Monthly Archives: January 2013

January 14, 2013 · 10:42 pm

Manchester-Essex girls get by Triton 37-21 with strong second half

Sydney Christopher (nine points) heads down the lane

Liza Logue (seven points) looks for an opening

(Byfield) Manchester-Essex put together a strong second half and defeated Triton, 37-21, in Cape Ann League girls action on Monday night.

The Vikings (1-10) trailed only by three (17-14) with 3 ½ minutes left in the third quarter but were done in by a ten-point run by the Hornets (4-7) over the next 2 ½ minutes.

This good segment of offense for ME opened up a 27-14 advantage that turnover-prone Triton could not recover from the rest of the way.

The point scorers for the Hornets during the game-deciding run were Maya Heath (two free throws), Sam Taylor (converted rebound), Liza Logue (layup), and Ivy Silag Sterns (layup and jump shot).

The run of points was certainly a factor in the Hornet win but equally important was a second half in which they took better care of the ball. In the first half ME had fourteen giveaways (by my count) while in the second half the miscues fell to six. With fewer turnovers the Hornets were able to get more shots and enough of their attempts went in to result in a victory.

Kaitlyn Muldowney (eight points) led Triton in scoring

Triton went down 6-0 early but thanks to converted rebounds by Kaitlyn Muldowney and Harley Wood, as well a long shot by Kaitlyn, the Vikings tied the score early in the second quarter.

Triton was within two (13-11) just before halftime but Sydney Christopher nailed a last-second shot for ME giving the visitor a 15-11 halftime lead.

The Vikings were still in contention down only 17-14 after an Amanda Colpitts layup in the third quarter.

However, Triton put together a stretch of poor ball management (five turnovers) that coincided with ME making shots. That combination did in the home team.

The Vikings had seventeen turnovers in the second half while ME had only six. Both teams applied full-court pressure.

Ivy Silag Stearns takes a long pass from Sydney Christopher in for a layup

Freshman Sydney Christopher (nine points) led the Hornet scorers. Liza Logue had seven and Ivy Silag Sterns six.

Kaitlyn Muldowney was Triton’s top point getter with eight points.

The best pass in this game was a long inbounds pass from Sydney Christopher to a breaking Ivy Silag Stearns that set up Ivy for a layup in the final quarter.

Triton and Manchester-Essex met on December 28th in a tournament non-league game which the Hornets won, 35-24.

Division 4 Manchester-Essex was 5-16 last season. They are now 2-6 in the Cape Ann League.

Division 3 Triton last won four weeks ago defeating East Boston. The Vikings were 4-16 last season.

eyes on the ball

There is no pattern to the games I will be cover. My first inclination is to watch top teams play – I saw the Pentucket girls defeat Billerica. I expect to see the Central Catholic boys (9-1) face a very good Lowell team on Friday night.

However, I am also drawn to games in which the two teams have losing records. It is my belief that the intensity will be very high as both teams go after something that has been hard for them to get.

Such was the case in the Triton/ME game. The effort by both teams was apparent and for 2 ½ quarters this game was even. Triton gave it their best shot and never let up.

Manchester-Essex box score

Triton box score

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

Carolyn Heslop defended by Megan Muldowney

Sydney Christopher hits a shot late in the first half

Sam Taylor blocks the shot of Harley Wood

Christine Ciccone and Allyson Conway (24)

Fraley Morton and Amanda Colpitts

Leave a comment

Filed under Manchester-Essex, Triton

Tagged as Carolyn Heslop, Harley Wood, Ivy Silag Stearns, Kaitlyn Muldowney, Liza Logue, Sydney Christopher

January 11, 2013 · 11:39 pm

Newburyport rally falls short as Manchester-Essex wins 54-38 in boys basketball

Liam Aldrich (10 points) looks for someone to pass to

Ian Michaels (17 points) gets airborne

(Newburyport) Newburyport had Manchester-Essex on the ropes early in the final quarter but went verrrrry cold over the last six minutes and lost to the Hornets, 54-38, on Friday night in Cape Ann League action.

