Editor’s Note: This list attempts to count down the 10 best local high school games that Daily News Sports Editor Kyle Gaudette covered during the 2024-25 athletic school year. Special shoutout to colleagues Phil Stacey, Matt Williams and Nick Giannino at both the Salem News and Gloucester Times for this idea.
You know, maybe starting next year I should try keeping track of how many games I cover during the entire school season. It’s a number that, at least for this past 2024-25 school year, has to be well over 100. So you could imagine narrowing that down to a top-10 of the best I saw is no easy task.
But it was attempted, nonetheless.
In truth, though, I feel pretty good about this list. Our great local sports teams — fueled by even better athletes and students — continue to provide excitement year after year after year.
And just for a small bit of housekeeping, this list only includes games that I was covering live. So Georgetown softball’s epic semifinal game against No. 1 Turners Falls — where it gave up a big lead, tied it in the seventh, but then lost in extra innings — won’t be on here.
Let’s get into it.
10. FOOTBALL: North Reading 13, Triton 10 (Oct. 4th)
The finish to this one was unfortunately straight out of a horror movie for Triton. After a spike with three seconds left to stop the clock, the Vikings were a 20-yard field goal away from forcing overtime — where they could have potentially beat the CAL power Hornets for the first time since 2014 and improved to an undefeated 4-0 in the process. But the snap two-hopped its way back to holder Jason Holscher, who had to improvise for the endzone and was stood up at the 5-yard-line. Jayden Torres rushed for 109 yards and a TD on 23 carries in this game.
9. SOFTBALL: Pentucket 4, Georgetown 2 (May 12th)
I will continue to argue that softball is the sport our Daily News area teams are collectively best at, so it only feels right to put the game between the two elites in the Cape Ann League this year on the list. And this one had all of the best athletes this year showing up. For Pentucket, which improved to 14-0 with the win, Molly LeBel struck out 13 in the circle, while fellow senior captain Kayla Murphy went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Kallie White went 2-for-4 with a clutch two-run single. Then for Georgetown, Maddie Grant had a strong outing with 8 Ks, Ellie Barbarick blasted one of her eventual 17 home runs on the season, and Ava Fair hit a sacrifice fly.
8. BOYS HOCKEY: Milton 3, Newburyport 2 (3OT), (March 1)
Yup, an incredible three overtimes were needed to settle this Division 2 Round of 16 game. But midway through triple-OT — with both teams absolutely on fumes playing 3-on-3 — Jack Prince became a king for Milton and found the back of the net for the walk-off winner. Still, it was an incredible effort from the lower-seeded Clippers, who nearly won it on a Luke MacIsaac goal in the closing seconds of regulation that was waved off for a high stick. Will Forrest, Henry Waddell, Jack Sullivan and MacIsaac all gave every bit of energy they had taking on numerous OT shifts, and both Sullivan and Finn McNeil provided the goals.
7. FIELD HOCKEY: Triton 3, Pentucket 2 (Oct. 23rd)
This rather surprising win came at the perfect time for Triton. On the eve of the Division 3 playoffs and on the wrong side of the “bubble,” this was the victory that essentially clinched the Vikings their spot in the field. Maggie Rennick would score twice for the Vikings, Peighton Hertigan found the back of the cage, and seniors Sophie Chapman, Marissa Maribito and Grace McHale were able to enjoy a proper sendoff to their stellar careers. Cat Colvin and Ella Palmer scored for Pentucket.
6. BOYS SOCCER: Newburyport 1, Pentucket 0 (Oct. 5th)
While not necessarily expected coming in, this turned into one of the more exciting ALS Cup games of the past few years. After 79 scoreless minutes between the two rivals, it was freshman Quentin Miller sending in a beautiful cross towards the front of the net. On the other end was Grady Smith, and the junior lept up and headed in the final-minute, game-winner to lead the Clippers to the thrilling victory. The Panthers got great performances from Brayden Jennings, James Nightengale and goalie Owen Aalto to keep it scoreless for that long while being heavy underdogs.
