Tewksbury Boys Basketball League Week 10 Action

Junior Division

T-wolves 27 – Pistons 26

After nearly two weeks off, the T-wolves got back to their winning ways with a victory against the talented Pistons. The T-wolves were lead in scoring by Umari Seney, fifteen points, AJ Seney, six points, and Colby Flahive, six points. The last four minutes of the game were exciting and Colby Flahive’s basket with two minutes left made the difference. Defensive standouts for the T-wolves were Evan Galanis, Vincent Marchelletta, Tyler Trodden, while Owen Kinnon contributed to the offense with steals and blocked shots. Colby Cooledge, Joey Fiorino and Wyatt Lafabvre matched up well against the Pistons big men. This was a great team win for the T- wolves and an exciting game throughout.

The Pistons had a hard fought game against the T-Wolves that came down to the final buzzer. The game was close all 4 quarters with the Pistons maintaining a slight lead through most of it. Shea Moynihan (twelve points) and Anthony Naghibi, six points, led the Piston Offense with Aaron Ramsey, four points, Mathew Ramsey, two points, and Kyle Cummings, two points lending support. Alex Naghibi and Ian Shpritzer played some great physical basketball under the basket and Aiden Leal made some great steals on defense. The Pistons made some great steals with seconds left to give them a final opportunity but the basketball would not fall so the Pistons lost by one. An unfortunate loss but a great game overall.

Cavs defeated the Hawks

The Junior Cavaliers had a very strong offensive and defensive game this past Saturday. Congratulations to Andre Monteiro for earning the Game Ball for sinking ten points and grabbing many loose balls. Jake Ryan and Jonah Bennet both had some impressive blocks and steals. Sean Hirtle played very tight defense while also scoring three points. Kyle Adams had some great blocks and two points. “Big Joe” Romero pulled down many boards and scored two points. Joey Bourgea earned twelve big points on his fast break attack while Anthony Burgess scored sixteen points.

The game started off with a lot of steals and fast breaks. Andrew Estabrook played point guard very well. Michael Carlson made numerous steals. Brandon Wasdell was a rebounding machine. Michael Hill made several passes to create shots for his teammates. Cooper Robillard played great defense until a leg injury sidelined him. Brady Wheeler played the point guard position and dished off some nice passes. Liam Kelly made some nice drives to the hoop. Derek Musgrave inbounded the ball very well. Aidan MacDonald was everywhere on the court. Seamus Naughton passed and defended well.

Knicks 25 – Rockets 17

In a very competitive game this weekend, the Knicks hung on to top the Rockets on Saturday. The Knicks offense got off to a nice start thanks to early baskets from Ben Piccolo, Seamus MacDonald and Braydon Aylward. The game remained close throughout and the Knicks maintained their slight advantage after hoops from Jayden Donaher and Justin Magee. The Knicks tightened up their defense with Scott Lightburn grabbing rebounds and John O’Donnell forcing jump balls. However the game remained too close to call until a late basket from Ethan Hines put the game slightly out of reach and gave the Knicks a hard fought win.

The Rockets had a nice balance with their team with five of the nine players all hitting the scoring column while three others had shots just fall out keeping them off the scoreboard but overall great efforts. Leading the way in scoring for the Rockets were Quinn Brown who had six points, followed by Justin Darrigo, four points, Daniel Sullivan, three points, and David Forgione and Ryan Mackeen, two points each. Grabbing big rebounds for the Rockets were Jonathan Bielecki and Danny Franklin. Jimmy Holmes played a very strong offensive game handling the ball and getting good shots off while Drew Nestor contributed several excellent shots at the basket as well that just would not fall. The Rockets continue to play hard and improve each week.

Celtics defeated the Sixers

The Celtics rode a strong second half to pull away from the Sixers. Romyn Lorick led the way with thirteen points and ten rebounds. Also scoring was Cade Barron (six), Matthew Flynn (four), Adam Saad (four), Pouriya Mehrabani (two), and Shane Nickerson (two). The Celtics displayed good teamwork with nine team assists. Peter Impink had three assists, while Flynn and Nickerson added two and Mehrabani and Saad tallied one. Jacob Mellen, Nicholas Ingersoll, and Max Mattuchio had strong defensive efforts and each grabbed five rebounds.

The Sixers had a good game fighting hard the whole game. A lot of shots from Drew Rennell, Jack Rennell and one shot from Alex DelloRusso. It was a back and forth game throughout the first half, but the Sixers fell too far behind in the second half. AJ Loder, Eddie Galante and Ryan Murphy had a lot of rebounds for the Sixers while Santino D’lippolito played aggressive defense from start to finish. In the end, the Celtics hit several more shots to take home the win.