The Clippers (5-3) trailed by thirteen (37-24) in the closing minutes of the third quarter but, led by Ian Michaels (17 points), cut the lead to six (42-36) with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

But over the last six minutes Newburyport had only one basket (Dillon Guthro layup from Ian Michaels) and that enabled the visitors to pad their lead to a comfortable sixteen by game’s end.

Max Nesbit (19 points) sent the Hornets (5-4) into the comfort zone with an old-fashioned three and an assist on Sean Gutierrez’s layup. Liam Aldrich (10 points) capped the eight point run with an old-fashioned three. This consecutive point surge gave ME a commanding 50-36 advantage with three minutes left. They coasted in from there.

Petey Morton (8 points)

Newburyport, which had won five of their last six, was ahead for most of the first quarter, until a three by Petey Morton (8 points) gave ME their first lead, 16-14, in the last thirty seconds of that quarter. The Hornets stayed in front the rest of the game.

Manchester-Essex, which has now won five of their last six games, boosted their advantage to seven in the second quarter and thirteen in the third quarter before the Clippers made their run to within six points in the final quarter.

Senior Max Nesbit nailed four 3’s in the game and saw a lot more open looks than a player with his shooting reputation should have had.

The Clippers continue to play without ball handler/shooter Co-Captain Colby Morris. Poor shooting was certainly an issue for Newburyport versus ME but just as significant was shaky ball management. By my unofficial count, Newburyport had eighteen turnovers including nine in the second quarter.

Dillon Guthro (eight points) waits for a pass

Clipper Dillon Guthro (8 points) was injured in the first quarter and returned in the second quarter with a noticeable limp.

A good matchup was between point guards Adam Traxler and Liam Aldrich. Liam showed a fancy move down the lane in the third quarter that raised some ooh’s and ah’s from the crowd.

ME’s tallest player (Sean Gutierrez) went out with four fouls early in the third quarter.

Both ME and Newburyport have lost to undefeated North Reading.

The Hornets were 19-3 last season and 52-14 over the last three seasons. Coach Bryan Shields is a first-year coach. This year’s Hornets started with three straight losses but have done very well since.

Freshman Dan Baribeault chases a loose ball

Newburyport was 15-7 last season.

I was told that in their last game at Ipswich the Clippers had an 11-7 lead at halftime.

The Hornets will host Triton on Monday in their next game.

The Clippers travel to Rockport on Tuesday for their next action.

Manchester-Essex boxscore

Newburyport boxscore

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

halftime shooter

in bounds play

Max Nesbit had nineteen points

Taylor Ketchum splits the Clippers defense

Hornet Sean Gutierrez leans into John Baribeault

loose ball

Dan Baribeault finds an opening

Taylor Ketchum runs into defenders Matt Canning and Dillon Guthro

Leave a comment

Filed under Manchester-Essex, Newburyport

Tagged as Dillon Guthro, Ian Michaels, Liam Aldrich, Max Nesbit

January 9, 2013 · 11:34 pm

Danvers defeats Lynn English 90-70 to remain undefeated after seven games in boys basketball

Nick McKenna (23 points) gets two

Dan Connors (20 points) heads for the hoop

(Danvers) Danvers (7-0) put together a thirty point third quarter and defeated Lynn English (4-4), 90-70, on Wednesday night at Danvers in Northeastern Conference action.

This game was fast-paced from beginning to end as both teams applied full-court pressure. That pressure produced more fastbreaks than it did turnovers. On this night, the Falcons were better finishers, often making an extra pass to get an open layup.

The defending Division 3 state champs, if anything, look stronger than last year. So far they have won every game by at least twenty points.

All five starters for Danvers reached double figures with Nick McKenna leading the way with twenty-three.

