Talk about running it back in style. The Spartan Classic girls and boys basketball tournaments returned to the St. Mary’s and Lynn Tech gymnasiums over the weekend, with the City of Lynn well-represented on the hardwood.
St. Mary’s girls (19-3) took down Oliver Ames, 52-38, but it wasn’t easy against an opposition led by Maeve Horsman (game-high 20 points) and Avery Gamble (11).
But the championship-bound Spartans – who trailed by one point at halftime and led by just five points after three quarters – poured it on from there. Bella Owumi (17 points), Lily Norton (13), and Reese Matela (11) led the scoring department, while Owumi caught eyes with a 3-pointer to beat the third-quarter buzzer.
The Tech boys (11-8) advanced to their own title game with a 73-50 win against Woburn. Leading the Tigers were Andy Batista (18 points, 3 assists), Giovanni Jean (16 points, 4 rebounds), Brandon Antwine (13 points, 4 steals), and Awan Awan (6 points, 15 rebounds).
BOYS BASKETBALL
St. Mary’s
Dartmouth
Sunday night’s Spartan Classic matchup was postponed to Monday with tip-off set for 8 p.m. at St. Mary’s.
Catholic Memorial 78
Lynn English 60
The Bulldogs (8-12) wrapped up their regular season with a loss against Catholic Memorial at Emmanuel College in Boston. Leading the way were Andrew Karoma (17 points), Louis Ledesma (16), and Denzell Guillen (14). A day earlier, despite a strong second-half comeback to make things interesting, English dropped a close one to Braintree, 67-62, behind Karoma (23 points) and Ledesma (22).
Lynnfield 83
Lowell Catholic 51
Alex Fleming (15 points) netted his 1,000th point, Grant Neal scored a game-high 20 points, Madux Iovinelli added 18, and the Pioneers advanced to Tuesday’s Spartan Classic championship game.
Bedford 58
Bishop Fenwick 44
Jacob Bayer (15), Mekhi Volcy (13) and Keston Paul (10) combined for 38 points for the Buccaneers (3-15). Nate Allder led the Crusaders (8-11) with 13 points. Bedford will try to win its second straight tournament championship when it plays Gloucester Monday at 6 p.m.
Gloucester 58
Marblehead 40
Nick Deleon scored a game-high 26 points and Charles Amero added 16 to lead the Fishermen (11-8), who will take on Bedford in the final on Monday. Sam Thompson had 17 for the Magicians (10-8).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Malden 44
Lynn English 35
Amara Flores scored 15 points to guide the Lady Bulldogs (10-9), but Malden – fighting for its state tournament spot with a 9-8 record – played spoiler in enemy territory on Saturday.
Shrewsbury 40
Bishop Fenwick 37
The Lady Crusaders dipped to 8-10 after a one-possession loss on Saturday. Fenwick’s Celia Neilson was a bright spot with 22 points.
Peabody 42
Reading 38
In the Larry McIntire IAABO Board 130 Classic at Marblehead High, the Tanners (9-10) rallied in the second half to keep their MIAA tournament hopes alive. Maia Davis and Avery Bettencourt scored 11 points apiece to lead Peabody, which will play Masconomet in the championship game Monday at 4:15 p.m. Stella Harrington led the Rockets (11-8).
BOYS HOCKEY
St. Mary’s 6
Malden Catholic 0
Featuring “some much-needed offense,” according to St. Mary’s Coach Matthew Smith, his Spartans (13-6-1) took care of business on enemy ice. Goalie Matthew Smith Jr. tied the all-time school record for shutouts (12) and picked up his seventh of the season. Leading the way offensively were Finn Racki (goal), Stephen Nason (2 goals, assist), JJ Avery (goal, assist), Nick Thornton (goal), Colton Carpenter (goal), Joey Calder (2 assists), Chase Collins (assist), Caleb Racki (assist), and Kalen Huddle (assist).
Peabody-Saugus-Swampscott 3
Lynn 2
Despite two goals from Marc Poste and a helper from Tyler Whitten, the Jets flew just short against Peabody-Saugus-Swampscott at Connery Rink.
Essex Tech 6
Weston 4
In a wild game from start to finish, Essex Tech skated to a 6-4 win against Weston to win the 25th Fairleigh Dickinson Jr. Invitational on Martha’s Vineyard. Brady Leonard (4 goals) led the way with a stellar performance.
