Local Squads in Holiday Tournament Action

Schools may have been on vacation last week, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a full slate of sports action as local teams took part in holiday tournaments throughout the area. sent delegations to the George Bossi Lowell Holiday Wrestling Tournament, the Chelsea Holiday Basketball Tournament and hosted the Ed Burns Classic Hockey Tournament at Burbank Ice Arena, while the Austin Prep Cougars boys hockey team took part in the Kasabuski Christmas Classic Tournament in Saugus.

HOCKEY

RMHS Boys: The Rockets (3-2-1, 1-0 ML) hosted the four-team Ed Burns Classic tournament last week, and began play over Middlesex League Large School newcomers Arlington on Dec. 27 to open the tourney. Cody Macaluso scored the game-winner, 6:12 into the final frame, while Pat Manzi and Garrett Phelan also scored for Reading.

In the final, a tough test awaited the Rockets in the form of Billerica, last season’s Division 1 North Sectional runners up, and the Indians proved to be a bridge to far for Mark Doherty’s men on Dec. 29, . Brian Shea and Connor Frazier scored for Reading, while Evan Morelli made 19 saves.

Austin Prep boys: The  (3-2, 3-1 CCL) fell in the semifinal of the Kasabuski Christmas Classic on Dec. 27, losing, 3-1, to Catholic Central League rivals St. Mary’s-Lynn in a rare holiday tournament game with heavy league implications. Scott Corcoran bagged AP’s lone tally and was assisted by Ryan Quinn. Next the Cougars dismantled Bishop Fenwick in the consolation game, 8-3, before ending the week against Andover on Dec. 31 with a 5-2 loss in non-league play.

Austin Prep girls: The Lady Cougars (2-4, 0-1 CCL)went 2-1 last week, notching consecutive 2-0 shutouts over Norwell and Winchester, on Dec. 26 and 28 respectively, before falling to Fontbonne Academy by the same score on Dec. 31.

BASKETBALL

RMHS boys: The Rockets won both games they played at the Boston Amateur Basketball Club Holiday Tournament at Chelsea High School. Reading beat Everett, 61-49, on Dec. 28 and blasted the Malden Catholic Lancers, 83-63, on Dec. 29. The Rockets are now 4-1 overall, but have yet to open league play.

Austin Prep boys: The Cougars dropped a pair of games last week, losing to Minuteman Tech, 57-41, on Dec. 27 and falling 61-34 against St. Clement on Dec. 29.

Austin Prep girls: The Lady Cougars beat St. Clement, 56-37, on Dec. 28 and downed North Reading, 64-55, on Dec. 30.

WRESTLING

RMHS: The Reading wrestling team took part in one of New England’s most prestigious competitions last week—the George Bossi Lowell Holiday Tournament at the Tsongas Arena. Matched up against the best grapplers from the region, the Rockets didn’t come away with as much success as they would have hoped for, but will be better of for the experience, nonetheless. Reading boasted just one place-winner, Brian Ford, who captured eighth place in the 132-pound weight class. Ford, a senior, defeated Waltham’s Nick Dipronio, John Graham of Billerica and Tim Parker from Hudson, before losing to Vinny Benincassa of Concord, N.H. The Rockets finished with a team score of 44.5

INDOOR TRACK

RMHS: The Rockets bested the Lexington Minutemen, 51-35, in Middlesex League Indoor Track action on Dec. 28 at the Reggie Lewis Track Center in Boston.

J.D. Greenfield won the 600-meters with a time of 1:29.60, while Tim Kwan placed second at 1:30.84. The boys 4x400 relay team (Robby Federico, Connor McCarthy, Ryan Maney, Greenfield) took first place with a time of 3:37.32. Brian Callahan took the shot put with a throw of 40-07, while Garrison Doodlesack was second at 38-01.25. Maney won the high jump of 6-01 and took the 55-meter hurdles at 8.59, while Mike McGlathery was microseconds behind in second. McCarthy won the 55-meter dash at 6.97, while Greg Altobello finished second at 7.04.

View the complete results here.