5. BOYS BASKETBALL: St. Mary’s 62, Newburyport 60 (Feb. 12th)
Despite the final score, this was the game that proved Newburyport could hang with anybody in the state. With the CAL not providing much resistance, this was the opportunity for the Clippers to prove themselves against, at the time, the No. 1 ranked and undefeated team in Division 3. And the Clippers more than passed, getting a game-high 20 points from Cal Atherton and 16 more from Carson Gretz — who hit two FTs with 16 seconds left to tie it up. But with the final possession, St. Mary’s got the ball to star junior JJ Martinez at the right elbow, and he buried the layup over two defenders at the buzzer for the dramatic game-winner.
4. BOYS BASKETBALL: Georgetown 61, Monument Mountain 54 (March 15th)
Yeah, you knew that Georgetown winning the Division 4 State Championship — the program’s first ever — was going to finish high on this list. Junior sharpshooter Irvin Zapata was unbelievable with 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc, and fearless junior point guard Brendan Loewen finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds while clinching the title with late baskets (and FTs) at the rim. Only a two-point game heading into the fourth quarter, Marcos Yones, Jalen Andujar and Jomar Terrero locked down on defense, while Zapata and Loewen handled the offense. And just as a quick spoiler, this won’t be the only Georgetown boys basketball playoff game that will appear on this list.
3. GIRLS BASKETBALL: Newburyport 67, Springfield International 64 (OT), (Feb. 27th)
What a whirlwind it was for the Newburyport girls basketball team. Just a few days prior to this Division 3 first round game, former head coach Karen Grutchfield was relieved of her duties on the eve of the playoffs. The following 36 minutes of game action unfortunately weren’t more steady for the Clippers, who saw a fourth-quarter lead slip away after Zahara Wilson hit two straight game-tying 3s to complete the comeback and force overtime (the first coming just as her coach called a timeout with 2.2 seconds left). But thanks to Olivia Foley (20 pts), Morgan Rouba (12 pts) and Ava Bailey (11 pts), the Clippers were able to push through all of the adversity, and they survived another potential game-tying 3 from Wilson at the end of OT to earn the emotional win.
2. BOYS BASKETBALL: Georgetown 69, Bourne 66 (March 10th)
During Georgetown’s eventual surge to the Division 4 State Championship, its semifinal victory over No. 2 Bourne was the best I saw during the run. Just a phenomenal back-and-forth game the whole way down at Emmanuel College. Marcos Yones (16 pts), Irvin Zapata (14 pts), Jomar Terrero (14 pts) and Brendan Loewen (10 pts) provided the scoring for the Royals, while Jalen Andujar came up clutch and hit 3-of-4 free throws over the final 13 seconds of the game. Bourne senior Mike Dankert had a clean look from half-court at the buzzer that was directly on line, but fell just a couple of feet short to send the Royals off to the title game.
1. FOOTBALL: Amesbury 42, Newburyport 38 (Nov. 28th)
An easy choice.
The 101st annual Thanksgiving Day game between the storied rivals truly had a bit of everything. Amesbury looked dead in the water after fumbling its first offensive play, as Newburyport jumped out to a 14-0 lead and a 30-20 lead at halftime. But as the rain started to fall harder, the Redhawks just continued to push forward. Junior Justin Dube and senior captain DJ DiCarlo scored the only two fourth-quarter touchdowns, the second coming with 1:46 left to put Amesbury up, 42-38. Eventual Daily News MVP quarterback Colin Fuller would drive Newburyport down to the 20-yard-line, but his last-second pass to Sam Craig in the endzone, through traffic, was tipped and intercepted by Ben Wood to complete the improbable comeback. Both Joe Puleo (136) and DiCarlo (124) rushed for over 100 yards for Amesbury, while Fuller finished with 150 rushing and 135 passing yards.