February 13, 2012 · 11:58 pm

Pentucket wins 7th straight defeating Newburyport 49-30 in girls basketball

Coley Viselli (15 points) applies backcourt pressure to Molly Rowe.

Sarah Higgins (13 points) breaks away after steal

(West Newbury)  Pentucket defeated Newburyport, 49-30, on Monday night in a game that was settled in the third quarter.

The Sachems (15-4) scored the first fourteen points in that decisive quarter, helped by six Clipper turnovers, and Pentucket’s 24-17 halftime lead burst into a 38-17 rout with 2 ½ minutes left in that quarter.

The Clippers (11-7) put together a 10-2 run in the final quarter but had given up way too much ground in the previous quarter to pose any sort of challenge late.

Pentucket has now won seven straight and twelve of their last thirteen.  To say that they’re on a roll, is an understatement.  Their pressure defense forces opponents to be uncomfortable anywhere on the court.  Against the Clippers, their half-court offense looked very smooth.

Beth Castantini (10 points) shoots over Tori Lane

The Clippers/Sachems matched up in the season opener on December 12th in Newburyport. Pentucket won, 44-37.  In that one, Newburyport trailed by just two (35-32) with five minutes left.  The Sachems pressure defense worked but their poor long-range shooting kept the game close.

This time the Sachems kept the pressure defense (forced twenty turnovers) but took fewer long ones and instead took more drives to the basket.  Pentucket made fifteen baskets (other than free throws) and twelve of them were layups, another basket was a converted rebound, and the other two were three’s.

The Pentucket pressure gave Newburyport a lot of problems as expected but the killer for the Clippers was the early foul trouble of Lilly Donovan and Mary Pettigrew.  Both of them had four fouls, two minutes into the second half.

Coley Viselli breaks loose

It was no coincidence that with Lilly and Mary on the bench Pentucket’s five-point run, that started the third quarter, turned into a fourteen-point run.

The Pentucket points in The Run were; Leigh McNamara -free throw,  Sarah Higgins – two layups (assisted on one of them by Alex Moore), and Coley Viselli – layup, two free throws and a three assisted by Sarah Higgins.

The home team started fast jumping in front 14-5 after three minutes.  But credit the Clippers, they rallied back into contention (16-13) midway into the second quarter with a three by Beth Castantini from Lilly Donovan within the rally.

A jump shot by Meri Adsit (from Molly Rowe) with ten seconds left had the Clippers within range (24-17) at the half.

Last year the Clippers upset Pentucket (53-52) at Pentucket so the seven-point halftime deficit didn‘t appear insurmountable.  But six minutes of playing time later, that wasn’t the case.

Coley Viselli (15 points) led all scorers while teammates Sarah Higgins and Tess Nogueira had 13 points apiece.  The trio was solid on defense as well.

Aly Leahy defended by Alex Moore

Beth Castantini paced Newburyport with ten points while teammate Aly Leahy had nine points.

Pentucket has their last home game on Wednesday against Triton.

Newburyport will look to end their four-game losing streak at Amesbury on Thursday.  AHS coach Chris Perry just “happened” to be at the game tonight.

There was a rumor at the game that the gymnasium would soon be named after Al Gore.  Most of the folks there were hot under the collar by game’s end.

One of the referees gave NHS coach Gregg Dollas a warning (for friendly advice?) with two minutes left in the first half.  From long range, it sounded to me as if the referee told the scorekeeper, “Two minute warning on the Newburyport coach.”  That somehow sounded like football terminology to me.

The young lady singing the national anthem without a microphone gets an emphatic, “Wow!”

Pentucket boxscore

Newburyport boxscore

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

national anthem

Tess Nogueira fronts Beth Castantini

Sarah Higgins passes to Liza Brackbill

Molly Rowe drives baseline

Lilly Donovan tries to get by Sydney Snow

Meri Adsit shoots

Alex Moore

Leave a comment

Filed under Newburyport, Pentucket

Tagged as , , , ,

February 11, 2012 · 7:39 pm

Kyle Lentini (21 points) leads Pingree past Bancroft 57-42 in EIL boys basketball

Kyle Lentini hits a triple over Peter Bovenzi

Connor Reardon (12 points) layup

(Hamilton) Pingree hit visiting Bancroft with a 14-2, four-minute segment in the first half and that separated them from the Bulldogs. The Highlanders went on to a, 57-42, victory on Saturday afternoon in Eastern Independent League action.

