Mahan taking over the Clippers
A very familiar name will be back on the local sidelines this upcoming winter.
That’s because recently, Newburyport named Tim Mahan its new varsity girls basketball coach. A popular teacher at the Nock Middle School and a longtime figure in the Newburyport basketball community, Mahan’s latest coaching stop was at Georgetown, where he led the varsity girls program for two years. During his tenure, the Royals went a combined 28-18 and made the Division 5 quarterfinals in 2022-23, and the Division 4 Round of 16 in 2023-24. Prior to that, Mahan had experience as the junior varsity coach at both Salem High (2012-16) and Newburyport (2018-22).
So the transition should be pretty seamless.
Mahan takes over for Karen Grutchfield, who went 85-35 over six successful seasons with the program.
He will also have plenty of returning talent to work with. The Clippers are set to welcome back two Daily News All-Stars in rising-juniors Ava Bailey (8.7 ppg, 19 3s) and Clara Thompson (8.2 ppg). Then both Brooke Lawton and Morgan Rouba will be major pieces.
More Newburyport hoops news
This will come as a surprise to nobody, but both Cal Atherton and Zayd Leanna have drawn rave reviews for the Newburyport boys program coming out of the recent NECC summer league tournament. Atherton is a two-time Daily News All-Star and All-CAL First Team selection who averaged 17.8 ppg with 47 3s this past winter, while Leanna picked up his first DN All-Star and All-CAL nod after averaging 14.3 points with 29 3s.
And it appears both rising-seniors have taken their games to the next level.
The two will fuel what should be a very hungry Newburyport squad next year. The Clippers were having one of the best seasons in program history this winter before getting upset by Latin Academy in the Division 3 Round of 16.
Ethan Hunt dealing
Former Pentucket baseball standout Ethan Hunt is pitching this summer for the Nashua Silver Knights in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. Through five appearances for the Knights, the Groveland native has a 3.92 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 18.1 innings pitched.
A former two-time Daily News All-Star and All-CAL First Team selection during his tenure at Pentucket, Hunt last pitched collegiately for UMass Boston during the 2024 season.
White selected to Futures Game
The honors keep coming for Thomas White.
On Monday, the Rowley native was selected to play in the prestigious MLB Futures Game down in Atlanta later this month. Taking place during All-Star weekend (this year on Saturday, July 12th at 4 p.m.), the Futures Game brings together many of the top prospects around baseball for a showcase of the sport’s potential next stars.
And White will be among them.
The 6-foot-5 lefty pitcher is the No. 1-ranked prospect in the Miami Marlins’ system, and is No. 29 in all of baseball per MLB.com. It was just two weeks ago that White got the call-up to the Marlins’ Double-A affiliate in Pensacola, Florida. Ever since, he has a 1.17 ERA in two stars for the Blue Wahoos, allowing only five hits and one earned run across 7.2 innings pitched with nine strikeouts.