Julia Mehlman of North Andover sinks in after high jump
Dan McCuish – 100
Hannah Steele and Julia Mehlman discuss high jump
Max Almono – 800
Axel Loughbo – long jump
mile winners
Sam Brown and Emily Martin – 400 hurdles
Sarah Keiran mile
Katie McManus – shot put
Sydney Hardie – pole vault
Tina Keiran 2 mile
Filed under Amesbury, Ipswich, North Andover
Morgan Lumb (22 points) cuts through Tewksbury defenders.
Morgan shoots over Shannon Semenza. She had four long ones.
(Lawrence) North Andover dominated the first half, Morgan Lumb (22 points) dominated the third quarter, and the Scarlet Knights easily defeated Tewksbury (52-34) in the first round of the D2 North on Friday night.
Twelve days ago NA and Tewksbury had played a tight 39-34 game so the rematch figured to be close. Hardly.
By halftime the Redman trailed 24-4. That’s right, 4!
A math whiz will figure out that Tewksbury won the second half…..and they did, but the cows had left the barn before the second half was played.
North Andover (14-7) defensed Tewksbury (9-12) into tough shots while the Knights patiently ran organized offense that turned up one good look after another.
The NA defense (looked like a 1-3-1 to me) led to few breakaways but did cause fourteen first half turnovers.
The Knights scored the first ten points of the game and only a last-second buzzer beater by Shannon Semenza (8 points) kept the Redmen from a first period shutout.
Sara Semenza prepares to block
The second period was more of the same. The Redmen this time got their two points on free throws (Sara Semenza and Nicole Chaet). The Knights found points in close (three layups and a converted rebound) and long range (Morgan Lumb and Leah Chittick). North Andover led, 24-4, at the half and what was there that could make the second half interesting?
Enter Morgan Lumb. I may not be the first one to have this thought but when Andover’s Nicole Boudreau has moved on to Boston College next year and the talk starts about the best girl player in the state, Morgan Lumb’s name should be in the mix.
I’ve seen the 5-8 junior twice now and she has dazzled on the offensive end. She has the strength for NBA range 3’s. Her dribbling skills are excellent and she can get to the basket in a hurry. She will also give the ball up to teammates.
She didn’t do much of the latter in the third period because she was feeling it. Morgan put on the best one-period show I can remember, getting all fifteen of NA’s points in the quarter.
You want long range? The first two scores were 3’s. You want in close? The next two were a layup (from Mackenzie Mello) and a converted rebound. How about a little longer? Try a baseline jumper. The grand finale was an NBA length 3-spot off the backboard at the buzzer. Very impressive!
Credit Tewksbury for persistent offense in the second half despite Morgan’s third quarter outburst. Trailing 44-22, early in the final period the Redmen ran nine straight to close to a more respectable 44-31 difference. A three from Katie Dohery sparked the run. But that was as close as #12 seed Tewksbury would get.
Leah Chittick (11 points) and Sara Semenza (7 points)
Freshman Leah Chittick had eleven points for North Andover.
#5 seed North Andover moves to the quarterfinals against #4 seed Concord-Carlisle.
The NA/Tewksbury game was originally scheduled for Thursday but snowy weather forced postponement.
The game was played at palatial Lawrence High School because the North Andover gymnasium has water damage.
The crowd at the girls game grew as the game went on because there was a boys game between Salem and North Andover to follow it.
Tewksbury was knocked out of the D2 North tourney a year ago by North Andover. The score that time was 32-16.
Tewksbury qualified for the tournament because they finished second in the Merrimack Valley Conference.
North Andover is leaving the Cape Ann League and joining the MVC this fall.
(All of the pictures above and below enlarge significantly if you click on them.)
Michaela Mello
Sherri Ligerrio
Pam Coufos
Mackenzie Mello
Jillian Madden
floor scramble
Morgan Lumb
Filed under North Andover, Tewksbury
Morgan Lumb (22 points) launches a triple. She made four of them in the game.
(Newburyport) North Andover started NASCAR fast and left Newburyport in the distant dust while cruising to a 47-36 win at NHS on Friday night.
