WRESTLING
The St. John's Prep wrestling team may not have any individual state champions this year, but as a team the Eagles are currently making a run at a title.
The Eagles defeated Agawam (50-16) in the Division 1 State Dual Meet Tournament round of 16, then Plymouth South (44-18) in the quarterfinal round to advance to tomorrow's semifinal against West Springfield at the Tsongas Arena (4 p.m.) If St. John's should defeat West Springfield, a team it narrowly defeated in a dual meet earlier this season, then it would wrestle in the finals at 7 p.m.
"We're a good dual meet team, but it's going to be a battle with West Springfield," St. John's (35-1) coach Manny Costa said. "West Springfield is a very good team with two state champs and one second-place finisher. Hopefully, we're ready to wrestle because we know they're going to be."
Louis Bornstein (106 pounds), Rich Glazer (113), Jared Costa (126), Micah Anderle (132), Jaime Morey (145), Ian Butterbrodt (182), James Ingemi (195) and Corey Jean-Jacques (heavyweight) each won two matches for St. John's, while D.J. Lemeiux (120), V.J. Mortilaro (152), David Kou (170) and Joel Aviles (152) each won once.
BOYS HOCKEY
Beverly 3, Winthrop 2: Senior captain Brenden Mitchell's third-period goal was the difference as the scalding-hot Panthers (13-5-1) won their ninth straight game and, in the process, denied Winthrop a shot at tying for the Northeastern Conference North title. Cousins Andrew and Connor Irving also lit the lamp for Beverly, which got 22 saves from freshman netminder Tim Biarelli. Connor Irving added two assists to give him 51 points on the year.
Swampscott 2, Marblehead 2: Chris Carman's power-play goal with 3:16 to play enabled Swampscott (8-8-4) to earn a tie in its regular season finale, but the point gave Marblehead (7-9-2) the outright NEC Small title. Trevor Massey added a goal and an assist for Swampscott, and Patrick Sheehan stopped 30 shots in goal. For the Headers, Trevor Jones and Ty Bates had the goals and Mike Harper finished with 22 saves.
Saugus 7, Peabody 4: Trailing by four goals in the first period, Peabody (6-11-1) rallied the tie the game at 4-4 in the second on a natural hat trick from captain Mike Chiappini and another goal from Matt McIsaac (with Chiappini assisting). But Saugus took back the lead before the second period ended, then scored twice in the final 46 seconds for the W. Eric Costa added three assists for Peabody while Ryan McManus, Nick Salalayko and David Ricci all added assists and goalie Joe Powers stopped 20 shots.
St. John's Prep 5, Springfield Cathedral 5: Captain Sam Kurker scored with 17 seconds left as the Eagles (12-5-2) capped off a wild finish by rallying from a four-goal deficit by scoring four times in the game's final 5 minutes and 19 seconds. Kurker finished with two goals and two assists, giving him 53 points so far this winter. Brian Pinho, Nick Pandelena and Andrew Brandano also found the back of the net for the hosts while Tyler Bird, Cam Shaheen, Brent Murray, James Brightney, Brandano and Pinho all had assists.
Dennis-Yarmouth 5, Masconomet 2: On Saturday, the Chieftains were bumped from playoff consideration with the loss. Vincent Zingarelli scored twice, Danny Crowther had two assists and Alec DiGiorgio one in the setback while Matt Cardillo stopped 24 shots.
Masconomet 9, Martha's Vineyard 4: Senior forward Vincent Zingarelli exploded offensively for the Chieftains (8-10-1) with five goals and an assist, during yesterday's Fairleigh Dickinson Tournament consolation game. Captain Brian Hellrigel went off for three goals, and Danny Crowther scored the opening goal of the game, 10 seconds into the first period.
braintree 6, Bishop Fenwick 1: Pat O'Leary stopped 34 shots and Nick Amirault had a first-period tally, but the Crusaders (2-13-2) were sunk by five first-period goals from the visitors. Mike Napolitano and Mike Preczewski assisted on Amirault's goal.
REVERE 4, SALEM 1: Captain Paul DiMarino scored on a feed from fellow senior D.J. McRae at 6:39 of the first period, but it turned out to be the final goal of Salem's (1-18) season as the visiting Patriots . Sophomore goalie Brett Harring had another huge outing with 39 saves, while seniors Dan Tsivin and Matt LeBlanc played well in their final high school games.
GIRLS HOCKEY
Masconomet 1, Gardner 0: Nancy Palermo scored an unassisted goal midway through the second period and junior goalie Alex Jones stopped 31 shots to lead Masco to the shutout. Jones, who has been playing with the Chieftains since eighth grade, surpassed the 2,000-save mark in the win.