Pingree is now a lofty 15-5 and has a big showdown ahead at home against Beaver Country Day on Wednesday at 4PM.  The Highlanders lone EIL loss was to the undefeated EIL squad from Chestnut Hill (65-41) on February 1st at BCD.  Beaver is 17-2 overall. The rematch should be a good one.

Kyle Lentini (21 points) had a huge game for Pingree.  During the breakaway, 14-2 run, Kyle converted two rebounds, hit a jumper, and assisted on Brandon Ashe’s layup.  The run turned a 15-12 anybody’s game into a comfortable (29-14) Highlander advantage with 3 ½ minutes left in the first half.

The closest Bancroft (from Worcester) could get the rest of the way was eight (42-34) with 8:38 left in the game but Kyle Lentini answered with an old-fashioned three in heavy traffic in close.  John Spears followed with a jump shot in the lane and a converted rebound and the Highlanders were quickly back to the fifteen point spread (49-34).

Pingree (10-1 in the EIL) led 34-23 at the half.

PJ Lidonde (16 points) drive

PJ Lidonde (16 points) showed plenty of quickness and courage slicing into Pingree lane traffic for baskets.  He also had four assists by my count.

DJ Fajana (9 points) had several blocks for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs have an eight-man roster and three of the players hardly played at all.

Pingree’s top three scorers in this game (Kyle Lentini, Connor Reardon, and John Spears) are all sophomores.

Bancroft (10-10 overall and 6-6 in EIL) won the NEPSAC Class D championship in 2011.

Pingree boxscore

Bancroft boxscore

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

Isaac Carp

John Spears drives

DJ Fajana and Kyle Lentini

Eastern Independent League

PJ Lidonde dives

Melvin Kaska in flight

Kyle Lentini

Brandon Ashe

Leave a comment

Filed under Bancroft, Pingree

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

February 10, 2012 · 11:57 pm

North Andover starts fast and never looks back in 47-36 win over Newburyport in girls basketball

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.

North Andover boxscore

Newburyport boxscore

(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

Leave a comment

Filed under Newburyport, North Andover

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

February 10, 2012 · 1:16 am

East Boston holds on to defeat St. John’s Prep (58-52) in boys basketball

Will March (16 points) fires from the corner

Steve Haladyna (31 points) gets a rare open shot.

(Danvers) East Boston spoiled the last regular season home game for St. John’s Prep with a 58-52 win at St. John’s.

The Jets took the lead for good (10-9) on an Ian Jones three late in the first quarter.  The EB spread would get as large as seventeen (41-24) with three minutes left in the third period before the Eagles rallied to make things very interesting down the stretch.

Senior Steve Haladyna had a memorable final home game (31 points) that was highlighted by fifteen points in the final period.  Those points were consecutive and at their end the Eagles trailed only, 52-49, with two minutes left.

Credit Eastie, they felt the come-backing heat in front of a raucous Eagle student section but had answers.  Consecutive points on a free throw by Pat Santos (1:57), a layup by Pat after a scramble (1:20), and a layup from Will March (48 seconds) and the Jet spread was eight (57-49) and in the books for the visitors.

I have seen a number of St. John games and am regularly impressed with their persistent defense.  This time the persistent defense belonged to East Boston.  Respecting the Jet speed, the Eagles settled into a zone with special coverage on Will March most of the game.  However, when the Steve Haladyna-led run got going it was heavy Eagle pressure that put a scare into East Boston.

Will March (16 points) and Kyle Fox (15 points) led the East Boston scorers.  Kyle drained three long ones.