Pacers 21 – Heat 14

The Pacers jumped out 1st with the scoring lead by Billy Burris (four points, four steals and one block) and Scott Miller (two points, two steals and three blocks) and Cameron Kearney who turned it on big time in the 4th ( five points and five steals). As the game move forward the Heat grabbed the lead but the Pacers were not giving up, Timmy Lepore (two points and three steals) hit a key basket in the 3rd Quarter to help his team while William Humphrey brought his A Game with four points, two blocks and one steal. Nathan Petrone came up with a great offense rebound and made the follow up shot to give the Pacers the lead back, this was supported by the great ball movement from Sam White (two points and two steals) and Nick Degloria who played some wicked awesome defense today along with Lucas Adams and Daniel Richardson who made some key steals on defense to shut down the Heat.

The Heat lost a close contest to the Pacers this week. The game was divided by two points for most of regulation. Highlighted by tremendous defensive play by Josh Maher, Jacob Martel and Kenny Ryder the Heat were able to keep the game close and traded leads. Jack Baron and Ryan Feudo had several steals each and crashed the boards. The Heat were led offensively by Timmy Bradley with six points, Colin Hansbury with four points and Eric Bellavia and Matt Steadman who each chipped in with a bucket apiece. In the end, the pressure from the Pacers defense proved to be much for the Heat to overcome. The Heat will be back at practice on Monday, however the practice is closed to public.

Thunder 12 – Bucks 11

The Thunder make it 2 in row and even its record to 5-5 in the season with one game remaining before the playoffs. Baskets were tough to find for both teams throughout the entire game with both teams playing excellent defense. It was a season low for points scored for the Thunder but they were still able to pull out the victory. Leading the way in scoring for the Thunder were Luke “the Worm” Montejo with six points, Michael Gaglione, Ryan Flynn and Nico Gonzalez each finished with two points. Defense was the key to this victory as Damian “Cool Man” Ortiz, Ben Doucette and Christian Rainone played exceptional defense with steals and rebounds. Nathan Jolly returned after missing two games with a bruised ankle and he came out on fire helping the offense and defense. Ian Starr and Paul Allan played big down the stretch to secure the win.

Intermediate Division

Mavs 26 – Cavs 20

The Mavs jumped out to an early lead, but credit the Cavs for strong team defense throughout the entire game to hold the high scoring Mavs to only 26 points. Tough guard play by Dhruv Kaushal, Tyler Leeds, and Louis Mascia disrupted pick and roles and penetration into the zone. The Cavs rebounded well, with Jack Stadtman, Mark Olu, Mike Duggan, and Julian Costello contributing down low. The Cavs were led by Mike Bottaro and Matt Woods with 6 points apiece and Joey Arsenault with 2.

Nets 33 – Sixers 15

Shorthanded with big man Josh Engelken home sick, the Nets put in another great effort against a hardworking Sixers team. The Nets jumped out to an early lead in the first half, extending to 19-2 at one point in the early second quarter. The Sixers battled back, but the Nets never relinquished the lead and were able to close it out. The Nets spread the scoring around with all players getting on the books. While the scoring was a great thing to see, the Nets continue to be most impressive in their consistent defensive performance, game in and game out. True team basketball on both ends of the floor.

Warriors 28 – Lakers 25

Things got off to a slow start in the first quarter with both teams struggling to fight through fierce defenses. Dylan Crowley and Justin Flynn played great switching defense shutting off Laker drives and forcing difficult shots. Travis Cohen broke the ice with a jumper before the Warriors’ offense came alive in the second quarter with Liam McDonald and Sreetej Digmurthi tallying 4 points apiece to lead the team to a 12-5 half time lead. The Lakers staged a furious come back and took the lead going into the fourth quarter. The lone bright spot for the Warriors was a beautiful give and go with Will McFadyen feeding a streaking Sreetej Digmurthi (8 points, 8 rebounds) for a layup. The teams battled back and forth in the early part of the fourth as Luke McFadyen grabbed a missed free throw and put back the rebound and Will McFadyen (4 points) hit a baseline jumper. With less than a minute to play and the Warriors trailing by 1, Luke McFadyen (8 points) went to the line and calmly hit both free throws. Brady Litton came up with a big steal and then drove the length of the court before finding Jesus Padilla at the top of the key. Jesus swished the clinching shot and the Warriors defense hung on for the win. The Lakers would get on the board with scoring from Mihir Bagul 3pts, going 1 for 2 from the foul line. Sean Fahey 11pts would lead the team with help from Brian Doherty 2pts along with good rebounding by Will Forbes, Nick Wilson 1pt , and good passing by Lee Ghannam 6pts. Nick Bobadilla and Evan Silva showed great hustle with good passing and rebounds along with a few steals each. Aiden Crawson and James Ministeri 2pts played great on both sides of the ball to slow down the Warriors.

Celtics 36 – Spurs 32

The Spurs played a great game but couldnt hold on for the win in this one.Both teams were on a 4 game winning streak. In the first half the Spurs had a 4 point lead but the Celtics chipped away and got hot at the end to beat the Spurs. The Spurs high scorer in this one was Joshua Linnehan with 12 points. Kyle Darrigo was tough on defense and added 8 points . Nick Polimeno added 6 points. Max Tyler had several rebounds and added 4 points.Logan Reinhard and Jason Barnes had 2 each. Justin Elias, Colin Goggins, Cullian Johnson and Daedon Bere fought hard on defense and the boards to keep it close. It was a hard fought game for both teams.

