BOYS BASKETBALL
The Danvers High boys basketball team has been the best and most consistent boys hoop team on the North Shore this winter.
But last night the Falcons ran into a red-hot Magicians team on the road at Marblehead and Wayne Hanscom's club pulled out the 44-41 upset win at home.
Marblehead (6-8) now has claimed three straight victims including Lynn English, Peabody and now the Falcons since beginning the season 3-8. Danvers meanwhile, drops its second game of the season to fall to 12-2.
"It was a big upset. We've been playing good, the kids are determined," said Hanscom. "We played great team defense. It was huge."
Kyle Forsgard gave the Magicians more than just a lift of the bench. The senior guard knocked down two, big free-throws with 20 seconds and finished with a team-high 15 points including a 7-8 performance at the charity stripe.
"He's just super hard worker so it was really rewarding for him," said Hanscom. "He hit a couple three's and some big foul shots, just a real steady presence out there for us."
Jeff Peras added 14 points for Marblehead while Nick Bates (11 points) and George Merry (10 points) led the Falcons.
Pingree 48, Concord Academy 45: Isaac Carp (13 points, eight assists) and Kyle Lentini (12 points, nine rebounds) helped Pingree improve to 13-4 and 8-1 in the Eastern Independent League.
Waring 60, Commonwealth 42: Guard Charlie Mitchell scored 16 points for Waring (7-5) while Jack Stanton added 15 points, 11 boards and two blocks.
St. Mary's 73, Bishop Fenwick 57: Sophomores Matt Costello and Dom Luoni produced for Bishop Fenwick (3-10) which held a 28-26 first half lead. Costello grabbed seven rebounds to go with a team-high 14 points while Luoni chipped in 13 points.
Lynn Classical 44, Beverly 41: Chris Keaton led all Beverly (9-7) scorers with 18 points but the Panthers have now scored just 80 points combined in back-to-back games. Sophomore John Berchoff played well defensively for Beverly.
Hamilton-Wenham 76, Georgetown 56: Senior Jake Lindland, who has been working his way back from an injury, went off for 20 points to lead H-W last night with fellow senior Steve Tam adding 17 points, five steals and six assists while freshman James Foye added 14 points.
St. John's Prep 58, Xaverian 51: Senior Steve Haladyna scored 23 points to lead the Eagles (10-5) as they snapped a three-game skid and officially qualified for the state tournament. Freddy Shove chipped in 10 points and Tyler Dooley added nine and six assists. Freshman James Foye had a big night with 14 points for the Generals.
Masconomet 58, Newburyport 49: Senior Ben Panunzio exploded for 19 points and the Chieftains (10-5) officially qualified for the state tournament, having won nine of thier last 11. Adam Bramanti added 17 points for Masco while Alex Brown chipped in 13.
Lynnfield 62, Ipswich 57: The Tigers (4-10) lost a tight game as Lynnfield was the aggressor, leading to a 25-4 edge in free throws attempted. Dan O'Flynn led Ipswich with a 17 point output including five treys and Erik Fyrer added 16.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Ipswich 58, Lynnfield 35: Junior Julia Davis grabbed 15 rebounds for Ipswich and added seven points while freshman point guard Masey Zegarowski led the Tigers with a game-high 18 points, six assists and nine steals. Senior Shannon McFayden added 16 points including four, three-pointers.
Pres. mAry 60, No. shore tech/aggie 41: Kim Schuyler scored a team-high 19 points for NST/EA (2-12) while juniors Ashley Mertsch and Olivia Mitchell added seven points and four points respectively.
Lynn Classical 55, Beverly 49: Erin Silvestri played solid defense against Monta Connolly despite playing with four fouls the entire second half. Andrea Zelano led the Panthers in points with 13 with Ashley Keaton adding eight points.
H-W 58, Georgetown 51: The Generals (6-7) had balanced scoring as Hayley Willis (10), Victoria Tansey (10), Cassandra Fibbe (10) and Samantha Charette all had double figures. Fibbe added eight assists while Charette and Tansey grabbed nine rebounds each.
Salem 39, Peabody 23: Salem (9-5) has really dialed in defensively lately thanks to the one-on-one shutdown work of Alix Bryant, who scored seven points along with Jaclyn Panneton. Holbrook Phelan led Salem with 13 while the Witches held Carolyn Scacchi to just one point with great team defense. For the Tanners, Taylor Provost and Victoria Digiacomo played well.
Masconomet 60, Newburyport 49: The Chieftains (11-2) won on the road as senior Brooke Stewart was a force with 27 points. Sophomore Hannah Kiernan gave Masco a nice lift with five points, Claudia Marsh scored six in the second half, Chelsea Nason had 10 points and Danielle Davis chipped in 10 points with eight rebounds.
Marblehead 38, Danvers 23: Lindsey Cohen had nearly half her team's points with 19 as the Magicians won in an outstanding defensive effort. Kasey Sherry was the leading scorer for Danvers with seven.
St. Mary's 62, Bp. Fenwick 44: The Crusaders (7-9) fell at home despite 12 points and six rebounds from sophomore Gianna Pizzano. Maura Doyle added 10 points for Fenwick while sophomore Kate Lipka had eight poings and six boards.
Swampscott 40, Winthrop 31: Ara Talkov scored 17 points and grabbed six boards to power the Big Blue (11-3). Jessie DePolo provided a big spark for Swampscott with all of her six points coming in the second half. She also grabbed five boards.
SKIING
Prep takes two: The Eagles remain undefeated after beating Manchester Essex (119-16) and Masconomet (111 to 24) on Thursday afternoon. Ryan Carlucci (21.82) finished first among the competitors followed by; Patrick McDermott (22.35), Cael Schwartz (22.49), Joe Cavallaro (22.51), Brad Noyes (22.81) and Blake Rhuda (22.85).