Mike Carbone set up to tie the game

Mike Carbone (8 points) was set up for a three from in front of the student section with the Eagles down three with less than four minutes left.  That he missed that one was a surprise to me since I’ve seen him make so many for three seasons.  If that one had gone, St. John’s would have been all the way back………but it didn’t and Eastie had enough left to hold their lead.

Can an “incident” wake a team up?  That may have been the case in this one.  A scramble for a loose ball with three minutes left in the third quarter led to some pushing and pulling.  Before you knew it, the student section vocals picked up and the St. John’s players got riled up.

third quarter scramble

The glide-to-the-finish mode disappeared and the intensity on both sides picked up considerably.  Who benefited?  Definitely the senior-honoring Eagles.  Over the next 5 ½ minutes of playing time extending into the fourth quarter, the Eagles put a 21-7 hurt on the Jets and climbed to within two (47-45).

3 ½ minutes later, St. John’s was still one shot away (52-49) but Eastie didn’t cave in and came away with the W.

St. John’s (10-6) has qualified for the MIAA tourney but is a long way from last year’s team led by Pat Connaughton.  If Steve Haladyna can find some scoring help maybe the Eagles can make a run in the tournament.

East Boston (14-4?) was impressive.  Not too many teams perform very well in front of noisy Eagle partisans but Eastie jumped in front significantly early to take the crowd away.  And when things got close, and the fans got involved, Eastie was able to hold not fold.

The program provided had players’ numbers incorrect and at least one player unlisted.  Try identifying pictures with that handicap!

East Boston boxscore

St. John’s boxscore

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

Kyle Fox (15 points) breakaway

Eagle student section

Jet coach Malcolm Smith

Algino Jean and Freddy Shove

Steve Haladyna gets 2 of his 15 fourth quarter points

Marcos Echevarria faces pressure from Pat Santos

Pat Santos

Steve Haladyna

Owen Marchetti

Leave a comment

Filed under East Boston, St. John's Prep

Tagged as , , , , ,

February 7, 2012 · 11:20 pm

Fast start by Amesbury leads to 56-31 win over Manchester-Essex in girls basketball

Emily Martin (21 points) had a game of steals and layups for Amesbury

Courtney Borkowski (8 points) heads for a layup

(Amesbury) The Amesbury Indians jumped on Manchester-Essex early and defeated the Hornets, 56-31, on Tuesday night in Cape Ann League play.

It was obvious right off that the Hornets would have trouble with full-court pressure.  In the first two minutes the Indians forced turnovers and earned breakaways as they zipped ahead, 6-0.

Jumpers from Maya Heath and Carolyn Heslop steadied things temporarily (11-6) with 2 ½ minutes to go in the first quarter.

The game got away from ME during the next six minutes as Amesbury put together a run of fourteen straight points.  It was a great stretch of offense for the Indians as they made six-of-seven free throws to go along with four layups.  They were either scoring or getting fouled.

Now down, 25-6, with 4 ½ left in the second quarter, this one had already gotten away from the visitors.  ME never got closer than seventeen (32-15) the rest of the way.

ME trailed, 48-28, late in the game and a couple of three’s (Courtney Borkowski and Amanda Martin) helped stretch the Indian lead at the end to 56-31.

Junior Emily Martin (21 points) had an evening of steals and layups.  She had thirteen of Amesbury’s first twenty-five points as this game was being put out of reach.

Emily Martin defended by Fraley Morton

After a first half of fifteen points, the ME coaching staff kept reminding the team in the second half to, “keep her (Emily Martin) from going right.”  It paid off as Emily had just three layups (going to her right) in the second half.

Leanne Ciccone (9 points) showed that she could take the ball to the basket.  The Indian defense, however, made it a challenge to get the ball in close to the senior.

Delane Zahoruiko and McKenzie Cloutier each had eight points for Amesbury.

Freshmen played a lot.  Amesbury used Amanda Martin, Julia Schlich, and McKenzie Cloutier.  ME used Eliza Lougue, Maya Heath, and Fraley Morton.

