Boston College Takes Duke as Regular Season Play Ends

The following was submitted by Chelmsford Youth Basketball League.

Junior Boys Division (Grades 7-8)

Gary Green, Division Director

Florida 28 – Kansas 19

Florida ended the regular season in fine fashion by downing Kansas 28-19.  The score was tied at 19 with 3:30 to play and then the Gators scored the game’s last 9 points to win going away.  Michael Monaghan keyed the final surge as he scored 4 of his 8 points in the final segment.  Jack Hansbury ended up with 10 points of which 3 came in the 4th quarter.  Ryan Taylor had a strong game with 8 points while William Arrington scored one basket and Sebastian Abate and Jared Kent also made solid contributions on defense.  Ryan Ashness led Kansas with 8 points followed by 6 points by Sean McCartin.

Pittsburgh 30 – Boston College 24

After scoring the game’s first 11 points Pittsburgh held on to defeat Boston College 30-24.  The lead was down to 3 points in the last minute before Del Driscoll scored and hit a foul shot and the BC comeback was over.  Driscoll led Pittsburgh with 10 points followed by 8 from Dylan McCulre.  Ryan Loftus led all scored as he had 13 for the Eagles.  Ethan Flewing hit 3 outside shots for 6 points and Connor Wooster added 5 points. 

North Carolina 37 – Villanova 18

North Carolina made it a perfect 10-0 in the regular season as they raced past Villanova 37-18.  Austin Polce had another outstanding game he led all scorers with 13 points. Mike Misherfi had a solid game with 8 points while Brady Ryan, Donovan Loew and Billy Shield each scored 4 points.  Rohan Kulkarni led a cold shooting Villanova team with 11 points and Cam Clancy scored 3 points.

Kentucky 47 – Syracuse 38

After getting drubbed in week 9 against North Carolina, Kentucky turned it around in the final week as they took care of Syracuse 47-38.  The 9-1 Wildcats were led by Jon Olsen with 14 points.  Pat Lyons came up big with 8 points and George Cole scored 7 while Craig Salmi contributed 6 points.  Jason Arnaud did his best to keep Syracuse in the game as he scored 20 points while Michael Peluso scored 8 of his 10 points in the first half.

Michigan State 42 – UMass 28

Michigan State outscored UMass 14-4 in the final quarter in route to a 42-28 victory.  Evan Smith had a great game with 18 points including 4 in the final quarter.  Jake Warnock also had a strong final quarter with 5 points and 11 points overall and Alex Hill scored 10 points.  Davis Laich led UMass with 11 points, Ricky Watson scored 6 points and Owen Jordan and Patrick Burrill each had 4 points.

Duke 46 – Ohio State 26

Jimmy Lynch and his Duke teammates were too much for Ohio State as the Blue Devils rolled to a 46-26 win.  Lynch scored 18 points of which 10 came in the second quarter.  Tim O’Neil had all of his 10 points in the second half.  Kyle Bond scored 8 points and Mike Russo added 4 points.  Dean Trahan led Ohio State with 13 points and Griffin Murray scored 7 points. 

Team Standings:

North Carolina 10-0

Kentucky 9-1

Pittsburgh 8-2

Duke 7-3

Michigan State 6-4

Boston College 5-5

Kansas 4-6

Ohio State 3-7

Syracuse 3-7

Villanova 2-8

Florida 2-8

UMass 1-9 

Junior Girls Division (Grades 7-8)

Joe March, Division Director

Maimi 28 - Florida State 25

Miami came away with a big win in it’s last game over FSU by the score of 28 to 25. Miami was lead by Shannon Garrity, who took the game over scoring 10 of her 12 pts at the end of the game. The whole Miami team played as one unit to overcome a 7 point deficit going into the last two segments. Bria Sutton scored 5 points and was a force on both offense and defense. Yvonne Robinson had two points, Kendra Malone and Kathyrne Stowell both added a basket each. Genesis Acosta lead the defense with many blocked shots with key help from Jennifer Reynolds with a big steal at the end and Michelle Hand helping out on defense. Shannon Garrity showed Ice in her veins hitting two free throws with 5 seconds left to give Miami the one point win. Florida State held the lead through out most of the game, only to have Miami tie the score late in the final segment. It was an exciting finish, and a last minute basket and two free throws gave Miami the win. Grace Gerhardt led the Seminoles with 6 points, with Natasha Krishnan adding 5. Bailey Grant put up 4 points and Siobhan LaFreniere, Sarah Doherty, Amber Uzzell, Meagan DeSalvo, and Isabella Sierra all had two points each. Kelly Driscoll and Katherine Rigney had strong defensive outings.