Seniors Katrina Buchta and Jackie Blundell also stood out for Masco (9-6-4) on Senior Night.
Marblehead takes two: Over the weekend, the Lady Headers defeated Peabody 12-2 and Cambridge 2-1. The wins give Marblehead a share of the NEC/CAL/GBL "Metro" division title and a tournament berth. Casey McDonald and Eliza Quigley both a three goals a piece in the victory of the Tanners on Saturday.
Yesterday, in their final home game of the season, the Lady Headers honored their four senior captains Ally Healy, Casey McDonald, Keelin Fallon and Katie Zarinsky.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Malden 72, Salem 64: The Witches held the lead going into the fourth but couldn't hold on in the first round of the Woburn Tournament. Christian Dunston produced 21 points, 10 assists and three steals to lead the Witches (11-9). Jared Louf-Woods had five points and five rebounds, and Billy Muse chipped in with 18 points.
Danvers 66, Billerica 46: The Falcons picked up their 16th win (16-3) of the season in a tough, sloppy battle. Senior center George Merry dropped 21 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for Danvers, while Jon Amico (4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals) and Nick Bates (7 rebounds, 4 assists) each had 13 points.
St. John's Prep 69, Westford Academy 67: Junior Tyler Dooley drove baseline and split two defenders to score the Prep's (13-6) winning basket at the buzzer. Steve Haladyna scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half to help his team edge out Westford Academy. The Eagles will play in the IAABO Board 130 Classic championship game tonight against Central Catholic.
bEVERLY 57, dRACUT 41: Cam Rogers finished with a double-double in yesterday's win, including 11 points points and 10 rebounds. Dom Abate added 12 points, and Tyler Suggs grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with his five points for the Panthers (13-7).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Bishop Fenwick 55, Danvers 26: The Crusaders played strong team defense with 21 steals and limited Danver's Kasey Sherry to a single point in yesterday's contest. Sophomore Kate Lipka had a team high 12 points, captain Maura Doyle finished with 10, including three 3-pointers and Gianna Pizzano added nine for Fenwick (9-12).
Sarah Potter and Emily McNulty each had six points for Danvers, which finished its season at 5-15.
Masconomet 61, Bishop Feehan 57: The Chieftains (17-3) made some big plays down the stretch to secure themselves a victory in their regular season finale. Brooke Stewart, named to the all-tournament team, had a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. Danielle Davis also earned a double-double, finishing with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Chelsea Nason had 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in the Comcast Tournament's consolation game.
Ipswich 53, St. Mary's 52: Freshman point guard Masey Zegarowski sunk two free throws to give the Tigers the one-point victory over the Spartans (9-8). Zegarowski was six for seven from the line and finished with a team-high 22 points to go along with her four steals, five rebounds and three assists. Julia Davis recorded a double-double in the tournament game, 11 points and 13 rebounds. Ipswich (16-3) will take on Swampscott tonight at St. Mary's in Lynn.
MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Nichols 77, Gordon 73: Junior David Dempsey put in a team-high 28 points and scored his 1,000th career point for the Fighting Scots (9-16). Park Thomas added 19 points, and Hans Miersma finished with 11 rebounds in the loss.
Endicott 87, Eastern Nazarene 76: The Gulls (17-8) finish off the regular season on a five game win-streak. Lachlan Magee led Endicott with 20 points and seven rebounds, while freshman forward Andre Markis finished with 13 points.
Salem State 95, Worcester State 87: The Vikings (18-7) claimed their 25th regular season MASCAC title behind a double overtime victory. Senior Brian Clark tallied a game-best 30 points — including the game-tying 3-pointer in overtime with 4.3 seconds left.
WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Nichols 66, Gordon 62: The Scots' Leanna Tallamy led all scorers with 33 points, netting 20 of them in the first half, and earned a double-double with 14 rebounds. Nichols outscored Gordon 10-6 during overtime, and the Scots dropped their regular season finale.
Eastern Nazarene 55, Endicott 44: Freshman Kayleen Whall led the Gulls with 16 points, while sophomore Jen White added ten points and each of them grabbed eight rebounds. Endicott (15-10) locked in the No. 4 seed in the CCC championship tournament and will host Roger Williams tomorrow night.
Worcester State 59, Salem State 57: Ginny Fleming finished with a team-best 13 points, while Rachael Carter and Breanna Comeau both finished with eight points and 11 rebounds a piece. Despite the loss, the Vikings still managed the second seed for the upcoming MASCAC tournament.