The Hornets had played last night (Monday) in a loss to Hamilton-Wenham.  Fatigue may have been a factor in a next-day loss to an aggressive, fast-breaking team like Amesbury.

Amesbury (2-6 in Cape Ann League / 4-13 overall) was able to break a four-game losing streak with the victory.

Manchester-Essex (1-2 in CAL / 4-13 overall) has now dropped seven straight and ten of their last eleven.  But, because of the Sullivan Rule, the Hornets can make the MIAA post-season tournament with a win at home against Rockport on February 16th.  You’ve got to like their chances – they defeated Rockport, 57-26, at Rockport earlier in the season.

Amesbury box score

Manchester-Essex box score

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

Morgan Sydlowski and Leanne Ciccone (9 points)

Morgan Fraley and Julia Schlich

Delane Zahoruiko shoots

McKenzie Cloutier and Eliza Lougue get tangled

midcourt pileup

Jess Crossen shoots

Maya Heath

Jelisa OHara shoots

1 Comment

Filed under Amesbury, Manchester-Essex

Tagged as , , ,

February 3, 2012 · 11:57 pm

Brooke Stewart (27 points) leads Masconomet past Newburyport (60-49) in girls basketball

Brooke Stewart (27 points) fires up a long one.

Brooke Stewart drives the lane

(Newburyport) Brooke Stewart is going to Division One William & Mary next year on a basketball scholarship.

Those on hand at Newburyport last night saw why, as she tortured the Clippers with twenty-seven points leading Masco to a 60-49 win in Cape Ann League action.

This was my third look at Brooke.  The other two times were against Pentucket, both losses.  In those games Brooke faced total denial defense and had limited opportunities to do damage.

Against Newburyport, she had the ball plenty and had all the shots working.  Brooke hit four 3’s and had numerous slashes to the basket.  Defending her was simply a nightmare.

Lilly Donovan (14 points) open in the lane

Newburyport (11-4 overall / 6-1 CAL) had won eight straight, and despite Brooke’s heroics only trailed by three (46-43) a minute into the final quarter.

But a minute later, a Brooke layup followed by a three from Chelsea Nason (assisted by Danielle Davis) and Masco shot up by eight (51-43) and the Clippers couldn’t get closer than six the rest of the way.

A big part of the Chieftain success was limiting Newburyport’s top scorer, Beth Castantini, to four points all late in the game.  Foul trouble and facing Brooke as defender made for a long night for the talented senior.

The Clippers went down ten (18-8) in the first quarter but rallied all the way back with five each from Lilly Donovan and Molly Rowe.

Newburyport was again down ten (31-21) in the second quarter and answered with nine straight (Molly Rowe-3, Lea Tomasz-2, Lilly Donovan-4) to get within one (32-31) with five minutes left in the third quarter.

Thanks to Brooke (sixteen points over the final thirteen minutes) Newburyport never caught up the rest of the way.
The eleven-point spread (60-49) at the end was an inaccurate indicator of the difference between the two teams.

Masco (11-2 overall / 7-1 CAL) has now won eight of their last nine games and will be at Triton on Tuesday.

Masco made seven 3’s.  The Clippers lone three was a Molly Rowe (11 points) buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter.

Molly Rowe came out of this scramble with a back injury.

Molly was injured (back) in a scramble midway through the last quarter and never returned.

Sophomore Lilly Donovan ended up chasing Brooke around most of the game yet still had enough energy to put up a team-leading fourteen points.

Chelsea Nason and Danielle Davis each had ten points for the Chieftains.

Both teams have qualified for post-season play.  Masco is in Division 1 and Newburyport in Division 3.

The two referees arrived late for the second half.  I trust that they did not assume that the cheer they received upon arrival was affectionate.