Clemson 30 - Tennessee 17

This was a close contest throughout the first half but Clemson was able to gradually pull away from Tennessee as the game went on. Megan Keene led Tennessee with 6 points while Natasha Graves played another great defensive game pulling down 7 rebounds. Samantha Govoni turned in a fine defensive effort and Amanda Faulkenham played a fine all around game with 2 points, 2 steals and a rebound.

Boston College 29   Duke 16

Duke jumped out to an early 6-0 lead but BC went on a 17-0 run to go up by 11.  Duke dug their way back into it to close the gap to 21-16.  A huge hoop by Alison Brown followed quickly by a big hoop from Alex Collias put BC up 25-16 and swung the momentum back in BC’s favor with the final score 29-16.  Courtney Moore had her best game of the season leading BC with eight points. Julia Slattery and Kasey Daly each six points for BC followed by Nicole Stryker with three points. Alison Brown, Alex Collias and Kelly Duggan each chipped in with two points for BC.  Eleanor Langthorne and Olivia Knight played fine all around games for BC.

Cadet Boys Division (Grades 5-6)

Larry Khirallah, Division Director

Xavier 38 - BC 27

In the last regular season matchup, this game featured some fantastic play by both squads as the game went back and forth, highlighting great defense and team play. The first few segments showed Xavier take a small lead but BC’s defense and hustle kept it close until the half. Early into the second half, Xavier’s guard play started to take over with numerous steals and that helped open up the offense. Leading the way were Devin Firicano (2 assists, 10 pts), John Barry (2 assists, 6 pts), Justin Kaminuma (4 pts), and Ashwin Krishnaswamy (2 assists, 2 pts). Also contributing with their outstanding inside game and crashing the boards were Daniel Dimitrov (8 pts), Simon Van Haren (4), Michael Kilmartin (2), and Michael Shea (2). Nick Krupyshev was a standout on defense and a key steal by Joe Giroux with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game was a big lift for Xavier.

North Carolina 24 - Kansas St 22

It was an exciting game from start to finish between North Carolina and Kansas State. Each team played extremely strong offense and defense. The exchange of points and rebounds kept the game close, but it was N. Carolina who lit up the board first. Pat Casserly, N. Carolina’s center, received a drop pass then went up strong and laid it in. Later on Nick Pottle dropped a 20 footer from the corner to keep up the momentum for N. Carolina. Kansas St. answered right back with a basket of their own and it was Kansas St. who lead the game going into the second half. N. Carolina played consistently throughout the second half. Aidan DiPasquale started the scoring with a quick drive short jumper from the bucket and Evan Wang received a fast break and laid it in to give N. Carolina the lead. Pat Casserly, one of N. Carolina’s leading rebounders, fouled out late in the half and it was Luke Briand and Cody Miller, who filled the slot successfully. It was Kyle King’s extraordinary ball handling skills and determination that lead N. Carolina to victory. Kyle made three critical baskets within the last two minutes of the game to give N. Carolina a small lead. After a few more strong attempts by Kansas St. it was the defense of N. Carolina that sealed the win. Kyle King lead the scoring for N. Carolina with 8 points, followed by Pat Casserly with 6 points, Aidan DiPasquale with 4 points and Evan Wang, Nicholas Pottle, and Luke Briand all contributed 2 points. Cameron Arena gave N. Carolina a number of assists and played spectacular defense during the entire game. N. Carolina came away with a 24 – 22 win, but Kansas State played an outstanding game.

UConn 29 - Michigan St 16

In an exciting and hard fought game that was very close up until the end, UConn prevailed over Michigan St 29 to 16 to end the regular season. It was a total team effort for UConn in which everyone contributed. Jimmy Matthews drove to the basket the entire game and led the scoring with 7 points. David Kelley contributed 6 points with his sharpshooting. Emil Zulawnik and Hunter Ruszkowski had strong inside games and had 4 points each. Avery Markham did a great job handling the ball and chipped in with 4 points. Chris Matthews and Kietel Toussaint played strong defense and had 2 points each. John Mieszczanski was a force defensively the entire game, guarding the top scorers for Michigan St. Eli Piper showed great hustle. Both teams should be proud for their determination and effort.   For Michigan State, defense was the theme of the day, as  Adithya Rao agitated the Huskies offense with stifling coverage, snatching the ball and causing three turnovers. Tarun Bomma was also able to quash the offense with lightning quick hands, stealing the ball and the Huskies scoring chances. Zachary Phillips joined in the defensive strike with unending pressure and three steals. Justin Grove added to the Spartans possession time with two steals of his own. Daniel Mandel had quick hands and was able to grab the ball; forcing jump balls and gaining possession for the Spartans. Jeremy Guerin  was the rebound king , nabbing several rebounds on both ends. Offensively, the night belonged to Nick Glekas and David Jones. Glekas had a season high of 10 points. Six of those points came off of his defensive steals leading to three fast break layups. Finishing the scoring was David Jones.with six points. Jones.had an amazing defensive steal. He took it hard to the basket for 2 points and was fouled. With steady nerves he sank his foul shot. Jones.was also key once again on defense with his never ending pressure. The Spartans came up short in the end, however, but were tenacious until the final buzzer.

