Monthly Archives: January 2017

January 27, 2017 · 11:46 pm

Lynnfield runs streak to eight with 52-46 win over Triton

Billy Arseneault (22 points) guarded by Dylan Shute

Liam Spillane’s collects a rebound

(Byfield MA) Lynnfield defeated Triton, 52-46, on Friday night in Cape Ann League action.

The Pioneers (11-1) have now won eight straight. Their lone loss was in December to non-league Melrose.

The Vikings (8-4) started slow and ended even slower. In between? Wow! They dropped five 3’s (three by Colin Brennan and two by Will Parsons) on the visitors in third period and turned a 32-24 halftime deficit into a 42-41 lead at the end of the 3^rd.

Triton was still close enough to taste it after Jack McCarthy put in a runner in the lane with 3 ½ minutes left in the game. The Vikings, at that juncture, were then only down by one, 45-44.

The rest of the way belonged to Lynnfield. Led by Billy Arseneault (22 points) the Pioneers tallied the next seven points to gain outcome-deciding separation.

Junior Billy Arseneault had a hand in all seven crucial points. He started with a triple, followed with a drive down the left side of the lane, and then missed a free throw. On this night, even the missed free throw turned out good for LHS as Lou Ellis snared the rebound and put in the rebound.

Triton ended up with a 4-point final quarter and I’m guessing you don’t win very often doing that.

Lou Ellis defends Colin Brennan

A factor in the Triton drought was the move by Pioneers’ coach Scott McKenzie to put Lou Ellis on Colin Brennan (16 points) in the final quarter. Lou is taller than Colin and he made the clean looks vanish for the Triton junior.

Both teams had players willing to take the ball to the basket.

One concern for Triton going into this game was if they could rebound against Lynnfield. It turns out that they could. What they couldn’t do was make shots in the last quarter.

Key player in the game? Easily Billy Arseneault: Clever off the dribble and able to make 3’s, jump shots, and layups. In the last minute, he had a steal and there were assists earlier. Other than that…………..

Jack McCarthy (12 points) and Will Parsons (10 points) struggled to finish around the basket. Along with Liam Spillane, the Vikings had chances in close but they weren’t falling on this night.

Lou Ellis ended up with seventeen points getting thirteen of them in the first half. His late-game defense was significant.

Mike Carangelo (11 points) also reached double figures for the Pioneers.

Both teams played man-to-man for the most part with an occasional zone defense tossed in.

Lynnfield box

Triton box

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

Liam Spillane

Lou Ellis takes a three from the corner

Triton cheerleaders

Bryant Dana

Mike Carangelo

Jack McCarthy with the ball

Colin Brennan

Will Parsons among Pioneers

Liam Spillane on the ball

Chris Trotta got the worst of a collision

Billy Arseneault covers Gabe Butts

Colin Brennan (16 points) to the hoop

Lou Ellis (17 points)

Billy Arseneault steals from Jack McCarthy.

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Filed under Lynnfield, Triton

Tagged as Billy Arseneault, Colin Brennan, Lou Ellis, Will Parsons

January 24, 2017 · 11:25 pm

Late three by Abbie Sartori pushes Amesbury past Newburyport 40-39

Abbie Sartori at center court

Maddie Napoli pressures Krysta Padellaro

(Newburyport MA) Amesbury won a thriller over Newburyport, 40-39, on a three-point shot by senior Abbie Sartori with twelves second left.

The win was the 13^th for the Indians and it erased the sting of their lone loss last week to Pentucket.

The Clippers made three 3’s in the final quarter and nearly had a fourth in the final seconds after Abbie’s 3-pointer.

Paige Gouldthorpe had the final shot. She had already made two three’s in the quarter. How she could be so wide open must have had AHS coach Matt Willis wondering. Of course, how Abbie Sartori (11 points), who had a triple in the game, could be wide open near the arc with Amesbury down by two, probably had the same effect on NHS coach Gregg Dollas.

This game was not sloppy. The shooting was. The total on both sides for missed layups, and wild shots in traffic, was large. On this night neither defense was giving much ground and there were few second shots.

Free throws? Both teams missed six. The report of Newburyport’s loss last week to Hamilton-Wenham placed the blame on poor foul shooting. Versus Amesbury the FT shooting wasn’t necessarily poor, just off at the wrong time.