NHS senior sign
Prior to the Newburyport’s final regular-season home game, the Clippers recognized their three seniors (Beth Castantini, Molly Rowe, and Cady Bennett) and their parents. That was the last celebrating the home team would do.
The Knights shut down Newburyport for the opening six minutes and were up twelve zip. NA hit the Clippers hard on both ends. Their trapping and scrapping wrecked any kind of flow toward Clipper scoring opportunities while on offense their passing and cutting gave great looks.
NHS coach Gregg Dollas went through two quick timeouts with the volume in the huddle much louder in the second one.
After the noisy timeout the Clippers put in their best six minutes of play in the game. They outscored the visitors, 16-7, and trailed only, 19-16, with four minutes to go in the first half. The key to the good play was getting points from seven different players. Meri Adsit had an old-fashioned 3-point play assisted by Molly Rowe to highlight the Clipper surge. As the points rolled up, it was North Andover coach Susan Breen using a timeout to try and cool off Newburyport.
Leah Chittick (12 points) flies in for a layup.
And did the Clippers cool off. It was like the disastrous beginning of this game all over again. NA rattled off seven straight to end the first half (26-16) and their run wasn’t finished.
The third quarter saw NA’s Morgan Lumb put on an awfully good Brooke Stewart (Masco) impersonation, dropping fifteen of her game-high twenty-two points on the stunned Clippers. There were three triples, a nifty spin down the lane, a turnover turned into a layup, and two free throws. Dazzling display by the junior!
The Clippers found themselves behind, 43-21, after three quarters.
The final score of some games is misleading and this is certainly one of them. NA got up, 45-21, fifteen seconds into the last quarter and didn’t get any more points until the very end, as liberal substituting kicked in for both teams. The Clippers put together a collection of fourteen unanswered points but never got closer than ten.
Senior Beth Castantini (10 points) heavily defended by MacKenzie Mello
Newburyport (11-6) has all road games left starting Monday night with arguably the best team in the league, Pentucket, at Pentucket. The Clippers have now lost three straight and need to find some positive traction before the Division 3 state tournament starts.
North Andover (10-6) qualified for the Division 2 state tournament with the win over Newburyport. Their record is a bit deceiving since they lost to the best girls’ team in the state (Andover) twice this season. The Knights next game is versus Triton at home on Tuesday night.
Freshman Leah Chittick had twelve points for the Knights.
Beth Castantini (10 points) led the Clipper scorers. Lilly Donovan had six points and had the unenviable task of chasing Morgan Lumb around for a good part of the night.
I had hoped to get a picture of the seniors with their parents but it just didn’t work out.
(All the pictures above and below enlarge significantly if you click on them.)
Morgan Lumb
Rebecca Kell shoots
Senior Cady Bennett
Aly Leahy and Leah Chittick
Alex Medlock defends
Senior Molly Rowe
Pam Coufos breaks away
loose ball
Filed under Newburyport, North Andover
Brandon Walsh (16) passed for two TDs and ran for two. Here blockers Bobby Trickett (55) and Nate Hitchcock (56) give him protection.
John Iannone scores first NA touchdown.
(Newburyport) In non-league Cape Ann League action, North Andover did many things right and easily defeated Newburyport, 34-7, on a beautiful Friday night at World War Stadium.
This was D1 North Andover versus D3 Newburyport. This was also a rematch of teams that had been part of a 40-0 Knight blowout last year. And this was also another year for senior quarterback Brandon Walsh to show why he is one of the best in the state.
This didn’t figure to be a close game but on the scoreboard it still was at halftime (13-7) but in the second half the visiting Knights produced scores on their first three possessions while the Clippers came up empty on theirs.
Brandon Walsh was good as advertised. NA operated with no huddle and received the plays via hand signals. In Tom Brady fashion, Brandon made changes at the line of scrimmage on many plays.
Brandon Walsh (only the six visible in the distance) runs 72 yards to Newburyport 1.
