to Lynnfield on Wednesday.

Ipswich box score

Triton box score

(The pictures above and below enlarge if you click on them.)

Molly Markos shoots

Lauren Batterton layup

Courtney Eramo shoots in Triton traffic

Coach Mandy Zegarowski & Coach Karen Christian

Jordan Morrissey layup

Lauren Batterton

Natalie Soliozy shoots

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January 8, 2012 · 10:00 pm

Whittier Tech (7-0) still undefeated after 62-57 win over Pentucket in boys basketball

Justin Reyes (26 points)

Will Angelini (26 points)

(Haverhill) Undefeated Whittier Tech (7-0) broke away from Pentucket (3-3) in the final three minutes and defeated the Sachems, 62-57, in a nonleague game at Whittier.

Pentucket lost despite having a nine-point lead in the first half and getting big numbers from Will Angelini (26 points) and Corey McNamara (21 points).

The remarkable thing about Will’s points is that he didn’t score any during the last 1 ½ quarters thanks to a concentrated Wildcat defense.  With Will under control, Whittier’s scoring duo of Justin Reyes (26 points) and Ryan Grant (15 points) took over.  Between them, the two juniors tallied seventeen of Whittier’s points in their final game-winning run (23-10) over the last twelve minutes.

I saw Ryan Grant last year when Pentucket won, 63-52.  He’s a clever dribbler always looking for his shot or a chance to penetrate.  He put seven points together and took the Wildcats from a 49-46 deficit late in the 3rd period to 53-53 tie 2 ½ minutes into the final quarter.  His two free throws, three minutes later, gave Whittier the lead for good, 57-55.

Justin Reyes (6-3), kept the ball away from the dangerous Will Angelini over the final 1 ½ quarters, converted two rebounds, and took a steal in for a 3-point play down the stretch.  The slender lefty put back three other rebounds successfully earlier in the game.

Corey McNamara (21 points) drives while the two coaches (Tom Sipsey & Leo Parent) watch

The Sachems became one-dimensional (Corey McNamara) late in the game.  And it seemed that every time Corey had the ball he had multiple defenders flying at him.   He put up nine points late but it just wasn’t enough to hold off the Wildcats.

Trailing, 61-57, with a minute left, the Sachems had at least three shot attempts to get closer before Justin Reyes got a rebound, was fouled, and scored the final point of the game.

Good crowd on hand to watch the unusual girl/boy double-header.  The Pentucket girls won a close one in the first game.

The Whittier staff recovered nicely after having no rosters available at game time to provide them at halftime.

To say that Will Angelini (6-6) had it going in the first half is an understatement.  The Wildcats were unable to defend his fall-away jumper in the lane area.  The senior collected twenty points in a remarkable half of basketball.

Whittier Tech box score

Pentucket box score  (Corey McNamara should total 21 points)

(The pictures above and below all enlarge if clicked on.)

Ryan Grant breaks with Parker Kelly pursuing

Justin Reyes drives on Tim Freirmuth (20) and Will Angelini

Will Angelini triple-teamed

Corey McNamara launches 3

Will Angelini (51) looks to block

Gio Gomez in Sachem traffic

Justin Reyes elevates

Ryan Grant (15 points)

Noel Dragon drives

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January 7, 2012 · 12:44 am

Molly Rowe (24 points) Leads Newburyport Past Ipswich 55-53 in Girls Basketball

Molly Rowe (24 points) dribbles past Caroline Soucy.

Beth Castantini (15 points) hit two free throws with twelve seconds left.

(Newburyport) The Newburyport girls surprised a whole bunch of folks as they upset Ipswich, 55-53, Friday night at NHS in Cape Ann League action.

Molly Rowe led the way for the Clippers (5-3) with twenty-four points including eleven straight free throws after missing her first two attempts.

Eight days ago, same place, same teams, Ipswich (6-1) had won easily, 46-27.  A rematch seemed like a good opportunity for the Tigers to stretch their unbeaten streak to seven and the Clippers looked willing to do their part as they got down by ten early in the second quarter (16-6).

What happened next was unexpected.  Instead of fading further away, the Clippers ran twelve unanswered points over the next four minutes to take a shocking, 18-16, lead with 2:42 left in the second period.  Aly Leahy had a layup and Molly Rowe hit a jumper but the rest of the points were on 8-for-8 foul shooting.