Krysta Padellaro at the line

Katie Hadden’s FT try

Twice in the final thirty seconds the Clippers were at the foul line shooting one-and-one’s with a two-point (39-37) lead. Misses both times (Krysta Padellaro and Katie Hadden). Amesbury turned the ball over after Krysta’s miss but after Katie’s they produced the winning 3-pointer. Maddie Napoli found Abbie for the clincher.

The Clippers (7-5) fell behind early (4-3) after a Flannery O’Connor drive and stayed there for most of the game. The AHS lead was eight at the half (25-17) and after the third quarter (34-26).

The Clippers hadn’t made a three and the AHS interior defense was limiting most good looks inside. The exception being Anna Hickman (14 points) who managed four layups through heavy AHS traffic in the second quarter.

Anna Hickman (14 points) in the lane

That Amesbury eight-point lead looked safe entering the final quarter. But it wasn’t. The home team put a 13-1 run together to grab a 39-34 lead with 2 ½ minutes left. Now who’s in control! It’s the Clippers.

In the 13-1 run, the Clippers made shots from everywhere. Krysta Padellaro had a layup. Katie Hadden a jump shot. And then there were the three’s: one by Anna Hickman, and two by Paige Gouldthorpe.

Amesbury was in trouble but was able to recover as Newburyport did not score a single point over the final 2 ½ minutes. The Clippers had chances but they couldn’t cash them on this night. I did think that Paige’s late 3-point try was a good bet after one of her three’s earlier in the quarter had come from the same spot. But not this time.

Amesbury had nine unanswered in the second quarter to get a ten-point (18-8) lead. A jump shot and a three by Abbie Sartori, a jump shot by Chelsea Lynch, and full-court drive by Flannery O’Connor (12 points) did the damage for AHS.

Both Julia LaMontagne and Mikayla Porcaro turned up layups in the final thirty seconds of the third quarter. Mikayla’s just beat the buzzer.

Krysta was injured the in the 4^th quarter but a quick tape job by the NHS trainer enabled the junior to be on the floor in crunch time.

Paige Gouldthorpe (singer/defender)

Paige Gouldthorpe easily transitioned from singer to starter.

The big surprise for me was seeing Krysta and Maddie Napoli held to only two points each. Maddie did a good job of denying passes to Krysta. I saw her do the same thing to Triton’s Tessa Lafrance in AHS’s win over Triton.

NHS now has three straight losses. They face a tough one (Pentucket) away on Friday night. Later they will get Pentucket at home.

Amesbury hosts Manchester-Essex on Friday night. In the games ahead, the Indians will face four teams that they have already beaten this season. You have to like their chances of being a near-the-top seed in Division 3 North come tourney time.

Amesbury box

Newburyport box

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

Abbie Sartori stopped by Katie Hadden

Julie LaMontagne goes for a baseline drive

Katie Hadden stops Julia LaMontagne

Flannery O’Connor tries to get the ball from Katie Hadden

Abbie Sartori blocks Anna Hickman’s shot

Flannery O’Connor (12 points) looks to score

Crucial late-game jump ball

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Filed under Amesbury, Newburyport

Tagged as Abbie Sartori, Anna Hickman, Flannery O'Connor, L, Paige Gouldthorpe

January 23, 2017 · 11:22 pm

Manchester-Essex gets 39-34 road win over Triton

Kaitlyn O’Connell (#23) makes a key left-handed layup over a Triton defender.

Kaitlyn O’Connell (led all scorers with eleven points)

(Byfield MA) Freshman Kaitlyn O’Connell sparked a fourth quarter rally that gave the Manchester-Essex Hornets a 39-34 win over the Triton Vikings on Monday night in Cape Ann League action.

Both teams entered the game with eight W’s. Tonight’s ninth for the Hornets moves them one game closer to the ten wins needed to qualify for the MIAA tournament.

This was a poor-shooting affair with few fast-breaks. The half-court defenses for both teams were excellent forcing low-percentage shots and limiting second-change opportunities.

Kaitlyn’s heroics came in the second half as she canned all eleven of her points. Her last-minute three in the third quarter moved her team to within three (27-24).

Early in the fourth quarter ME sophomore Grace Brennan struck from beyond the arc and added two free throws to give the Hornets the lead for good, 29-28, with 6:22 remaining.

