Josh Yoon and the Pentucket boys hockey team needed this one.
Currently at No. 35 and right on “the bubble” in the Division 4 rankings, the Panthers had to find some positive results over their final four regular season games to make the playoffs. Well, that started off in a great way on Saturday afternoon, as the Panthers got a shutout from Yoon — their sophomore goalie — to blank visiting St. Mary’s, 6-0.
Chase Pelletier scored twice for the winners, and Aaron Wirwicz, Will Sorenson, Cam Dewar and Charles Quinlan each had goals as well. Pentucket (4-12-1) will travel to play North Reading on Wednesday, then will get ready for two games in the Newburyport Bank Tournament the following week.
BELLACQUA POWERS PENTUCKET TO SENIOR NIGHT WIN
Gabby Bellacqua wasn’t about to let her team’s Senior Night go sideways.
The senior tri-captain was dialed in on both ends of the court on Thursday night, hitting three 3s and finishing with 18 points to help Pentucket smother visiting Triton, 39-25. It was the 13th straight win and a CAL Kinney-clinching victory for the Panthers (16-1), who despite continuing to simply just win the games in front of them, incredibly have still fallen down the MIAA Division 3 rankings to No. 10.
The Panthers were as high as No. 5 at one point, but through no fault of their own, have been the victim of a poorly-rated CAL by the MIAA system.
It is what it is, but still doesn’t feel right.
But besides Bellacqua, sophomore Amelia Crowe continued her fine season with 10 points on a pair of 3s. Fellow senior captains Ava DiBurro and Ally Cacciapuotti also had solid games.
For Triton (8-9), Kendall Liebert led the way with 11 points and Bella Basile hit a 3 and added 7. The Vikings have three regular season games left against Essex Tech, Lynnfield and Beverly, and need to hold on here currently on “the bubble” at No. 30 in Div. 3. Winning two of those games to get to .500 would do it, even if the Vikings fall in the rankings due to the “weakness” of the CAL.
MARIANI (22 PTS) GOES OFF TO LEAD GEORGETOWN
The freshman season for one Talya Mariani continues to get more and more impressive.
The sharpshooting guard already was an area leader in both scoring (6.8 ppg) and 3s (14), and on Thursday night blew both of those averages out of the water with a standout performance. Mariani drained three 3s and dropped a career-high 22 points, leading Georgetown to a big win over rival Manchester-Essex, 47-40.
Senior captain Tyrah Marcelin added 13 points — as the duo combined for the bulk of the scoring — and her younger sister, Neiylah, chipped in 5. With the win, the Royals (10-7) clinched a Division 4 playoff berth via the .500 rule, but were already well in line to make the postseason at No. 12 in the latest rankings.
YONES, ROYALS KEEP IT CLOSE AGAINST UNDEFEATED MANCHESTER-ESSEX
The final score is quite deceiving.
Entering the fourth quarter of their game on Thursday, the Georgetown boys basketball team only trailed undefeated Manchester-Essex by a bucket. The Royals went into halftime behind by 12, but a ferocious comeback after the break brought it back to a 40-38 game heading into the final eight minutes.
Was a road upset over their archrivals about to happen?
As it played out, no. Foul trouble (25-13 in favor of M-E) took out some of Georgetown’s key pieces, and the Hornets were able to pull away for — what looks like on paper — a convincing 60-41 victory. The Hornets (16-0) were 6-of-8 from the free throw line over the final quarter, and were led by senior star Cade Furse and his 14 points.
Although, Furse came in averaging over 24.0 ppg, so Georgetown (12-5) did a solid job slowing him down.
And for the Royals, nobody scored in double figures, but Marcos Yones and Brendan Loewen each had 9 points, and Jackson Lasquade was right behind with 8.