Masconomet box score

Newburyport box score

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

Molly Rowe jumper

Taylor Evans

Beth Castantini sees rare opening

Danielle Davis goes in against Mary Pettigrew

Brooke Stewart steals from Mary Pettigrew

Chelsea Nason put up two in the lane

Aly Leahy

Julie Simonetti trapped by Mary Pettigrew and Lea Tomasz

Hannah Kiernan ganged up on by Lilly Donovan and Aly Leahy

Leave a comment

Filed under Masconomet, Newburyport

Tagged as , , ,

January 30, 2012 · 11:25 pm

Gallagher/Fyrer lead Ipswich past Georgetown (55-51) in boys basketball

Brenden Gallagher steps back after making the first of two clutch free throws.

Erik Fyrer – 21 points

(Georgetown) Brenden Gallagher had an assist and two free throws in the last thirty seconds to help Ipswich get past Georgetown, 55-51, in non-league action on Monday night at GHS.

The Tigers defeated the Royals on January 13th (61-41) at Ipswich but this one was much more of a struggle.  The home team went down by eleven (34-23) early in the third quarter but fought all the way back to a 40-40 tie early in the final quarter.

Ipswich went up by six a couple of times after that (48-42 & 50-44) before three straight Tyler Wade assisted baskets knotted the score at 50-50 with ninety seconds left.  During the Royal comeback, 6-6 Pat Bjork twice rushed back to intimidate Ipswich shooters (Dan O’Flynn and Matt Jaeger) on breakaways.

Erik Fyrer (21 points) and Cesar Miranda-Black (14 points) traded single free throws (51-51) before Erik cut down the lane and received a perfect pass from Brenden Gallagher for the go-ahead layin with thirty second left.

A Pat Bjork miss and Jon Fierro’s block of Cesar Miranda-Black’s rebound attempt gave the ball back to the Tigers with thirteen seconds left.  Brenden Gallagher was immediately fouled and made both freebies despite plenty of noise from the Georgetown student section.

Pat Bjork (#31) hustles back on defense

Now up four (55-51) the Tiger defense put heavy defense on Tyler Wade and he wasn’t able to get off a quick three instead had to settle for a wild three that ended the contest.

Erik Fyrer (21 points) had a big game.  The 6-4 sophomore converted six offensive rebounds into points.  He also had a steal on an inbounds pass for an easy layup.

Senior Jon Fierro had three blocks including the one very late as G’Town tried to tie the score.

Brenden Gallagher (8 points and 3 assists) defended Tyler Wade into a quiet (for him) nine points.  Tyler had seventeen in the first meeting.

Cesar Miranda-Black (14 points) did his damage in close.

Georgetown was 12-for-21 shooting free throws – Ipswich 11-for-15.

Christian Gesualdi made the Royals only 3.  Matt Jaeger and Dan O’Flynn (10 points) had long ones for the Tigers.

Georgetown ( 1-6 in the Cape Ann League / 4-10 overall ) is at North Reading tomorrow (Tuesday). The Royals have lost eight of their last nine.

Ipswich ( 2-5 in the CAL / 4-9 overall ) has now won three of their last five.  They host Lynnfield on February 3rd.

Ipswich boxscore

Georgetown boxscore

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

Georgetown cheerleaders

Dan OFlynn and Christian Gesualdi

Cesar Miranda-Black

Tyler Wade and Brenden Gallagher

Mike Bjork and Tyler Hale

Jon Fierro goes for block

Erik Fyrer pressures inbounder Ben Warren

Leave a comment

Filed under Georgetown, Ipswich

Tagged as , , , ,

January 29, 2012 · 10:46 pm

Solid ending gets Pentucket past Masconomet (57-54) in girls basketball

Coley Viselli (16 points) made three free throws in the last fourteen seconds to seal the Pentucket win.

Chelsea Nason (17 points) connected on five triples.

(Topsfield)  Before a sizable Sunday afternoon crowd, Pentucket turned a strong final two minutes into a, 57-54, win over Masconomet in a matchup between two of the best girls teams in the state.

Evenly matched?  How about eleven ties over the course of the game with five of them in the frantic last quarter?

After the last tie (47-47) with 2:54 left, Masco broke out with a triple by Chelsea Nason (17 points) and two Danielle Davis (9 points) free throws to get up by five (52-47) with 2:13 left.

