It’s now nine up, and nine down for the Newburyport boys.
The Clippers had little issue earning the season sweep over rival Triton on Thursday night, staying perfect on the year with a dominant 101-52 win. Cal Atherton, Zayd Leanna, Thomas Thoreson, Ben Cormier, Greg Guckenburg and the No. 10-ranked Clippers (9-0) got everyone plenty of playing time, and will next travel up for a big game against Manchester Essex on Tuesday.
Meanwhile for Triton (0-10), the trio of Noah Bernier, Caleb Murray and James Tanona each finished with 11 points, while Bryan Dos Santos was right behind them with 9. The Vikings will next welcome in Georgetown on Monday night.
Then in the girls’ game between these two programs, Newburyport turned up the defensive intensity in a 46-20 victory over Triton. It’s now the sixth straight win for the Clippers (7-3), who find themselves at No. 21 in the latest MIAA Division 2 rankings. Christina Corneau hit four 3s and led the way with 12 points, Clara Thompson had 9 points, and the trio of Brooke Lawton, Mckensie Brynes and Ava Bailey all had 6 points.
On the other side, Triton was led by 10 points from Lily D’Andrea and 4 from Addison Ewell.
AMESBURY: Girls get 10th win to already qualify for playoffs
Last year was a huge step forward for the Amesbury girls.
Following winning the Division 4 State Championship during the 2021-22 season, the Redhawks said goodbye to an elite senior class, and went into what ended up being a two-year rebuild. But the fruits of all of that hard work paid off last winter, when the Redhawks made it back to the playoffs and won 10 total games — which included a preliminary round matchup.
Now this year, the program has a playoff spot locked up by mid-January.
Amesbury welcomed in a non-league opponent in Muniz Acadmey on Saturday afternoon, and got everyone plenty of playing time in a lopsided 76-8 blowout. The Redhawks (10-2) came in at No. 13 in the latest MIAA Division 4 rankings, but have now already automatically qualified for the playoffs via the .500 rule by hitting 10 wins.
Both Ellison Talbot and Bailey Kimball led the way with 14 points during the win, and Haley Dube was also in double figures with 11 points. Maddy Rodrigues (9 pts), Delaney Sargent (8 pts) and Olivia McKay (7 pts) also all played well for the Redhawks, who have a massive test on Monday when they travel over to Pentucket.
Meanwhile, the Amesbury boys dropped a 72-61 contest over at Ipswich on Thursday. Parker DeLong, Justin Dube, Ollie Peters and the Redhakws (3-5) are right on the Division 4 playoff bubble at No. 33 in the latest rankings, and will try to get back on track when they host Pentucket on Monday.
GEORGETOWN: Loewen, boys win another blowout
It’s safe to say that the Georgetown boys have settled into the year.
After a near-40-point victory up at Gloucester to end last week, the Royals were on the right side of another blowout on Thursday with a 64-37 win over Rockport. A tough non-conference schedule has kept the Royals (6-4) high in the Division 4 rankings in their quest to defend their State Championship title, and in the latest rankings, they came in at No. 6.
Brendan Loewen nearly had a triple-double in the win, scoring 15 points to go along with 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals. Irvin Zapata (14 pts, 8 rebs), Tony Tavares (12 pts, 7 rebs) and Rayner Hernandez (9 pts, 5 rebs, 4 asts) also played well for Georgetown, who host Triton on Monday evening.