One big improvising play in the second half stood out. Brandon saw the Clipper defense shift to his left and so he carried right, cut back into the middle, then down the left sideline for 72 yards to the Newburyport one yard line. Other teammates tried to rush in from there unsuccessfully before Brendon finished the job himself to put NA ahead, 26-7 in the third period.
The Knights (3-1) had plenty of weapons beside Brandon. He threw eighteen times and great protection kept him from being hurried on any of them. He completed twelve throws including touchdowns in each half.
Clipper QB Connor Wile saw plenty of pressure but still connected on 14 of 18 attempts including a 34-yard TD pass to Brett Fontaine with 2:57 left until halftime.
Connor rolled right on that play to buy time and lofted a pass, over the top of turned-around defender Tom Moody, that Brett had to leap to get.
Brett Fontaine hit hard by Dan Laorenza (7), Nate Hitchcock (56), Glen Hartford (44) and Tom Moody (30).
Speaking of Brett, he was rocked after a couple of receptions. One picture shows him being hit by four NA players and his helmet pushed back. He came out of that play holding his left arm and I suspect that sight had the NHS basketball and baseball coaches holding their collective breaths.
Newburyport won the toss and deferred. They tried an onside kick that didn’t work and gave NA great early field position.
NHS head coach Ed Gaudiano took a severe chiding from the referee after complaining loud and early about, what he saw to be, NA holding.
Newburyport started the second half with the ball (their own 27) trailing just, 13-7. They could gain just four yards in three plays. The punt attempt turned disastrous as a low snap forced punter Trevor Pituck to kneel to get it and the play was ruled dead at the N17.
Clipper QB Connor Wile stands in the pocket with good protection.
NA was quick to capitalize. After a six-yard run by John Iannone, Brandon started to scramble and then at the last second threw left to Dan Laorenza who finished off the final eleven yards to score. There was a delay as officials discussed whether Brandon was over the line of scrimmage when he threw to Dan. It was ruled he wasn’t. Glen Hartford’s extra point kick put the Knights in front, 20-7 with 8:10 left in the third quarter.
NA’s first touchdown was on a John Iannone seven-yard sweep around the right end.
The final Knight score was at the end of a long drive that started on the NA 23. Glen Hartford got the TD. He lined up in the backfield and went out into the flat after a fake handoff and was wide open on the right side for an easy connection with Brandon.
Jared Bradbury (11) stuffs John Iannone (23) near the Clipper end zone.
Brandon was also the punter and holder. I don’t recall seeing him much on defense. One NA partisan told me that Brandon is getting recruited by D1 schools as a safety. I read a recent article on Brandon that suggested that his best sport may be baseball where he is a catcher.
Jared Bradbury had the defensive hit of the night on a Knight receiver.
Newburyport (2-2) plays next Thursday night (7PM) at Marblehead.
North Andover (3-1) is at Medford next Friday night.
(I take my own pictures and create my own captions. I try to be as accurate as possible.)
The pictures will enlarge to normal size if you click on them.
Brett Fontaine (10) after touchdown catch.
Trevor Pituck punts
Glen Hartford kicked four extra points. Brandon Walsh holds.
Brandon Walsh punts
Brandon Walsh
NHS coach Bob Clarke hears from the referee.
Tyler Martin follows Tyler Cusack (21) and Trevor Pituck (55)
Filed under Newburyport, North Andover
Liv Boudreau (#3) defended by Erin Leary (#13) in the first half.
(Amesbury) Sometimes a soccer game turns on a goal, other times it turns on a save.
North Andover goalkeeper Megan Collins denied a great scoring opportunity by Amesbury’s Hannah Zannini early (three minutes) in the second half and the Lady Knights (4-2-1) followed with three unanswered goals to defeat the Indians (3-1-1), 3-1, at Cashman Elementary School in Amesbury.
Hannah Zannini gets off a 2nd half shot as her teammates watch from the sidelines.
If Hannah’s hard shot doesn’t deflect off Megan’s hands AND the goal post, the Indians go up 2-0 and the outcome might have been different.
But the shot stayed out and five minutes later Amesbury goalie Sarah Abraham gave up a rebound in front to Pam Coufos and she tied the score, 1-1.
