Roundup: Lynnfield girls hoop team clinches CAL/Small title

The Lynnfield girls basketball team captured the Cape Ann League Small championship Friday with a 57-40 win over Manchester-Essex at Lynnfield.The Pioneers, under first-year coach Bob Melillo, are now 12-3, 9-3 in the CAL Small. What makes the feat more impressive is that Lynnfield is coming off a 6-14 season. The Pioneers haven’t won the CAL Small since 2005.”It’s pretty exciting,” Melillo said. “This is a good group of kids. They work hard.”The Pioneers led by 12 at the half, but Manchester-Essex went on a tear to start the third quarter and managed to tie the game. Lynnfield regrouped in a hurry and went on a nice little run of its own to boost the lead back up to 21 points.Melillo said senior guard Ashley McRae played a big roll in the win, taking charge in the third quarter when she scored five of her 10 points. Emma Mancini led the team with 17 points and 10 rebounds and Katherine Lawless contributed 13 points.St. Mary’s 55, Arl. Cath. 52At Arlington, the first time these two teams met this season the Spartans (14-1, 8-0 Catholic Central League) won handily, but Cougars were a much different team the second time around. They had one of their key players, Maura Buckley, back in the lineup and they were playing in their own gym.The Spartans still got the job done, but things got dicey in the fourth quarter when, with a 12-point St. Mary’s lead and 6:17 left in the game, Brianna Rudolph fouled out. Arlington Catholic hit four threes in the final quarter and managed to cut the lead to 53-52. St. Mary’s came up with a big stop and Kayla Carter threw a home-run on an inbounds pass to Temi Falayi and she laid it in. Falayi was fouled on the play, but missed the free throw. Arlington Catholic had three more good looks from three-point land in the final 10 seconds, but couldn’t come up with the tying shot.Falayi, a freshman forward, finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.”She played the best game of her career,” coach Jeff Newhall said.The Spartans also had 15 points from Rudolph and eight from Carter.English 73, Salem 32At English, the Bulldogs (15-0, 11-0 Northeastern Conference) had another huge offensive night led Deidra Newson (26 points, 10 rebounds) and Diondra Woumn (16 points). Catherine Stinson also hit double figures with 11 points and Mikayla Everette had 10 rebounds, eight assists and six steals. English plays Peabody Tuesday and if the Bulldogs win, they’ll take the NEC North title.Fenwick 64, Notre Dame 37At Peabody, the Crusaders played an excellent defensive game and they had the offense clicking as well. Gianna Pizzano and Kate Lipka each had 16 points and Colleen Corcoran, 13 points.”We had a lot of steals and layups tonight,” Fenwick coach Adam DeBaggis said.The Crusaders (8-6) are home Monday (6:30) on Monday.Peabody 55, Revere 23At Peabody, the Tanners (10-3) qualified for the state tournament for the second consecutive year. Carolyn Scacchi had a whale of a game with 20 points and Courtney Bua contributed eight. It was Pink Night with the money raised going to Flip Flop Friends to help in the fight against breast cancer.Jen Fajardo had 10 points for Revere.KIPP 55, Comm. Charter 19At Cambridge, Alex Huffman had a huge night for the Panthers, scoring 25 points. Serena High had eight points and Maria Kamba checked in with six points. KIPP is 7-2 overall, 6-0 in its league.Methuen 52, Danvers 47At Danvers, the Falcons gave Methuen a much tougher time the second go-round but despite the intensity and 12-for-22 free throw shooting they came up short. Hannah Llewellyn had 17 points and Emily McNulty, 10 points.Winthrop 55, Gloucester 27At Winthrop, the Vikings (12-2, 8-1 NEC) had strong play from Nikki Tsiotos (14 points) and Kristen Siscamanis (13 points). Winthrop was without Ashelyne Babb, who was injured, and Nina Bartlette.GYMNASTICSBishop Fenwick 123.15, Cambridge 120.9At MIT, the Crusaders (4-1) were led by Abby Regnier, who won all around with a 33.7. She finished first on bars (8.55), b