Fred Hogan (21 points) gets a three at the buzzer

The twenty-point spread at the end was a bit misleading because the Bulldogs only trailed by four (42-38) at halftime.

The possibility of the Bulldogs going on in the second half to pull the upset vanished as the Falcons exploded during a four-minute segment of their thirty-point third quarter.

With 5 ½ minutes left in the third quarter, the Falcon lead was just five (49-44). During the next four minutes the game got away from the Bulldogs as Danvers outscored them, 19-4, to race to a twenty-point lead (68-48).

This game ended with a twenty-point difference so the two teams were even on the scoreboard over the remaining nine minutes of playing time.

During the crucial run, Vinny Clifford (16 points) collected eight points including a pair of 3’s. Teammate Dan Connors (20 points) also added eight points getting his from in close.

Eric Martin (13 points and 8 assists) and Stevie Collins (6 points)

The Falcons had the long-ball going (they made eight 3’s) and they also had plenty of assisted baskets. I had point guard Eric Martin down for eight assists. Eric had the knack of drawing the defense to him and then feeding to open players lining up 3’s. Nick McKenna had five long ones.

It is easy to go on and on raving about Danvers but undersized Lynn English never quit no matter what the score was. Their speed was impressive and their willingness to go at the Falcons led to some acrobatic shots. Unfortunately, the visitors missed a ton of layups or this game could have been closer.

Fred Hogan (21), Erick Rosario (15), and Johnny Hilaire (12) led the Bulldogs in scoring.

LE got down 29-14 early in the second quarter but Erick Rosario put five points into seven straight Bulldog points to close that gap. The Bulldogs finished the final 2:22 of the half with a 10-1 segment as Fred Hogan cashed seven points including a last-second three to pull LE to 42-38 at the half.

Erick Rosario (15 points) goes for two

In the fourth quarter the Bulldogs had every reason to lose heart down 77-54 with seven minutes left. Instead LE put up twelve unanswered points getting four each from Erik Rosario and Johnny Hilaire over the next 3+ minutes and the difference between the two teams was eleven (77-66).

But Danvers is so explosive that one minute later they had put together seven consecutive points (Nick Bates had three of them) and an eleven point lead quickly jumped back to eighteen, 84-66.

The next game for Lynn English will be at Winthrop on Friday night (7PM). Danvers will be hosting Salem at the same time on the same night.

I suspect that it will be a standing-room only crowd at that Danvers/Salem game. One side of the court still doesn’t have the wooden bleachers in place.

Johnny Hilaire took a Falcon turnover (they had thirteen) in for a dunk in the fourth quarter.

Dan Connors found plenty of openings in close.

Nick Bates (14 points) takes a three over Anthony Silfa (11)

Nick Bates went coast-to-coast after getting a rebound in the last two minutes of the game.

This was my first time seeing Danvers play since March 17, 2012 at the Worcester Centrum when they defeated St. Joseph’s of Pittsfield, 59-47, to win the D3 state title.

It is not hard to imagine the Falcons being the number one seed in Division 3 North come tournament time. I know, there are a lot of regular season games left! Just sayin’.

Danvers boxscore Lynn English boxscore

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

Danny Lukanda blocks

Danvers cheerleaders

Brian Redondo goes for the fake

Erick Rosario

Fred Hogan shoots

Ben Bowden (11 points)

Leave a comment

Filed under Danvers, Lynn English

Tagged as Dan Connors, Eric Martin, Erick Rosario, Fred Hogan, Johnny Hilaire, Nick Bates, Nick McKenna

January 7, 2013 · 11:32 pm

Masconomet runs away from Newburyport 62-32 in girls basketball

Nicole Femino (14 points) breaks in alone

Hannah Kiernan (12 points) takes and makes a difficult shot.

(Newburyport) After losing badly to the cream of Division 3 (Pentucket) on Friday, Newburyport hoped for a better outing against Masconomet.