Then Kaitlyn put her own six-point package together and this run gave the visitors the separation needed to win this one.

Kaitlyn’s three baskets in crunch time gave a glimpse of the kind of player she could become at ME. The first one was a floater in the lane. (The floater is the great equalizer for a point guard shooting over shot blockers.) In the second one, Kaitlyn stole the ball from Tessa Lafrance and turned it into a layup. In the final basket, the freshman got down the lane and successfully used her left hand to keep her layup attempt from being blocked.

Kaitlyn’s 6-point run gave the Hornets a 35-30 lead with 1:10 to go.

Alex Kennedy tries to find a way to get a shot off against Sarah Robinson.

In the last minute, Triton (8-5) had free throws by Alex Kennedy and a cashed jump shot from Izzy Cambece but those scores were offset by four ME free throws (Mel Carter and Sarah Robinson).

Another key to the Hornets’ win? High-scoring Tessa Lafrance was held to only four points. Credit Mel Carter with a little help from Bridgett Kiernan and Emily Jacobson for denying Tessa many clean looks.

Triton’s best moments were when they put nine unanswered points together to turn a 14-10 deficit in the first half into a 19-14 lead in the first minute of the second half.

In that mix of points was an old-fashioned three by Alex Kennedy (feed from Tessa Lafrance) and a Tessa fast-break layup after a ME turnover.

The Vikings had the lead to six (27-21) late in the third period before Kaitlyn O’Connell influenced the outcome in favor of ME in the final going.

The Vikings have only played at home five times in thirteen games. On Friday night they will host winless Lynnfield.

Manchester-Essex (9-3) have won all five games at home including victories over Pentucket and North Reading.

My previous looks at both teams had two things in common: the teams lost (ME to Newburyport, and Triton to Amesbury) and both had one very bad quarter.

The Hornets visit 12-1 Amesbury on Friday night.

In Triton’s last win (40-38 over Ipswich), it was Erin Savage making two free throws in the last minute that got the job done.

Classy move by ME’s Sarah Robinson

Classy move by ME’s Sarah Robinson. After Erin Savage made an all-out attempt to make a steal in the last minute of the game (and was called for a foul), Sarah talked to Erin and patted her on the back.

I was impressed with the gritty style of Bridget Sheehan and Alex Kennedy. Both play serious defense and are willing to take the ball to the basket.

Prettiest play of the game? Triton fast break in which Tessa Lafrance found Alex Kennedy breaking in from the left for a layup.

Manchester-Essex box

Triton box

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

Izzy Cambrece and Kaitlyn O’Connell

Bridget Sheehan locates the ball

Bella Pomeroy defends a Tessa Lafrance layup attempt

Bridget Sheehan gets her shot blocked by Mel Carter (#12) and Sarah Robinson (#24).

Mel Carter plays denial defense on Tessa Lafrance

Mel Primpas sets up teammate Bridgett Sheehan for a layup with a nice pass

Mel Primpas sets up teammate Bridget Sheehan for a layup with a nice pass

Alex Kennedy guarded by Kaitlyn O’Connell

Kaitlyn O’Connell hits a third-quarter three

Bridgett Sheehan covered by Grace Brennan

Bridget Sheehan covered by Grace Brennan

Bella Pomeroy shoots in the lane

Erin Savage gets a rebound

Bella Pomeroy looks for a pass

Sarah Robinson

ME coach Lauren Dubois and Bridgett Kiernan

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Filed under Manchester-Essex, Triton

Tagged as Grace Brennan, Kaitlyn O'Connell, Tessa LaFrance

January 16, 2017 · 11:27 pm

Third quarter surge key in undefeated Amesbury’s 44-30 win over Triton

Flannery O’Connor (#12) had ten points for Amesbury in the third period.

Tessa Lafrance (15 points) was shadowed by Maddie Napoli

(Byfield MA) Amesbury (11-0) remains unbeaten after defeating Triton, 44-30, on Monday night in Cape Ann League action.

This game was anything but pretty as the two teams combined for forty-three turnovers and nineteen missed free throws.

How did Amesbury win? The Indians had a 19-3 third quarter. Flannery O’Connor (16 points) had ten points and two assists in the breakaway frame. The Vikings (6-4), meanwhile, had seven turnovers in that same quarter and didn’t score at all in the final four minutes.