The visitors took the lead for good ten minutes later when a Alex Medlock cross from the right side found Jess Carney with an open look on the left side for the go-ahead, and what turned out to be, game winner.
North Andover’s final goal was set up on a pass from Tori Sullivan into the middle where Caroline Kirby had time and a clear view of the AHS goal.
Pam Coufos (#2) scored the Lady Knights first goal.
The lone Amesbury goal was by Hannah Zannini at the 28-minute mark of the first half. Erin Leary sent Hannah on a long run down the middle of the field. Hannah got off a strong right-footed shot that beat the NA goalie in the upper right corner of the goal.
Whitney Whitlow (CAL All-League) hurt an ankle in the first half and played sparingly thereafter. She had twelve goals and six assists in 2010.
Megan Cullen (CAL All-League) damaged her knee in the summer and is out for the season. She had thirteen goals and nine assists in 2010.
Let’s just say that Amesbury had some weapons missing on offense.
But the Amesbury defense was together and they were tested by the quickness and persistence of CAL All-Leaguers Liv Boudreau and Pam Coufos among others. NA ended up with eleven shots by my calculations. Amesbury had only allowed one goal through their first four games.
The two best players on the field may well have been NA defenders Rachel Barnes (CAL All-League) and Taylor Tagliente (CAL All-Star). Rachel kept Indian threats out of the middle. Taylor went down heavily early on but shook it off and covered a lot of ground for the Indians. Taylor played every minute of every Amesbury game last year.
Audrey Samuelman (#9) and Rachel Barnes (back turned) defend in front of the North Andover net.
Amesbury’s next game is against Hamilton-Wenham on Thursday at home.
North Andover’s next game is home versus Pentucket.
The field was in fine condition. The only problem was that the sun was a real factor down one end. As luck would have it, I chose to stay at the other end and naturally all four goals were scored down the sunny end.
(I take my own pictures and collect my own stats. My goal is to be accurate and fair.)
The pictures assume normal size if you click on them.
Elly Theriault (#19), Taylor Tagliente (10) and Emily Martin (16)
Whitney Whitlow
Taylor Tagliente
Leah Chittick (#20) with Taylor Tagliente (#10) and Amanda Martin (#12)
Hannah Zannini defended by Deidre Martyn
Filed under Amesbury, North Andover
Colby Smith (#12) tries to prevent a pass to Adam Bramanti (#3).
Colby Smith hits two free throws near the end.
(Boxford) Plenty of denial defense was on display as North Andover defeated Masconomet, 55-48, at Masco on Friday night in Cape Ann League play.
A full house was on hand, partly to honor Masco’s three seniors, and partly to see if their Chieftains could grab a share (with Wilmington) of the CAL Division 1 title. Well, one out of two, ain’t bad!
With the victory, North Andover (15-4) will have a chance to be co-champs with Wilmington if they can get by Hamilton-Wenham in a rescheduled game at home on Monday. HW coach Doug Hoak was in the house for the Masco/North Andover contest.
Derek Collins (16 points) hit a couple of three’s early in the 4th quarter to give the Knights a 47-41 lead with 4:45 to go and Masco (11-7) was kept at least one possession away thereafter.
An Adam Bramanti (13 points) layup with seventeen seconds left narrowed things to 51-48 but two free throws by Colby Smith gave the Knights the cushion they needed for the win.
Normal Knight high scorers (Zach Karalis and Derek Collins) were on the “two” end of Masco’s triangle-and-two defense.
Derek Collins hits a three over his “shadow” Ben Panunzio.
It worked against Zach as he was limited to seven points. Derek, however, reached his average and hit from long range three times. One of those 3’s in the 4th quarter was a real backbreaker (for Masco). Derek ended up forcing a shot from closer to midcourt than the top of the key that went in as the shot-clock buzzer went off.
Adam Bramanti averages twenty but was held to thirteen. He was shadowed by an assortment of Knights. NA did not allow him to use screens to get open by switching every time one was set for him.
