After a 1-19 season a year ago, KIPP’s girls basketball team eyed vengeance. Now, it’s theirs.
The Panthers, under first-year coach Mike McCarthy, snagged their 10th win of the season Tuesday night for a trip to the MIAA Division 4 state tournament.
In the 48-36 final against Nashoba, some usual suspects in Sky Delacruz (10 points, 4 rebounds), Laz Clark (16 points, 14 rebounds), and Katrina Fortes (8 points, 14 rebounds) all came to play.
They say rebounding wins games. KIPP (10-7) will look to continue that theme Thursday when it hosts the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell at 6:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Marblehead 38
Peabody 33
In a Northeastern Conference showdown at Marblehead High, the hosts got the better of Peabody, 38-33.
Tessa Andriano of the Magicians was clutch, grabbing her own offensive rebound and laying it in to give her team a one-point lead in the final minutes. She hit a three with 1:29 remaining to extend the lead to six points (37-31).
Despite Logan Lomasney of the Tanners cutting the lead to 37-33 at the charity stripe, Marblehead’s Madison Forbes hit a free throw of her own to seal it with 18.7 seconds remaining.
Lomasney scored 17 points, while Olivia Gaynor added eight for the Tanners.
“A poor shooting night cost Peabody a win,” said Peabody coach Stan McKeen.
Bishop Feehan 61
St. Mary’s 50
The girls basketball Spartans fought until the end, but couldn’t slow down the visiting Bishop Feehan Shamrocks (14-2), who rank No. 1 in the MIAA Division 1 power rankings.
St. Mary’s, fourth-seeded in Division 3, dropped to 15-5 on the season. Freshman Bella Owumi had a monster game with 34 points against a high-powered Feehan defense.
Manchester-Essex 40
Swampscott 34
Swampscott held a late lead in this one, but let it slip away in enemy territory.
Samantha Ward buried a corner three to put Swampscott ahead, 34-29, with 3:14 to play. But from there, it was all Manchester Essex, which responded with an 11-0 run to close things out.
Olivia Quagrello netted 12 first-half points to lead the visitors.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Lynn Tech 68
KIPP 56
Lynn Tech upped its record to 12-2 with a double-digit win against intercity opponent KIPP at home. The explosive Ederick Gonzalez of the Tigers led the charge with 25 points, five rebounds, and three assists.
Gonzalez was followed by Jayden Welch (16 points, 8 rebounds) and do-it-all Giovanni Jean (16 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds), the latter of whom has had quite the hot hand for Lynn Tech the past week.
For KIPP, Tolu Abosede and Viccee Howard registered 16 points apiece, while Trosky Peña netted another 15.
Swampscott 60
Lynn Classical 49
Despite strong performances from Rolky Brea Arias (12 points) and Almani Gerardo (9), the host Lynn Classical Rams (8-6) met their match against Swampscott (10-6).
Connor Chiarello – who scored a career-high 30 points last week – topped himself with a 33-point night against the Rams, alongside seven steals. Liam Wales netted 14 points, too.
“Complete defensive effort from the entire team,” said Swampscott coach Jason Knowles. “This was a good, back-and-forth game between two solid defensive teams.
Lynn English 77
Revere 45
No home court, no problem for the Bulldogs, who advanced to 13-3 after topping Revere by 32 points. English was led by two double-doublists in Pierre Veras (19 points, 18 rebounds) and Carmelo Buese (19 points, 10 rebounds).
Pauwill Deng (13 points) and Denzel Guillen (11 points, 5 assists) also performed well for English.
Gloucester 42
Saugus 40
Saugus never quit, but, ultimately, fell short in enemy waters against the Fishermen. The Sachems were led by Danny Shea’s 18 points, while other contributors included Huey Josama (7 points) and Ryan Shea (6).
GYMNASTICS
Wakefield 126.25
Peabody 89.35
A loss, but not without positives as Peabody’s gymnastics team received some strong performances on Tuesday. Bailey Merchant led the Tanners with a 5.2 on vault, 3.5 on bars, 5.6 on beam, and 6 on floor.
She was followed by Kim Viera (5.9 on beam), 8th grader Molly Hagerty (8 on vault), Maddy Semper (5.3 on vault; 5.8 on beam), Jakob Pinheiro (5 on vault), and Cairo Martinez (5.3 on vault; 4.2 on bars)
“We had a great meet with Wakefield, and good job to all the gymnasts,” said Peabody coach Mackenzie Bernice.