 Cadet Girls Division (Grades 5-6)

Sue Jillett, Division Director

Boston College 16 - Duke 12

The Eagles followed suit with the week before by pulling out another nail-biter. This was BC's most well rounded game with 7 players scoring at least one bucket.  Jacquelyn Hill and Shannon Curran lead the way with two baskets.  Kelly Jolin, Megan Driscoll, Jessica Mathis, and Emma Newcomb all dropped one bucket each.  The Alex Meehan and Alexa Lynch backcourt played solid defense, along with running the show on the offensive side of the court. Duke found themselves a bit short staffed, but put up an outstanding effort against the league's only undefeated team this week.  A swarming and aggressive defense held the high powered BC offense to only 16 points.  Multiple steals by Claire O'Neill, Marie Sarault, Mia Kelly and Hannah Gilbert led the defense.  Great positioning and "Boxing Out" under the boards helped Duke garner 24 rebounds.  Nadya Lisciotto led the way with 13 boards, followed by Marie Sarault, Camryn Mandella and Mia Kelly, who all seemed determined to show that a height difference would not affect their ability to rebound.  The offense was led by point guards Claire O'Neill and Hannah Gilbert who handled the ball with great confidence and dished out multiple assists.  Benefitting from those assists were Nadya Lisciotto with 4 points and Camryn Mandella, Claire O'Neill, Hannah Gilbert and Marie Sarault all with 2 points each to round out the well balanced scoring attack.  Hannah Macallister provided solid defense and and a couple of great drives to the basket which unfortunately did not result in any points this week.  Duke is looking forward to the playoffs where they hope to make a run towards the championship!

UConn 26 - Maryland 13

1st period UConn came out strong to get on the score board first with baskets by #10 Hammah & #14 Lauren.  Maryland rallied back witha basket by #20.  The Huskies were determined to bring it on and Maryland was ready for the challenge. UConn's #12 Anastasia T had a great game with a total of 4 baskets for the Huskies.Huskies's #11 Anna & #3 Munjery were on their game with 3 baskets each.  #4 McKenzie Leahy hit for 2 points to contribute the final score of 26 points.  A great game was played by all! Maryland's Crazy Socks girls ended their season with an even 5-5 record.  Their final game was a loss to a talented UConn team whose height dominated the boards on rebounds.  Maryland’s five baskets were scored by Kathryn Haynes, Tatum Hobby, Shailagh McCormack, Ali Rubin  and Rachel Pedersen.  Also scoring on a free throw was Ali Rubin.  Katelyn DeSilvio had three assists and several rebounds.  Olivia Beauregard had a steal and several rebounds.  Gabrielle Cruz and Kaitlyn Anderson played tough defense for Maryland. North Carolina 26 Notre Dame 14  A great game was played by all!  In a rematch of opening day foes, North Carolina was able to defetat a tough Notre Dame team.  It was a close game and back and forth early with many momentum swings before Lauren Powell and Colleen Connor's hustle and tight defense took over and led North Carolina to victory.  In addition to the team work on defense North Carolina's offense flowed from the red hot Colleen Connor's 10 points and Lauren Powell's 4 points.  Camryn Malone chipped in with 8 points of her own and used some nifty passing to help Manjusa Chava and Mackenzie Connor each score 2 points.

UCLA 35 - Seton Hall 24

UCLA played a great game against Seton Hall.  With only 5 players for the entire game due to the February vacation the girls were a little nervous with no substitutions but they worked together as a team and came out with a win.  Victoria Ryder scored an all time high of 25 points with some keys steals throughout the game.  Teja Vempati and Maggie McCartin played tough and had some great defensive plays.  Julia Ashely scored 6 points and Kacey Corbett had 4 points to keep the lead going for UCLA.