Mystic Valley Basketball Teams End Season With Victories

JV Boys Win Finale

The Mystic Valley Boys JV Team ended their season on a high note yesterday at home with a convincing victory at home against North Shore/Essex Aggie by a score of 48-36. The Eagles had balanced scoring up and down the roster and it was truly a team effort. The Eagles were led by Junior Daniel DiFusco who had 10 points as well as 8^th grader Matt O’Connor and Raymond Leung who had 7 a piece. Also chipping in the scoring for the Eagles were Ryan Foley (5 points), Devontae Davis (4 points), Kevin Mudymba (3 points), Jackie Yu (2 points), Yahia Abuhasan (2 points).

Defensively, Stephen DiBenedetto, Pat McPherson and Kirby Clerger all turned in fine defensive performances for the Eagles. The win was important to the young Eagles squad as it secured a winning season of 8 wins and 7 losses.

The future prospects for Mystic Valley basketball continue to look promising as this JV team comprised mostly of freshmen, were able to secure a winning record as a Junior Varsity squad. Look for them in the years to come carrying on the winning tradition of Mystic Valley Boys basketball at the Varsity Level.

Boys End Season With Win 

The Mystic Valley boys’ varsity basketball team broke another record during this record-setting season by collecting its 17^th win, the most ever in school history, with a 71-53 home victory against North Shore Tech on Thursday.

With the triumph, the Eagles improved its overall record to 17-3, 8-0 in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference (CAC).  The 2012 CAC Small Division champions finished this special regular season with a host of memorable accomplishments.

The win against North Shore was extra satisfying because it came on Senior Night, where Ben Bottrell, Joey Foley, Kyle Howard, Mike Levine, Brian O’Connor, Greg Statho, and Ricky Yu were honored, along with their parents, before a warm and supportive crowd prior to tip-off.

On this evening, the Eagles’ offensive attack was well balanced as 10 players participated in the scoring parade (Greg Statho, 12, Hari Perisic, 12, Joey Foley, 11, Kyle Howard, 11, Ben Bottrell, 7, Brian O’Connor, 6, Ricky Yu, 4, Mike Levine, 2, Kevin Hazelton, 2, and Raymond Leung, 2).

“This victory against North Shore was a great way to end the best season in school history,” said Mystic Valley head coach Tony Ferullo.  “What this team has achieved  is one for the books and will have people talking for a long time.  I’m very proud of my players for persevering and stepping up when they had to throughout this season. Now it’s time to get back to work, roll up our sleeves, and prepare for the state tournament.”

Mystic Valley Girls Win

The Mystic Valley girls varsity basketball team improved to 12-7 on the season with a 43-38 win over conference rival Essex Aggie yesterday. The game was close throughout and the Lady Eagles again found themselves in early foul trouble limiting the minutes played by key members of the starting unit.

 The difference in the game proved to be the contribution of the Mystic Valley bench which outscored the Essex bench 14-2. Coach Jason Cantwell remarked "For most of the 2nd quarter, the entire 3rd quarter and the first 2 minutes of the fourth quarter it was up to our bench to maintain the lead. With defensive intensity and a commitment to rebounding, our bench stepped up and won this game for the team. When the bench can play defense and rebound when called upon its makes everything easier.”

Joanna Petras and Tania Fabo each had easily their best individual performances of the season according to coach Cantwell.

Eighth Grader Meghan Foley led all Eagle scorers with 14 points. Junior Joanna Petras had 9 points and a season/career high 16 rebounds and sophomore Tania Fabo added 5 points and a season high 15 rebounds.

The Lady Eagles conclude their regular season with a Presidents' Day matinee against pope John at 1 PM Monday.