Pentucket’s response won the game for them.  Two freebies by Sarah Higgins (she was an amazing 9-for-9 from the line), a driving layup by Alex Moore, and gutsy triple by Alex (from Kelsi McNamara) went unanswered by the Chieftains.  This consecutive action put the Sachems on top, 54-52, with thirty seconds left.

Masco’s Katie Hutchinson missed the front end of a one-and-one with fifteen seconds left.  Coley Viselli (16 points) took the rebound and was immediately fouled.  She made both free throws to stretch the Pentucket advantage to 56-52.

Coley Viselli shoots a three as Chelsea Nason defends

Brooke Stewart (8 points) drove the length of the court to close her team’s deficit to two (56-54) with six seconds left.  Coley Viselli received the inbounds pass and Chelsea Nason (5th foul) sent her to the foul line with five seconds left.

Coley missed the first and made the second.  Danielle Davis dribbled to midcourt before attempting a tying long one that went wide as time ran out.

If Chelsea Nason hadn’t fouled out she probably would have been the one taking the last shot.  She had connected on five 3’s during the game.

The foul shooting was excellent for both teams.  Pentucket made 21-of-25 while Masco hit 10-of-13.

The Chieftains started the second period with six unanswered points (21-15) before the Sachems strung thirteen unanswered back (28-21) over the next eight minutes of playing time stretching into the third quarter.

Chelsea Nason’s triple midway through the third quarter finished Masco’s rally back to a 32-32 tie. Seven ties followed the rest of the way.  Pentucket closed with a 10-2 game-decider.

Alex Moore chases Brooke Stewart

Pentucket (7-0 in Cape Ann League D1 / 11-4 overall) lost Tess Nogueira (groin injury) with a minute left in the third quarter and the score tied at 37-37.  I thought at the time that Pentucket might be in serious trouble because Tess had shadowed Brooke Stewart into a non-factor status.  But Alex Moore took over and, although at least six inches shorter than Brooke, was able to limit the talented senior to just four points the rest of the way.

Besides the good fill-in defense, Alex (13 points) put up seven in the final quarter including the go-ahead triple with thirty seconds left.

Masco (5-1 in CAL / 9-2 overall) had won seven of their last eight games before today’s loss.  I saw them defeat a highly regarded Central Catholic team in Lawrence last Sunday.

Both Masco and Pentucket are in Division 1 of the Cape Ann League.  When it comes to the MIAA tournament, however, Pentucket slides down to Division 3. Could that have been why St. Mary’s Jeff Newman was in the house??  I saw Jeff’s Spartans oust Pentucket from the tournament last year at Wilmington.

Two of the most sideline-active coaches were in action today and it was hard not to watch them even as the game was going on.

Bob Romeo (Masco) is at least 6’5” with a loud voice.  Dressed in a pink shirt for the Coaches vs. Cancer event he was pretty hard to miss.

Pentucket coach John McNamara gets a technical in the 4th quarter.

Meanwhile, down the other end was Pentucket’s John McNamara.  He spent more time on the court than most of his players.  I did see him kick the bench – I have a coaching friend who broke a toe doing that.  John had a legitimate complain late in the game when someone in the Masco band used their trumpet (?) as a noisemaker while Coley Viselli was shooting free throws.  Earlier, with 4:16 left John got hit with a technical foul.  Brooke Stewart made both technical foul shots.

I guess it begs the question, why are coaches allowed on the floor when the game is going on?  At the least, it is very dangerous.  What do the rules say??

Both coaches have tremendous records and produce competitive teams year after year.  Graduation never seems to slow them down.

Brooke Stewart (8 points) was overheard saying at halftime that she “had a blister the size of Mexico.”  That’s big and surely a distraction.

Pentucket has won eight of their last nine.  They are at Manchester-Essex on February 3rd.

Masco hosts Hamilton-Wenham on January 31st.

Driving bare roads with snow nowhere in sight on January 29th?  Delightful!