The next ten minutes were entertaining, back-and-forth action, with eight lead changes, until Newburyport took the lead for good, 42-41, on two Molly Rowe free throws with thirty seconds left in the third quarter.

The Clippers extended that lead to five (51-46) on a daring three by Beth Castantini (15 points) with 1:24 left.  Game over?  Not quite!  With defender Mary Pettigrew sidelined, Julia Davis (11 points) notched a layup and thirty seconds later Brigid O’Flynn (10 points) did the same thing.  Now that Newburyport lead was only, 51-50, with plenty of time (twenty-eight seconds) left.

Julia Davis (32) layup late in the game.

If you want to pinpoint where the Clippers won this game, it was at the foul line the rest of the way.  Molly Rowe got the first chance with 26 seconds left shooting one-and-one.  How large were these when you’re only ahead by one?  She makes both.

Aly Leahy then fouls out fouling Shannon McFayden.  Shannon makes one of two – Newburyport 53-Ipswich 51 with nineteen seconds left.

Now it’s Beth Castantini’s turn to face the pressure with twelve seconds left, shooting one-and-one.  She makes both.  Brigid O’Flynn puts in a layup for Ipswich at the buzzer to close out the scoring.

This was clearly one of those games where you never had a clear sense of how it would end up………….until it ended up.

Credit Newburyport’s Mary Pettigrew for limiting the inside for the Tigers’ Julia Davis (11 points) and forcing the Tigers to launch long ones.  Ipswich made five from out there but I’m guessing they took at least twenty 3’s, if not more.

Aly Leahy (10 points) layup

Aly Leahy (10 points) and Masey Zegarowski (10 points) were the best matchup to watch on both ends of the court – athletic, tireless, and adept at getting the ball into the front court.

This was a game with very few turnovers and many missed shots.  The shooting exception was in the second period when Newburyport tallied 24 points and Ipswich 21.

There was game-long whining from both sidelines and stands.  You know how partisan the complaining is when every call results in a noticeable negative reaction from one side or the other.

No question there were plenty of foul calls and foul shots.  Newburyport missed ten free throws but made four straight in the final twenty-six seconds.

Newburyport next plays Lynnfield at home on Monday (7PM).  Ipswich is at Triton on the same night (6:30PM).

Newburyport box score

Ipswich box score

(The pictures above and below enlarge if you click on them.)

Brigid OFlynn looks to shoot

Caroline Soucy shoots

loose ball

Masey Zegarowski (5) and Cady Bennett

Coach Mandy Zegarowski and the referee

Molly Rowe surrounded

Beth Castantini three

Lily Donovan drives

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January 5, 2012 · 11:55 pm

Tyler Wade (27 points) Leads Georgetown 72-60 Past North Shore Tech

Tyler Wade (27 points) defended by Jazz Sanchez (16 points)

Mark McCarthy breaks away with Angel Sanquintin in pursuit.

(Georgetown) All kinds of offense on display as Georgetown defeated North Shore Tech (Essex Aggie), 72-60, in nonleague action on Thursday night at GHS.

The final margin is very misleading because with 2 ½ minutes left this was a 3-point game (58-55) with no certainty of the outcome.  The undersized Bulldogs (2-4) from Middleton hung around thanks to nine 3’s.

Tyler Wade (27 points) is the one they were talking about afterwards and rightly so.  He dazzled in the second half collecting twenty-one of those points.  He stole off the Bulldog backcourt several times and was off for layups.

Tyler was particularly impressive in the third quarter with fifteen points.  He closed that quarter out with a spin to the basket in the last second.  Would he answer to “T-Wade?”

Christian Gesualdi (3) squirms through Bulldog defenders

My stats found a second hero for the victorious Royals – Angel Sanquintin.  The box score only has the junior for fourteen points but eight of them came in the final quarter.

With the Bulldogs well within range of victory (58-55) with 2 ½ minutes left, Angel put on an unanswered show from all the scoring stations over the next minute to seal this one for the home team.  He started with a layup and quickly followed it with a three on a pass from T-Wade and then made two free throws.  The result of Angel’s scoring was that with 1 ½ minutes left the Bulldogs were down ten (65-55) and they weren’t coming back.

