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College Sports

Local roundup: Falcons grounded by Blazers

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The Fitchburg State women’s basketball team suffered a 67-56 setback to Elms College Saturday afternoon in non-conference action from the Picknelly Arena.

Elms raced out to an early 7-0 edge on a pair of layups from junior Rahmia Johnston before the Falcons (3-16, 1-5 MASCAC) responded with an 8-0 run as sophomore Caileen Hurley, freshman Aliza Som and sophomore Rylie Harlow netted buckets.

The Blazers regained an 11-8 advantage as graduate student Brianna Metellus  hit a jumper, but the Falcons knotted the score at 11 with junior Olivia Almeida burying a 3-pointer.

The Blazers grabbed a 15-11 edge with Johnston notching another layup early in the second quarter, but the Falcons answered back with Harlow and sophomore Stephanie Hart registering baskets for a 16-15 advantage.

Fitchburg State upped the margin to 24-20 when senior Lindsay McDonald hit a jumper before Elms took the lead back 28-25 on a Talia Urbe bucket.

Following the halftime break, Fitchburg State trimmed the deficit to 32-29 when Harlow connected on a fast break layup, but Elms responded with a Metellus bucket to push the lead to 34-29. The two teams traded baskets over the next two minutes as Elms lead 38-34.

The Green and Gold continued to battle, cutting the lead to 46-39 with sophomore Morgan Genness and Almeida converting jumpers before the Blazers extended the lead to 53-42 on a pair of free throws by newcomer Kayla Jackson.

The Falcons opened the fourth frame with Harlow draining a jumper and a 3-pointer, while freshman Juliana Davis added a bucket to make the score 53-50 before the Blazers upped the advantage to 59-52 with Metellus posting a bucket.

Fitchburg State answered with a Harlow jumper, but Elms secured the victory on a Metellus 3-pointer.

The Falcons were led by Harlow, who scored a team-leading 17 points and added five rebounds and four assists. Almeida added 12 points, five caroms, two steals, two blocks and an assist in the setback.

For the Blazers, Johnston finished with a game-best 20 points, six boards, four assists and one steal.

Fitchburg State is now 8-7 all-time when taking on Elms, which held a 54-34 edge in rebounds.

The Falcons return to action on Wednesday as they travel to MCLA to take on the Trailblazers in MASCAC action, starting at 7 p.m.

Girls track

Lunenburg had a pair of strong performances at the State Coaches Invitational (Small Schools) on Saturday.

Abby Rodriquenz placed fifth in the 1000m run with a time of 3:09.50 and the 4x800m relay (Lauren Long, Breanna Bajko, Olivia Coronella, Rodriquenz placed third with a time of 10:15.20.

Local roundup: Blue Knights fall on Senior Night

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Lunenburg senior captain Jonny Deyo poured in a game-high 24 points, but it wasn’t enough as visiting Maynard pulled out a 55-48 win over the Blue Knights boys’ basketball team Friday night at Memorial Gymnasium on Senior Night.

Fellow Blue Knights senior Max Meilleur scored 10 points and junior Miles Seminatore added eight points for Lunenburg, which fell to 7-5 with the loss.

St. Paul 61, St. Bernard’s 59: Manny Vega had a game-high 21 points for St. Bernard’s (5-6) and Patrick Ginnity added 11 points.

Leominster 72, Algonquin 52: The win lifts the Blue Devils to 7-5.

Girls basketball

Ayer-Shirley 47, Fitchburg 29: Ayer-Shirley (8-2) was paced by a game high 20 points from Maddie Davis. Ava Murphy and Maleah Figueroa each scored 11 points for the winners.

Gianexis Santiago scored 11 points to lead Fitchburg (1-10) and Gianna Calderon added 10 points.

Shepherd Hill 43, North Middlesex 28: Gabby Durham posted a team-high 11 points for the Patriots, while Norah Tesini chipped in with eight.

Boys swimming

Wachusett 67, Nashoba 11: Thomas Hastings placed second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 26.06 and took second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:12.59 to lead Nashoba (1-10).

Girls swimming

Nashoba 58, Wachusett 36: Campbell Phillips won the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 2:20.61 and placed second in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:13.21, while Ariel Larrabee won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:42.53.

Abby Horton placed first in the 100  backstroke with a time of 1:17.35 and Paige Mason won the 50 freestyle with a time of 28.85 before taking second in the girls 100 freestyle with a time of 1:06.35. Nashoba’s Erin Coughlan was second in the 50 freestyle (30.16) and second in the 100 backstroke (1:19.97).

The team of Coughlan, Emma Reiner,  Phillips and Mason won the 200 medley relay in 2:10.75.

Boys indoor track and field

Fitchburg 59,  Marlboro 32: Senior Stephen Bate won three events for the Red Raiders Thursday night, claiming the 55m (6.8); the 300 (40.1) and the high jump (5-08).