The run of good offense/defense by Amesbury brightened a dismal 18-18 first half for both teams.

Triton “won” the other three quarters but certainly not the crucial third quarter and that cost the home team.

Another factor in the Indians’ victory was the denial defense Maddie Napoli played on Tessa Lafrance. Tessa did get fifteen points but eight of them were in the final quarter.

Outside accuracy was almost non-existent for both teams. Amesbury found layups off turnovers and rebound breakouts.

It turned out that Amesbury had an excellent 2-2-1 pressing defense but because of their infrequent baskets we didn’t see much of it in the first half.

Sophomore Flannery O’Connor

Late in the third period, however, was a different story, as AHS turned pressure into points. The Indians closed the 3^rd quarter with ten straight points. Flannery had eight of those points; two of them off Triton turnovers, one on a full-court layup, and a 4^th on a feed from Ali Napoli.

Given the opportunity in the first half to function without facing full-court pressure, Triton was much more comfortable. They passed the ball and they saw to it that Erin Savage was in a position to make plays.

Defensively in the first half, the Vikings forced long shots and really swallowed up Amesbury penetrations.

At halftime, you didn’t know how the second half might go. The Indians, however, did play most of the first half without foul-plagued Flannery. The sophomore certainly made a difference in the third quarter. She can rebound, pass, and score inside.

One scary moment in this game was when Maddie Napoli dove into the stands to save a ball. Maddie collided with a man holding a baby as she saved the ball to her sister Ali. Ali made a layup while Maddie made sure that things were okay in the stands…….and they were.

Amesbury came into this game averaging sixty-four points per outing.

Amesbury matched last season’s win total with their eleventh win.

The Vikings had won four straight before losing their last two.

The undefeated Indians have yet to face Pentucket, Newburyport, and Manchester-Essex. All of those teams have winning records.

Tessa Lafrance puts in a rebound

Amesbury’s next game is Tuesday hosting non-league Stoneham.

Triton visits Essex Tech on Wednesday.

Julia LaMontagne had five baskets and four of them were off feeds from Flannery O’Connor.

Triton box from the game

Amesbury box from the game

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

Ali Napoli scores while her sister Maddie checks on spectators.

Ali Napoli scores while her sister Maddie (in the background) checks on spectators.

loose ball

Maddie Napoli gets to the basket

Chelsea Lynch shoots over Mel Primpas

Maddie Napoli in heavy Triton traffic

Kate Carter

Tessa Lafrance on a break with Abbie Sartori chasing

Abbie Sartori tries to stop Erin Savage

Bridget Sheehan looks for an opening

Chelsea Lynch surrounded by a trio of Vikings

Abbie Sartori and Erin Savage

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Filed under Amesbury, Triton

Tagged as Erin Savage, Flannery O'Connor, Julia LaMontagne, Maddie Napoli, Tessa LaFrance

January 10, 2017 · 11:41 pm

Newburyport brings down undefeated Manchester-Essex 62-47

Newburyport used its speed to get layups

Anna Hickman (20 points)

(Newburyport MA) What a second quarter!

The Newburyport Clippers took the visiting Manchester-Essex Hornets apart in that second frame and took the suspense over the outcome along with it.

The final was 62-47 for this Tuesday night game but if you were on hand one minute into the second quarter you saw the Hornets with a 16-12 lead.

One minute into the second half, the Clippers (6-2) were in front, 37-20. That was a 25-4 segment for the home team.

How did they do it? After a period of allowing the Hornets, especially Melanie Carter, to get to the basket the Clippers protected the paint better. They also rebounded better. Good defense transferred into up-tempo offense and layups down the other end. Even in their half-court offense Newburyport found ways to get to the basket for points or foul shots.

Anna Hickman (20 points) was a standout on both ends of the court. Her tight D on ME point-guard Kaitlyn O’Connell impacted the Hornets ability to run their offense. The sophomore forced turnovers and was part of numerous NHS fast-breaks. Anna drained two 3’s, made four other baskets, and took ten free throws. Quite a performance against a team that came in undefeated after six games.

Krysta Padellaro (17 points) in for two

Krysta Padellaro (17 points) had a big hand in the win as well, She put up eleven points in the breakaway second quarter. The ME deficit was only four (22-18) five minutes into the second quarter before the NHS junior dribbled the length of the court for one layup, drained a triple, and drove in for another layup. Those seven unanswered, extended the NHS margin to eleven (29-18).