Jazz Sanchez had sixteen to lead North Shore Tech, including four 3’s.  Jordan Mendez (13), Mark McCarthy (11) and Ryan Fanning (10) were also in double figures for the Bulldogs.

If the strategy of North Shore Tech was to score from long range, the strategy of Georgetown was to take the ball to the basket.  The disparity, as a result, in free throws was 35 for the Royals and 8 for the Bulldogs.  It certainly helped keep NST around in the game that the Royals missed SIXTEEN of those free throws including a number of one-and-one’s.

I don’t recall that T-Wade played at all in the second quarter.  I thought at the time that perhaps he was sick or injured.  What he was, as it turned out in the second half, was rested.

Bulldogs inbound in front of Royal fans

The Georgetown student section was well organized and entertaining.  They can be counted on to show little mercy to opposing teams and players.  They were clever enough in this one to have the Bulldog coaches and players smiling. The chant of “Groom your horses,” caught my ear.  There was a reference to “fertilizer” in the first half that might have topped that one.

Johnny Spears (now of Pingree) was in the crowd.  There will probably be games ahead when GHS coach Mike Rowinski will wish that Johnny was still wearing the Royal blue.

Georgetown box score

North Shore Tech box score

(All of the pictures above and below enlarge if you click on them.)

Tyler Wade

Yordany Sanchez

Tyler Wade breaks loose after steal.

Mark McCarthy (25) and Christian Gesualdi (3)

Johnny Spears

Jazz Sanchez

Ben Warren (12) breaks

Pat Bjork

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January 5, 2012 · 10:48 am

Newburyport Narrowly Defeats North Reading 5-4 in Cape Ann League hockey

North Reading presses for tying goal late in the third period.

Cooper Hines (17) congratulated by Travis Wile (5) and Cam Roy (4) after scoring 4th Clipper goal.

(Newburyport) Newburyport (2-3-1) scored a couple of goals early in the third period (Cooper Hines & Matt Kelleher) and then hung on for dear life before defeating North Reading, 5-4, at Graf Rink on Wednesday night.

The Clippers, 2-2 in Cape Ann League games, had plenty of shots (38) but they neutralized that advantage by surrendering power play goals to the Hornets.

One of the more remarkable things I’ve ever seen at a sporting event happened even before this game started.  NHS coach Paul Yameen’s young daughter was delivering a wonderful rendition of the National Anthem when the Graf Rink microphone kicked off.  What next?  The crowd picked up right where she left off and delivered a rousing conclusion to the song.  Spontaneity at it’s best!

North Reading (2-5 overall/0-4 in CAL) rode a hot goaltender (Keith Linnane – 38 saves) and power play advantages and were tied, 3-3, after two periods.

National Anthem soloist

But in the final period, the relentless Clippers were rewarded twice (Cooper Hines & Matt Kelleher) early to get what, at the time, looked like sufficient separation from the Hornets.  It didn’t work that way.   Defenseman Connor Wile ended up in the penalty box and Mike Moscaritolo beat Clipper goalie Dan Murphy to make things a very interesting, 5-4, late in the game.

NR pulled their goalie and the action thereafter was in the Newburyport end.  A number of “ooh’s” and “ah’s” indicated how close the Hornets came to tying this one with the extra forward in the mix. But Newburyport prevailed.

They face North Andover (5-1) on Saturday at 7PM at the Graf Rink.  The Knights lost to Triton, 3-1, last night.

Newburyport goal scorers were: Travis Wile, Jared Bradbury (2), Copper Hines, and Matt Kelleher.  Cam Roy had three assists.

North Reading goal scorers were: Mike Brandano, Timmy Potter (2), and Mike Moscaritolo.

NR is at Pentucket on Saturday (7PM).

(All pictures enlarge to normal size if you click on them.)

loose puck in NR end

Timmy Tannian (5) & Tim Brennan (15)

Clipper crowd

Clippers collide

Mike Moscaritolo

Erik Morrison

Travis Wile

Matt Kelleher – winning goal

Cam Roy (4) & Tommy Potter (21)

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