Essex Tech 4
Lynnfield 1
A day earlier on Saturday, Essex Tech won the Cape Ann League title with a three-goal win against Lynnfield. Leonard, Brian DeLisio, Teddy Tsoutsouris, and Jaydan Vargas scored for the Hawks.
Lynnfield 5
Martha’s Vineyard 1
Owen Considine had himself a Sunday, netting a hat-trick and dishing out an assist in Lynnfield’s consolation win in the Fairleigh Dickinson Jr. Invitational. Anthony Calla scored a goal to go with three assists, while CJ Anderson also found the back of the net and Angelo Covino made 28 saves.
St. John’s Prep 4
Newburyport 1
Mason Luciano scored the first goal of the game and it was all uphill from there for The Prep (13-5), which ranked No. 2 in the Division 1 power rankings, behind Pope Francis, as of Friday morning.
GIRLS HOCKEY
St. Mary’s 1
Arlington Catholic 1
Red-hot Alyssa Norden found the back of the net yet again. The No. 15 Spartans (8-10-2) skated to a tie on enemy ice as the Division 1 state tournament creeps closer.
Peabody-Lynnfield-North Reading 7
Masconomet 0
No home ice, no problem for PLNR, which blew by Masconomet by seven goals inside of the Haverhill Valley Forum. Better yet, the win clinched a league co-championship (Winthrop) for Coach Michelle Roach and company. Saturday’s goals were scored by Daniella White, Ava Louanis, Chloe Gromko, Ava Buckley, Shirley Whitmore, Erin Dee, and Leah Buckley. Grace Allen and Alexa Pepper dished out two assists each.
WRESTLING
Pablo Maldonado (138 pounds), Omar De Jesus (157), Danny Matos (165), Eric Ayala (175), and Alexandro Jean Louis (190) represented Lynn’s co-op at during Saturday’s Division 1 sectional held at St. John’s Prep.
“After the match, I reminded our wrestlers that this was Division 1, we are a new team, and that they just held their own against the best of the best and nobody would ever take them lightly,” said Lynn Coach Frank Vieira. “This is the team that put Lynn on the map, and I am proud to be their coach.”
Marblehead-Swampscott finished eighth out of 13 teams (Division 2) at Woburn Memorial High School, where Liam O’Brien (132 pounds) captured his first sectional title.
“He continues his great season,” said Coach Michael Stamison. “Liam will likely be the No. 2 seed in next week’s Division 2 state tournament.”
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Bishop Fenwick’s girls team competed in the Division 1 state meet held at Boston University, placing 10th out of 38 teams with 86 points. Highlights came from Amelia Gallant (5th in 200 freestyle – 1:57.42; 3rd in 500 freestyle – 5:15.83), Caroline Blatchford (3rd in 200 IM – 2:16.22; 5th in 100 freestyle – 55.16), Hannah Ryan (14th in 50 freestyle – 25.94; 10th in 100 freestyle – 56.55), and Sarah Shann (7th in 1m diving – 364.10 points).
Sophia Tramontozzi helped lead Lynnfield-Wakefield to a 23rd-place finish in the Division 2 meet as her team finished with 27 points, well behind Weston, which lapped the field with 230 points. Tramontozzi finished seventh in the 200 IM (PR 2:17.33) and 12th in the 500 freestyle (PR 5:35.78) to tally 17 points. She also swam the lead leg of the 200 free relay with Chloe Cieslewicz, Katie Shrewsbury, and Isabella Shrewsbury, which finished 12th (1:48.21). The 200 medley relay team of Isabella Shrewsbury, Cieslewicz, Tramontozzi, and Katie Shrewsbury finished 19th (2:02.70).
TRACK AND FIELD
The St. Mary’s Spartans made lots of noise in the Division 4 championships. For the girls (13th place), do-it-all Kelsey Kwiatek took second in the mile, fifth in the 1,000m, and was part of the sixth-place 4x400m alongside Isabella Michel, Lea Deronja, and Cameryn Dunn. As for the boys, who placed 12th, Justin Jennings and Devin Duval went 2-3 in the 55m dash, while the 4x400m team of Jimmy Jennings, Hakeem Akande, Lucian Paula, and Jacobi James medaled with an eighth-place performance.
In Saugus’ state meet, the girls 4×200 team medaled in eighth place and Destiny Okoye finished sixth to medal in high jump.
