Roundup: Saugus boys hoop knocks off top seed Whittier

Curtis Casella scored a game-high 29 points as the Saugus High boys basketball team stunned top seed Whittier Tech, 67-53, in the MIAA Division 3 North quarterfinal round at Haverhill on Sunday.Casella added five points and four assists for the No. 8 Sachems (13-9), and received an ‘A’ on game film from his coach, Paul Moran.”The last kid I graded an ‘A’ was John Beaulieu when I was coaching at Swampscott,” Moran noted, adding that defensively, Casella played “just unbelievable.”The coach used the same word to describe the play of his point guard, Brendan Wladkowski, who dished out eight assists to go with his eight points.”The whole team played great defensively,” Moran said. “I give my kids a lot of credit. They rebounded well. They got a hand up on the shooters every time they shot. To beat a No. 1 seed is pretty tough.”Saugus advances to the semifinals on Thursday, where it will face Arlington Catholic at Burlington (7).Max Soto had a double-double for Saugus (10 points, 12 rebounds) while teammate Selim Omerovic had 10 points and eight rebounds.Saugus led 37-22 at halftime.Whittier Tech finished with a 19-2 record.Match Charter 63, KIPP Lynn 29At the Edward Brooke Charter School, KIPP Academy-Lynn Collegiate lost a tough one against the Match Charter School.Prospect Hill 53, KIPP Lynn 49At the Lynn YMCA on Saturday, Pedro Morales and Jose Valera each led KIPP Academy-Lynn Collegiate with 16 points. Morales added four rebounds and four assists while Valera also had four rebounds.Danya Smith finished with seven points for KIPP while teammate Ricardo Maria had eight points.GIRLS HOCKEYBraintree 1, Winthrop 0At Larsen Rink in Winthrop, the combined Winthrop/Lynn/Saugus squad saw its season end in the MIAA Division 1 first round. No. 8 Winthrop finishes 14-5-1 while Braintree, the ninth seed, moves on to the quarterfinals against Acton-Boxboro.It was a scoreless game Saturday entering the third period before Braintree struck deep into the period to claim the win and advance.BOYS HOCKEYRockport/Manchester-Essex 2, Marblehead 0At Stoneham Arena, the 12th-seeded Headers couldn’t get past No. 4 Manchester-Essex in the MIAA Division 3 North quarterfinals. Marblehead finishes its season 8-12-2.GIRLS BASKETBALLKIPP Lynn 54, MATCH Charter 32Sunday in Roslindale, KALC finished its regular season at 15-2 (12-2 in league play) and landed the No. 3 spot in the MCSAO playoffs, which start March 16. Alex Huffman led KALC with 22 points; Pleilerkay Gaye scored 16, and Marie Kamba added 8.Prospect Hill 38, KIPP Lynn 35Alex Huffman scored 22 points for KIPP Academy-Lynn Collegiate, which dropped to 14-2 overall (11-2 in MCSAO league games), Saturday.Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].