Two free throws by Sarah Robinson (17 points) stopped the bleeding temporarily but the Clippers came back with eight points in a row (Olivia Olson layup & 2 free throws, Krysta jump shot, Anna layup) and the lead was seventeen (37-20) one minute into the second half.

The teams played even the rest of the way.

Manchester-Essex used a zone defense. Their trouble was getting back fast enough to get into it. The Clippers were eager to run after every defensive rebound and collected layups at the other end by doing it.

The Hornets (6-1) were coming off an impressive win at home (39-37) against Pentucket on Friday night.

Newburyport ended up with eighteen turnovers including four straight starting the game. ME finished with sixteen turnovers including five in their disastrous six-point second quarter.

Beth Castantini

Beth Castantini was on the Newburyport bench. She was a 1000-point scorer for the Clippers back in the day.

Manchester-Essex box

Newburyport box

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

Melanie Carter (12 points) had an impressive first quarter

Sarah Robinson (17 points) hit three triples

Katie Hadden

Olivia Olson (12 points)

Loose ball

Krysta Padellaro covered by Bridgett Kiernan

Anna Hickman shot ten free throws

Paige Gouldthorpe

Katie Hadden to the basket

Freshman Maggie Pons defended by freshman Bridget Twombly

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Filed under Manchester-Essex, Newburyport

Tagged as Anna Hickman, Beth Castantini, Krysta Padellaro, Melanie Carter, Olivia Olson, Sarah Robinson

January 4, 2017 · 9:31 pm

Triton hangs on for 53-50 win over Pentucket

Liam Spillane breaks in after a steal.

Spencer Pacy (15 points) and Will Parsons (14 points)

(West Newbury MA) We all watched the last shot to see if this game would go into overtime.

When Conor O’Neil’s 3-point attempt bounced away after hitting the rim Triton had a 53-50 win over Pentucket on Wednesday afternoon/evening.

This was a close Cape Ann League game with eight lead changes in the first half and three ties in the final quarter.

The Vikings (4-2) rode Colin Brennan’s two last-minute 3’s in the third quarter to take its biggest lead of the day (41-33).

Nate McGrail (10 points) sails in for two

Pentucket (2-4) did not go away. They started the final period with eight unanswered points on 3’s by Steven Johanson and Conor O’Neil plus a Nate McGrail layin. Suddenly the game was tied (41-41) with just under six minutes left. There for either team to win.

The Sachems were only down one (49-48) with 2:26 to go after sophomore Spencer Pacy’s layup.

The next two scores were by Triton and they were crucial to the outcome. John McCarthy’s jump shot put the Vikings up by three (51-48). Then came the killer score as Triton ran down the clock and Will Parsons made an off-balanced leaner in the lane as the shot-clock sounded.

A five-point lead with 1:13 left should be safe but not when you miss all four free throws in the last minute.

Fortunately for the winners from Byfield, Pentucket was no better at the line. After Nate McGrail converted an offensive rebound the Sachems missed two free throws including the front end of a one-and-one.

However, because Triton also missed free throws Pentucket ended up with a shot to tie. Conor O’Neil had two defenders (Liam Spillane and Chris Trotta) to shoot over but there was a window for the game-extender from the top of the key.

Colin Brennan (four 3’s)

Will Parsons and Colin Brennan each had fourteen points for the winners. Colin connected four times from long range.

Spencer Pacy (14), Nate McGrail (10), and Gus Flaherty (10) reached double figures for Pentucket.

The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday night but the power went out at the Pentucket gym just before the game actually started.

Triton’s Liam Spillane had an impressive first half with points, assists, and steals.

Pentucket’s Spencer Pacy had the knack of getting to the basket and finishing.

Going into this one Pentucket had won five of the six previous games against Triton.

One of Pentucket’s top three scorers from last season (Jimmy Cleary) was inactive due to an ankle injury. The Sachems could have used his outside shooting versus Triton. Jimmy should be back playing next week.

Triton was 9-11 last season while Pentucket was 9-10.

Triton box from the game.

Pentucket box from the game.

Triton hosts Georgetown on Friday night while Pentucket hosts Manchester-Essex.

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