FILE PHOTO
Melissa Gray scored 12 points in Peabody’s win over Lynnfield.
By JOYCE EREKSON and HAROLD RIVERA
The Peabody girls basketball team ended a late-season two-game skid with a 61-33 win over Lynnfield on Wednesday in the consolation game of the Woburn Tournament.
The Tanners (13-7) got off to a fast start thanks in large part to Melissa Gray. Gray had the hot hand early, scoring 10 of her team-high 12 points in the first quarter. Alyssa Alperen, Gray and Taylor Colella hit back-to-back-to-back threes midway through the first quarter to turn an 8-2 lead into a 17-2 advantage.
Peabody took a 22-7 lead into the second quarter, but the Pioneers (1-19) stopped the bleeding for a while in the second quarter by shutting down Gray and holding the Tanners to only eight points. As has been the case all season, the offense wasn’t there for a comeback. Peabody led 30-15 at the half and by the end of the third quarter, the Pioneers found themselves down by 27 at 48-21.
Catherine Manning and Alperen had 10 points each for the Tanners and Hannah Pellizzaro was good for nine. Lynnfield’s Elizabeth Shaivitz, who opened the second half by burying a three, led all scorers with 13 points. Freshman teammates Melissa Morelli had seven points and MacKenzie O’Neill, five points.
The Tanners are now awaiting the tournament pairings, which will be announced on Friday. The Pioneers, whose only win this season came against Georgetown, are done for the season.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Swampscott 47, English 40
Swampscott grabs a win it its final game of the regular season and finishes at 10-10. The Big Blue now sit tight until the state tournament pairings are announced on Friday.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Salem 75, St. Clement 49
In the Spartan Classic at St. Mary’s, the Witches (10-9) knocked off St. Clement and will play the Spartans in Thursday’s championship game. “We’re playing a tough team tomorrow in their home gym,” Salem coach Tom Doyle said. “It’ll be a great tournament and a great atmosphere.”
Salem featured three players in double-figures in Nate Lebron (25 points, five rebounds), Ethan Espinal (18 points, seven assists) and Henny Vlaun (14 points, eight assists). The Witches swished 12 three-pointers in the win, six made by Espinal.
Saugus 47, Swampscott 42
Dylan Hayes paced the Big Blue with 12 points and Matt Moran chipped in with eight. AJ Venuti scored five points and grabbed nine rebounds. “It was senior night, our seniors got a lot of run and they competed,” Swampscott coach Justin Fucile said. “They gave us everything they had tonight.” Swampscott finished the season with strong defensive showing. “We talk about keeping teams under 50 points,” Fucile said. “We feel can score in the 40’s and compete with teams.”
Dimitri Filaretos led the way with 12 points. Matt Waggett added 11 and Chris McGrane chipped in with 10. Mike Mabee played his best all-around game of the season, according to assistant coach Mark Bertrand.
The Sachems (7-13), who made the tournament under the Sullivan rule, now await seedings Friday.
Winchester 72, Revere 71
The Patriots fell to Winchester in the championship game of the Patton Tournament. Curtis High turned in an outstanding performance with 40 points and eight rebounds. Mass Joof added nine points and 10 rebounds. Revere now awaits the state tournament pairings, which will be announced on Friday.
Marblehead 63, Pope John 52
The Magicians down Pope John in the championship game of the Sheridan Tournament. Patrick Bugler led the team with 23 points, six rebounds and six assists. Derek Marino and Justin Faia each finished with 12 points. Bo Millett continued his dominance on the boards, grabbing ten rebounds in the win. “Pope John is a tough team,” Magicians coach Mike Giardi said. “They’ll be a tough team in the Division 4 tournament. They’ve got some really good players.” The Magicians finish the season at 19-3 and now await Friday’s tournament pairings. “Today was a big win,” Giardi said. “The kids played hard and that’s what you want. We got after it and now we’ll get ready for our next opponent.”
GIRLS HOCKEY
Fenwick 1, Cape Cod/Nauset 1
The Crusaders wrapped up their season with a tie at home, taking on a talented team from the Cape.
“It was a very good, even game,” Fenwick coach Doug Anderson said. “Both goalies played very well, it was evenly-matched, and the score was indicative of the talent out there.”
Amanda Blanchette scored the Crusaders’ goal with assists from Lexi McNeil and Meghan Carney. Allie Giguere, Jill Mattucci and Jacklyn O’Toole played strong games on defense, and goalie Cailyn Wesley was solid in the net.
BOYS HOCKEY
North Andover 6, Peabody 1
Nick Capillo scored the lone goal for the Tanners with assists coming from Connor McCarron and Mike Sabino. Peabody ends the season at 3-14-3. “The players worked hard,” Peabody coach Mark Leonard said. “We just had trouble scoring goals and that was the key to the season. We were in games, we lost a lot of close games but we just didn’t come up with big goals when we needed them.”
Fenwick 4, Shawsheen 0
The Crusaders skated to a shutout win in their final game of the season. Goals were scored by Derek DelVecchio, Greg Mattucci, Ethan Belt and Rob Murphy.
Prep 4, Braintree 1
Goal scorers for the Eagles were Kyle Hentosh, Joe Bevere, David Sacco and Brian Carrabes. The Prep led 2-1 after two periods and put the game away with third-period goals scored by Sacco and Carrabes.