Senior Division

Thunder 48 – Bucks 26

The Thunder had a big victory against the Bucks. For the Thunder, the scoring went as follows; Sean Whelton (16), Chris Zdinak (12), Andrew Lefebvre (11), Tyler Paulding (6), Robert Chisholm (2) and Owen Gilligan (1). Other players who assisted in the Thunder victory both on offense and defense were Matt Dugan, Cam Hodgson and Jack O’Neil.

Bobcats 50 – Suns 33

The Bobcats used a balanced team effort in winning their third consecutive game. Mike Fowler, Matt Ferriera and Rhen Trinidade (2 pts) used their quickness to beat a tough Suns press, while Jake Forgione (12 pts), Andrew Froio (4 pts) and Rob Kimtis ( 2 pts), played a key role in the transition game, both scoring and setting up a number of baskets. Matt Fronduto (14 pts), Cameron Grace (8 pts), and Patrick Dunn (8 pts) continued to be forces under the basket on both ends of the court. Collectively, the Bobcats played excellent defense and minimized turnovers paving the way for a great team victory.

Hornets 31 – Wizards 21

It was very strong defensive game. The Hornets scoring was led by Justyn Lester with 12 points followed by Jake Rucchio with 7 pts, Evan Wood with 6 pts and David Miller with 2 pts. Riley Auth and Kyle Braciska forced turnovers, Mike Kelleher helped control rebounds and Ryan Carroll, Dante D’Amelio and Shawn Manson helped with strong defense.

The Wizards fought hard all game against a strong opponent. Ian Tacey led the team in rebounding followed by Adam Trudeau, Alec Sokol and Stephen Duquette. Dominic Cohen, Calvin Silva, Nicholas Brooks and Sean McMahon each had at least one steal for the team. With the offensive push from Nicholas Brooks, Logan Singleton and Adam Trudeau the Wizards were able to keep up with the pace of the Hornets.

Celtics 44 – Jazz 42

Bulls 41 – Heat 40

Travel Program

Last weekend, Jan. 25th the 7th Grade White team travelled to Haverhill early in the morning only to lose a heartbreaker. It was an all-around team effort, yet, once again the boys struggled down the stretch losing another close game 41 to 38. With all the snow we have had recently, practice time was at a premium and during our only practice for the week on Friday night, the emphasis was on passing. During a loose ball drill where two players aggressively went after the ball a collision occurred and as a result we lost Colby Ward with 3 stitches above his left eye for our rematch game on Saturday with Westford grey who previously beat us. Prior to the start of the game, dedicated to Colby, we discussed being patient on offense and aggressive on defense and most importantly, control our turnovers. The boys gave it their all, winning 57 to 47. In the first half the boys came out smoking on all cylinders, with lots of steals, spear headed by Evan Mantel, Joey Branchaud, and Aiden ‘’flash’’ Doherty. On offense, the boys took it to them in the paint, making the trip to the free throw line 22 times where we struggled, connecting on only 9 shots. We were able to maintain a lead at half time 25-17 due to some key buckets by Anthony Disanto and Rob Evangelista, and solid defense by Jason Martineau, Max Cummings and Andrew Eringis. In the second half, we watched the emergence of Thomas Barinelli, with his game high and season high 15 points and Santino Garafolo, 12 points and 10 rebounds, who carried the momentum of the offense to close out the win. A great overall team effort!

Over the past two weekends, the 4th Grade White team has demonstrated some great progress. Starting with a midweek game against Tyngsboro, the team showed great defensive efforts in the first half, going into the break with a 1 point lead. In the second half however, Tewksbury 4GW just couldn’t hold back the strong guard play of Tyngsboro, finally relinquishing the lead late in the second half and falling behind for good as a result of a 16-3 run by Tyngsboro in the last 8 minutes. William Eskenas led all scorers with 9 points, while Albie Bosworth added a bucket and Noah Williams added a free throw.

The following Sunday, 4GW finally broke through with a win on the road against Stoneham, 37-35. The game was close throughout most of the first half with Stoneham taking an 8-point lead into the break. For most of the season, an 8-point deficit spelled the end of the game for Tewksbury 4GW. However on this Sunday afternoon, the boys came out strong in the second half, cutting the deficit to 3 points within the first minute, and then completing a 15-6 run in the first 8 minutes, and taking the lead 27-26 which they would never relinquish. They extended the lead to 7 at one point, only to see Stoneham come roaring back in the final seconds. Tewksbury 4GW held on in the end, displaying great resilience to close out Stoneham. William Eskenas again led Tewksbury scorers with 14 points. Dylan Paulding added 9 points with some great drives to the hoop. Alex Arbogast and Albie Bosworth each added 4 points, while Tim Panilaitis, John Baker, and Bobby Branchaud contributed a bucket each. JJ Svendsen and Kodie LeGrand played strong defense against Stoneham’s big center who was a head taller than any 4GW player. An outstanding effort for Tewksbury 4GW!