Pentucket box score

Masconomet box score

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

Danielle Davis on her way to last shot

Kelsi McNamara

Alex Moore

Sarah Higgins looks for an opening

Tess Nogueira drives – Katie Hutchinson defends

Brooke Stewart and Sarah Higgins eye rebound

Claudia Marsh

Masco student section

Leave a comment

Filed under Masconomet, Pentucket

Tagged as , , , , ,

January 27, 2012 · 11:36 pm

Super Start Earns Ipswich a 70-54 Win Over Amesbury in Boys Basketball

Erik Fyrer attempting layup. The 6-4 sophomore finished with twenty-one points and sixteen rebounds.

Brenden Gallagher – 12 points

Dan OFlynn – 18 points

(Ipswich)  I am not sure that the Ipswich Tigers could play any better.

The Tigers demolished Amesbury, 70-54, in a Cape Ann League game on Friday night at Ipswich.

Ipswich (2-5 Cape Ann League / 3-9 overall) put an excellent everything on the Indians for 1 ½ quarters and presto the visitors were looking at a 31-7 deficit.

You want defense.  The Tiger pressure forced eleven Amesbury first half turnovers.

You want scoring.  Ipswich had 6-4 Erik Fyrer (21 points) dominating in the paint while Brenden Gallagher (12 points with three 3’s) and Dan O’Flynn (18 points with four 3’s) stroked accurately from long range.  It was quite a show.

Amesbury had defeated Ipswich in the first meeting (60-56) in overtime and had won three of their last five so there wasn’t any certainty even with a 31-7 lead that the Tigers (losers of seven of their last eight) could hold the lead.  But they did.

Mike Zelinsky (16 points) in the lane

Amesbury (1-5 in CAL / 4-10 overall) actually “won” the last 2 ½ quarters (47-39) mostly via the long ball – they made nine of them.  However, that early deficit was way too much to recover from.

Ipswich would get the lead to 38-11 on a Louie Galanis triple from Brenden Gallagher with less than two minutes in the first half.  Early in the final quarter a couple of 3’s by Dan O’Flynn pushed the Tigers ahead, 58-32.

The Indians answered with two minutes of their best basketball, running ten straight thanks to 3’s from Curran O’Connor and Tommy Connors and layups by Matt Talbot and Jack Fortin.  This rush of points caused Tiger coach Alan LaRoche to call a timeout, as his team’s twenty-six point lead had shrunk to sixteen.

I heard shouting during the timeout and the Tigers responded in the next minute with a jumper from Tyler Hale and a three from Dan O’Flynn, both hoops assisted by Erik Fyrer.  This put the lead back into the comfort zone and both team’s reserves finished out the last four minutes.

Erik Fyrer had a terrific game.  In the first meeting, Erik got into foul trouble and played short minutes.  Not this time.  The sophomore was a big part of the Tigers’ fast start, collecting ten points early on.  He owned the boards too, grabbing sixteen rebounds (Thanks, Mitch MacDonald) and blocked several shots.  The normal righty showed a good left hand on one inside move.

Matt Talbot (14 points) in Ipswich traffic

Mike Zelinksy (16), Matt Talbot (14), and Tommy Connors (11) led the Amesbury scorers.

Mike tossed up a no-look, backhanded layup that had no business going in……..but did.

The Ipswich student section and the Amesbury student section did their best to out-do each other.  Tough for the Amesbury kids since their team trailed big early and never really threatened to overtake the Tigers.

Ipswich next plays at Georgetown on January 30th.  I saw Ipswich defeat G’Town in the first meeting.

Amesbury gets Lynnfield at home on January 31st.

Ipswich boxscore

Amesbury boxscore

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

where is the ball

Erik Fyrer and Curran OConnor

Dan OFlynn looks to pass

Erik Fyrer block of Matt Talbot shot

Louie Galanis draws charge from Devlin Gobeil

Tommy Connors

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, Ipswich

Tagged as , , ,

January 27, 2012 · 1:12 am

Andover stays undefeated….barely with 53-52 win over Billerica in girls basketball

Nicole Boudreau (23 points) also blocked shots in the Andover win.