Didn’t happen.

Masco (6-2) ran away from the Clippers, 62-32, on Monday night at Newburyport.

“Ran away” is a good description because the Chieftains put fastbreak after fastbreak on the cold shooting home team. The Clippers (3-4) got caught numerous times chasing offensive rebounds instead of getting back on defense.

When Masco wasn’t getting layups (they had fourteen) they were getting foul shots (they had twenty-eight).

The Chieftains made eighteen free throws.

Aly Leahy tries to split two Chieftain defenders

Aly Leahy of Newburyport opened the scoring with a free throw. Nicole Femino (14 points) matched that and then sent Hannah Kiernan (12 points) off on a breakaway layup. Hannah’s basket gave Masco the lead (3-1) for good.

Masco led, 14-6, after one quarter and doubled it to, 28-12, at halftime.

The Chieftains started the second half with a 12-4 run over 3 ½ minutes to increase their lead to, 40-16. Sophomore Meghan Collins (8 points) scored the first two baskets, one on a nice spin move.

During the last 12 ½ minutes of the game Newburyport was only outscored, 22-16, but this was not a night in which a late rally materialized.

Janelle Shea blocks the shot of Mary Pettigrew

There was no point in the game where the Clippers were able to put more than four points together in a row. Cold shooting was part of it but the Chieftains were defending well inside – Newburyport scored four layups in the game.

On the other hand, because of the frequency of layups, Masco ran points together. On seven different occasions they scored at least six points in a row.

Lilly Donovan (9 points) paced Newburyport. She hit a three in the first quarter that went off the backboard.

Casey Barlow (8 points) was credited with a basket when her attempt at a pass under the basket was deflected in off a Masconomet player.

Coach Bob Romeo of Masco was deep into his bench late in the first half. He ended up having eleven different players score.

Amy Sullivan defends

You have to feel sorry for Newburyport. What a killer schedule! They have just finished playing Ipswich, Pentucket, and now Masconomet. Next game (Thursday) they host Ipswich in a league game. Ipswich and Pentucket are undefeated. Masco is a Division One team that gave both of those teams a run for their money before losing to them.

Molly Rowe (Bentley) and Joe Clancy (Merrimack) were in the house.

Masco’s next game will be hosting Amesbury on Wednesday night.

Finding information on Cape Ann League teams is a serious challenge. One helpful site is www.calscores.com. There you’ll find schedules, scores, and standings.

Details about teams can be very illusive. However, that is no longer true regarding the Lady Chieftains. Click on this link and see what I mean.

Masco box score

Newburyport box score

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

Aly Leahy shoots in traffic

Casey Barlow defends

Jaycie Triandafilou pressures Meghan Collins

Sarah Lang (23)

Rebecca Kell heads for the hoop

Leave a comment

Filed under Masconomet, Newburyport

Tagged as Casey Barlow, Hannah Kiernan, Jaycie Triandafilou, Lilly Donovan, Meghan Collins, Nicole Femino

January 4, 2013 · 11:36 pm

Triton stuns Masco 46-45 on late 3’s by Paul Dacy

Paul Dacy of Triton shoots the game-winner over Brian Reardon in front of the Viking student section.

(Byfield) What a game!

Senior Paul Dacy hit two 3’s in the final thirty-five seconds enabling Triton (4-2) to edge Masconomet, 46-45, before an excited home crowd on Friday night.

Celebration on the court began even before the final three had been posted on the scoreboard

That crowd rushed the floor when Paul’s final shot went in and the buzzer sounded.

The Chieftains (1-6) led by seven (41-34) with four minutes left but four turnovers the rest of the way had plenty to do with the bad ending for them. Two of the turnovers led directly to Viking layups by Zak Alaoui (20 points) and Sam McKenzie (4 points).