Adam Bramanti saw tight defense everywhere. This time from Collin Hubbell.
Adam got off twenty shots (made five) but the looks he had against Hamilton-Wenham (scoring 28 points) were not available versus North Andover.
There were nine lead changes in the first half with NA getting the last one with a run of six straight points (Zach, Derek, and James Warden two points each) as the Knights closed out the first half in front, 30-25.
The Knights never trailed in the second half. The Chieftains did tie the score (38-38) on a layup by Alex Brown (11 points) to start the final period.
James Warden (16 points) and Michael Moroney (8 points) found opening for baskets against Masco’s 3-man zone defense especially in the first half.
Masco’s student section was out in force. They did make the mistake of chanting, “We can’t hear you,” in the direction of NA players from the JV game. Sporting a lead late, the players responded with the obvious, “Scoreboard, scoreboard,” which silenced the Masco kids. Memo: Chanting, “We can’t hear you,” works best when your team is AHEAD.
Masco is on a 4-game losing streak and has two non-league games (Revere and Malden Catholic) at home next week left on their regular season schedule.
NA had lost two in a row before defeating Masco. The Knights also won over Masco in December. They have Hamilton-Wenham left.
Filed under Masconomet, North Andover
Nick Godzyk (#12) sails in for a layup with thirty seconds left.
Tim McCarthy closes out North Andover with two free throws with ten seconds left.
(North Andover) Wilmington took the lead with 5 ½ minutes left and never let go defeating North Andover, 62-56, before a Senior Day crowd on Friday night in Cape Ann League play.
Wilmington (13-3) was coming off two straight losses, including the most recent to winless Ipswich. The Wildcats gave no early indication that could compete with the Knights getting just seven points in the first period on 1-for-16 shooting.
The rest of the way Wilmington shot over 50% (25-for-45), turning up open shots in transition as well as numerous layups after slashes to the basket.
North Andover (14-3) had won the first match (62-58 at Wilmington) between these two and dominated early in front of a terrific high school crowd. The Knights built a lead of nine (23-14) in the first half and looked to be the better team with their size and early effectiveness close to the basket.
The Knights, however, missed their first eight shots in the second half and Wilmington took advantage pulling in front (32-29) for the first time, since an early 2-0 lead, thanks to five straight points from Vinny Scifo (20 points).
Vinny pushed that lead to six (46-40) early in the last quarter on yet another slash to the basket. At this point, Wilmington looked to be on its way to a win.
But the Knights came right back and regained the lead with seven straight points (a jumper by Derek Collins and a layup and a three from Zach Karalis).
A layup by Wildcat Tim McCarthy (10 points) and a free throw from Knight Colby Smith tied the score at 48-48 and the stage was set for the final 5 ½ minutes.
A driving layup by Vinny broke the tie and put Wilmington ahead by two and remarkably that lead held up. North Andover had four possessions in which they could have tied or regained the lead but came up empty missing a number of high percentage shots.
The winning basket turned out to be a jumper in the lane from Tim McCarthy with 1:23 left increasing Wilmington’s lead to, 58-53. Next two possessions the Knights surrounded a Wilmington 5-second violation with three free throws but Nick Godzyk’s layup with thirty seconds left (pictured above) pushed the lead back to four (60-56). Isaiah Nelsen air-balled a three and Tim McCarthy added two free throws at the end to finish the scoring.
Zach Karalis, here defending Tim McCarthy, collected 22 points for the Knights.
Zach Karalis (22 points) showed an assortment of shots and a willingness to set up other teammates. The Knights ran a number of two-player maneuvers but struggled to finish in crunch time.
Vinny Scifo, Tim McCarthy, and Nick Godzyk put on a driving clinic. Vinny was so good at it that he was never fouled. Tim did get fouled and was 6-for-6 including two with ten seconds left.
This was a matchup between two of the best teams in Division 2. Both of them have made the post-season already. They both looked capable of doing very well in the tournament.
(I collect my own stats, take my own pictures, and draw my own conclusions. Any mistakes are unintentional.)
Filed under North Andover, Wilmington
McClelland Miscellanea 