Billerica was hurt by missed free throws (four) in the last 1 1/2 minutes of this close game.

(Andover) The undefeated (13-0) Andover Golden Warriors got their first taste of a close game this season and hung on to defeat the Billerica Indians, 53-52, in front of a good crowd at AHS on Thursday night.

Andover, led by Nicole Boudreau (23 points), put their points up in bunches nailing ten long ones.  Nicole connected on six triples.

The resiliency of the Indians (11-2) was impressive.  The Warriors hit them with a 14-3 run in the second period and they trailed, 26-15.  In the fourth period it was a 13-2 run that had them trailing, 53-46. But they rallied back both times.

While Andover relied heavily on an outside game, the Indians did their damage inside.  Of their eighteen baskets, sixteen were from in close.

Down 26-15, just 2 ½ minutes into the second quarter, it appeared that Billerica was on its way to losing badly.  (Andover had won its first twelve games by an average of twenty-two points.)  But the Indians followed with a 23-9 segment and had a 38-35 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter.  Three old-fashioned 3’s by Joslyn King (14 points), Danielle Nickerson (9 points), and Kayla Leverone (10 points) were highlights in the Billerica comeback.

Early in the final quarter, a well-executed inbounds play turned up Billerica’s only successful triple (Kayla Leverone) and the visitors had their biggest lead (44-40) of the game and had their fans sensing the upset.

Angelice Gonzales – scored the winning basket after stealing an inbounds pass

But this is two-time D1 defending state champs Andover were talking about.  Big crowds.  Big games.  Been there…done it.  That’s why the 13-2 response they put together wasn’t surprising.  The long ones played a part (two by Ally Fazio & one by Nicole Boudreau), as did two free throws (Nicole).  But the biggest basket of the game, in fact, the actual game winner, was a “pick-two” by junior Angelica Gonzales (6 points) with four minutes left that put the Warriors ahead, 53-46.

The last four minutes of the game were all Billerica and you’re about to find out how close they came to actually winning this one.

First of all, the last two points Billerica scored were on a putback by Joslyn King at the buzzer.  Andover wasn’t exactly trying to stop her from getting two points because they had a 3-point lead.  Their worry was the game-tying attempt by Brittany Lomanno (8 points) just before that.

That last-second Joslyn basket would have truly meant something if the Indians had not missed four of eight free throws in the last 1 ½ minutes.  Shannon Hughes, Danielle Nickerson, and Kayla Leverone each had crucial misses.  Danielle’s was the toughest because she actually made hers but stepped over the line too quickly to go after a possible miss.

Joslyn King (6-1?) did a great job of discouraging Andover inside attempts, although the Warriors seemed very content to fire from downtown.

Nicole Boudreau had several blocks and a few others that looked like blocks but turned out to be fouls.

Ally Fazio – two big triples in the final quarter

Ally Fazio (6 points) took three quarters to hone in from the outside.  She had a number of air balls but never stopped shooting.  The two she made in the final quarter were huge.

Andover threw heavy defensive pressure at Billerica especially in the backcourt.  I thought that the Indians did a pretty good job breaking it and going on for layup attempts.

The only loss Billerica had prior to tonight was against Pentucket.  The Sachems are swarming full-court defenders with a love of the long shot.

There is an Andover/Billerica rematch on February 14th at Billerica.  That should be a good take!

It is common knowledge that Nicole will be playing for Boston College next season.  What I also learned about her was that she carries a 4.0 GPA and is the defending junior champion at Andover Country Club.

Andover box score

Billerica box score

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

Nicole Boudreau blocks Danielle Nickerson

tight defense?

Danielle Nickerson

Nicole Boudreau double-teamed

Joslyn King (14 points)

Jackie Alois layup

Brittany Lomanno

Nicole Boudreau triple as BHS coach Chris Doneski watches

Kayla Leverone and Devon Caveney

Leave a comment

Filed under Andover, Billerica

Tagged as , , , , , , ,