Another Masco miscue gave Triton the ball with one minute left. Trailing by three (43-40), the Vikings passed and passed and, with few seconds on the shot clock, Paul Dacy was forced into a fall-away three. The shot caromed off the backboard and in tying the score with thirty-five seconds left.

Jalen Aho put Masco ahead late in the game

No timeout by Masco. Point guard Jalen Aho controlled the ball throughout the Masco possession. He dribbled one way and then the other looking to be intent on passing to anyone. However, when the lane opened up the junior sailed in for a layup with 10.9 seconds left.

Triton took a timeout. Coach Dave Clay said afterwards that the plan was to get to the basket. Trailing by two it made sense. But the Masco defense was tough. Zak Alaoui attempted to drive from the left but the Chieftain defense collapsed to prevent it. However, by preventing Zak from penetrating they gave him a chance to get the ball to Paul Dacy in the nearby corner. Paul had a split second to let the shot fly from in front of the Triton student section. He also had defender Brian Reardon running at him but it didn’t matter as he canned the game-winner.

Why all the excitement at Triton? The Vikings are coming off a 5-15 season and already have four wins in 2012-13. An energetic student section is in place. They stood throughout the game offering plenty of encouragement before swarming the court after the final buzzer.

I chose to cover this game for two reasons: (1) to take a look at the suddenly successful Triton Vikings and see how they’re doing it, and (2) try to figure out what has gone wrong with a Masconomet team that was 14-7 in 2011-12.

Zak Alaoui (20 points)

The answer to the first is that this season’s Vikings play tight defense and are eager to run with turnovers. They also can make shots from long range.

The answer to the second was not as clear with just one look. I never saw Captain Chris Schleer. He certainly would have made a difference. It was obvious that Masco made far too many mistakes. I had them for twenty-four turnovers including eight in the final quarter.

After Paul Dacy (11 points), the two standouts in this game were Triton’s Zak Alaoui and Masco’s Zach Turcotte. Both players had twenty points. Zak had a couple of three’s but most of his scoring came from breakaway layups set up by good defense. 6-6 Zach dominated the inside doing all of his scoring from in close.

Triton had a four-point lead (13-9) early in the second quarter but later on Masco got ahead on two inside scores by Tighe Van Lenten (7 points) and Ben Hinckley. A three from the right corner by Zak Alaoui set up the halftime score at 18-18.

Masco led for most of the third quarter before three’s by Connor Barry (9 points) and Zak (off the rim and backboard) knotted things at 30-30.

Zach Turcotte (20 points)

Over the next 5+ minutes of playing time, stretching into the fourth quarter, the Chieftains put an 11-4 run together. Two of the scores were on converted rebounds (Alberto Arenaza and Zach Turcotte). Brian Reardon drained a three as the visitors looked to be pulling away.

But over the final four minutes, despite being down 41-34, the Vikings rallied and won a thriller at the buzzer.

Triton, now 3-1 in the Cape Ann League, visits North Reading on Monday night. On the same night, Masco, now 0-4 in the CAL, will host Newburyport. Coach L’Italien was on hand for the Triton/Masco game.

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

Zak Alaoui ends the first half with a three

Tighe VanLenten chased by Sam McKenzie

Travis Kneeland gets medical attention

Paul Dacy

Triton student section

Brian Reardon drives on Ellsworth Rogers

Zak Alaoui caught in traffic

Connor Barry soars over Tighe VanLenten

Alberto Arenaza blocks Ellsworth Rogers

Leave a comment

Filed under Masconomet, Triton

Tagged as Jalen Aho, Paul Dacy, Tighe VanLenten, Zach Turcotte, Zak Alaoui

January 3, 2013 · 12:15 am

Strong shooting and a strong finish get Pentucket past Billerica 59-39 in girls basketball

Kelsi McNamara (15 points) fires a three

McKenna Kilian (13 points) pullup jump shot

(West Newbury) Pentucket hit eight 3’s and scored the game’s last eleven points as they defeated Billerica, 59-39, in a nonleague contest on Wednesday night.

A little over a year ago Billerica, at their place, had a strong second half and routed the Sachems, 63-43.

But this time around undefeated Pentucket (6-0) made shots from long range (eight over the first three quarters) and shut out the Indians (4-1) over the last 4:25 of the game. That combo did in the Division One opponent from the Merrimack Valley League.

Pentucket took the lead for good midway through the first quarter (7-6) on a three by Kelsi McNamara (15 points). That lead would get to nine (17-8) before the Indians ran seven straight into the second quarter. Brittany Lomanno (10 points) had Billerica’s only three as the Indians moved to within two (17-15) 1 ½ minutes into the second quarter.

Pentucket would get that lead up to eight (29-21) as Coley Viselli (9 points) ended the half with a three and two free throws.

Shannon Hayes (eight points in third quarter)

Kelsi McNamara dropped three 3’s in the first 2 ½ minutes of the second half to offset a strong third quarter by junior Shannon Hayes (eight points in the quarter). Pentucket led, 46-35, after three quarters.

The final quarter started out harmlessly enough – full court drive by Kayla Leverone, two free throws by Alex Moore, and two free throws by Danielle Nickerson. 48-39 with 4:25 left.

The rest of the way? All Pentucket. McKenna Kilian (13 points) sparked the Sachems. The speedy sophomore started things with a block of Brittany Lomanno’s layup attempt. Later she added a couple of full-speed, stop-on-a-dime jumpers, two free throws, and a last-second toss off the backboard.

Alex Moore (8 points) from the corner

Pentucket had four three’s in the first quarter, one in the second, and three in the third. Normal starter Alex Moore (8 points) came off the bench late in the first quarter and promptly drained two 3’s in thirty seconds.

Billerica coach Chris Doneski surprised me plenty by going to a zone defense after Pentucket had four 3’s in the first quarter. But it actually worked in the second quarter. The third quarter? Not so much! Blame Kelsi McNamara. The sophomore found three openings around the top of the key and connected on all of them.

Back to the man-to-man went the Indians. Playing that defense and facing full-court pressure all game long may have been the culprits in the Indians disastrous last 4 ½ minutes.

Tess Nogueira (12 points) looks to go under and up

Tess Nogueira (12 points) had the best game I’ve seen her play. She faced a taller defender (Joslyn King – 6’1”) and was able to score points and get Joslyn (6 points) into foul trouble. Two memorable Tess moments were a flip-back as she went under the basket and a full-court drive in the last two minutes. On that drive I’m certain she was planning on giving the ball up but no one from Billerica stepped up to stop the senior and she kept on going.

It is hard not to be impressed with Division Three Pentucket being able to defeat a quality D1 opponent. Billerica was 17-4 last season. I saw them lose to D1 undefeated state champ Andover (with Nicole Boudreau) by a point at Andover. The Indians missed four free throws in the last 1 ½ minutes in that tough loss.

Brittany Lomanno (10 points) looks to get open

The pace of this game was certainly to the Sachems liking. They forced the ball away from Billerica’s primary ball-handlers much of the game and made passing difficult. Credit the Indians for being able to handle the pressure in the backcourt. The struggle was in the front court. Billerica had twenty-one turnovers (by my unofficial count) and missed a ton of rushed shots.

You win by twenty you probably will overlook your own team’s eighteen turnovers. Billerica’s athleticism forced that many and showed well in the one-on-one matchups when the pace was to their liking. However, Pentucket was able to speed things up most of the night and get enough openings to dominate from long range.

Billerica will next be hosting a very tough North Andover team at home on Friday night.

Pentucket will be hosting Cape Ann League opponent Newburyport also on Friday night.

ESPN Boston was in the house. So was Masco’s Bob Romeo.

The state championship banner has now found a spot on the gymnasium wall.

Pentucket boxscore

Billerica boxscore

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