Effrem Gnepo won the shot put (35-07.5). Josh Nartey won the 55m hurdles (8.8), Kingston Aldrich-Cooper  was first in the 600 (1:35.3) and the 4×220 relay (Nartey, David Afogho, Derrick Lulimachi, Steven Smith) was also victorious in 1:53.1.

Girls indoor track and field

Marlboro 50, Fitchburg 41: Noella Tamfu won the 55m hurdles in 9.8 seconds to pace the Red Raiders on Thursday night. The 4×220 relay (Julianna Ortiz, Fiona Palmer, Brianna Demers, Tamfu) placed first in 2:05.0, as did the 4×440 relay (Mia Robertson, Molly Sacramone. Andrea Silva, MacKenzie Roy) in 5:08.5.

College field hockey

Thirteen members of the Fitchburg State field hockey team were named to the 2022 Little East Conference (LEC) Fall Academic Honor Roll on Friday morning.

Carley McCaie, Lena Kassel, Oliva Narkevicius, Sophia Yates, Samantha Rozum,  Alexis Raymond, Joyce Arbia, Emma Ganley, Sophia Piper, Jessica Morse, Jenna Morse, Grace Kerr and Lena Spadafore were all named to the 2023 LEC All-Academic Team.

Members of the 2022 LEC Fall Academic Honor Roll must achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher through the Fall 2022 semester. The student-athlete must also be a full-time member of a varsity sport and be enrolled in its institution for a full academic year.

The Fitchburg State field hockey team concluded its 2022 campaign with an overall record of 10-8 and an 8-4 mark in the LEC, earning the sixth seed in the LEC Tournament.

Local roundup: Owls win MASCAC battle over Falcons

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The Fitchburg State men’s basketball team fell 81-63 at Westfield State in MASCAC action Thursday evening.

The Owls (4-14, 4-3 MASCAC) raced out to an 8-0 lead before senior Javon Taylor hit a layup for the Falcons (7-10, 2-4 MASCAC). Westfield State then reeled off another 12 points before jumpers from Mikal Garcia and Tyrone Manderson cut the deficit to 22-6.

Senior Tajahn Joyner had six straight points and Matthew Tanis hit a bucket for Fitchburg State down the stretch, but the Owls took a 36-18 lead to the intermission.

Westfield connected early in the second half with 3-pointers from JT Thompson and Brendan Keaveny to extend the lead to 44-20, but the Falcons countered with a 17-2 run, sparked by a three-point play from Joyner and a pair of buckets from Quincy Taylor to make it a 46-37 ballgame.

Westfield responded with eight points from Brendon Hamilton to forge ahead 58-39 midway through the half. The Falcons responded with treys from Garcia and Joyner and eight points from Jordan Polanco, but Westfield sealed the win with a jumper from Eric Johnson.

Joyner paced the Falcons with 20 points and five rebounds, while Quincy Taylor chipped in with eight points and eight boards.

Hamilton led the Owls with a game-high 30 points to go with eight rebounds, and three assists.

The Falcons return to action Wednesday when they travel to MCLA for a MASCAC tilt starting at 5 p.m.

Boys basketball

Fitchburg 67, St. Paul 53: Elijah Jefferies led the Red Raiders (4-4) with 18 points and Omar Rodriguez chipped in with 14 in the victory.

Worcester Tech 57, Monty Tech 45:  Jaden Jones scored 24 points to lead the Bulldogs (5-6).

Gardner 55, Ayer-Shirley 52: The loss drops the Panthers to 8-4.

Nashoba Tech 73, Sizer 35: The Tigers fall to 0-11 on the season.

Girls basketball

Marlboro 38, North Middlesex 32: Norah Tesini led the Patriots (3-7) with 10 points and Julia Chase added eight in defeat.

Nashoba Tech 52, Sizer 26: The Tigers (1-7) were doubled up by the Vikings.

Local roundup: Wolves stop streaking Rams

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The Nashoba Regional boys basketball team knocked visiting Shepherd Hill from the ranks of the unbeaten Tuesday night with a 61-54 victory in Bolton.

With the victor, the Wolves improve to 7-2. The Rams are now 12-1.

Ayer-Shirley 82, Murdock 48: Zach Iannacone led the Panthers (8-3) with 19 points. Brian Holmes added 17 and Cam Marshall scored 14 points for Ayer-Shirley.

Girls basketball

Ayer-Shirley 73, Murdock 18: Ava Murphy scored a game-high 16 points for the Panthers (7-2), while Taylor New and Emily Churchill each had 11 points. Tess Arakelian added 10 points in the victory.

St. Paul 47, Fitchburg 32: Gianexis Santiago led the Red Raiders (1-10) with 12 points. Gianna Calderon chipped in with 11 and MJ Thammachak had seven in defeat.

Leominster 39, North Middlesex 21: Frankie Bello led Leominster (7-4) with six points. Taylor Boulay, Mia Keenan, Maddie Lemanski and Juliana Pompei each had five points in the victory.

The Patriots (3-6) were led by Gabby Dunham’s seven points, while Julia Landry and Norah Tesini each had six.

Monty Tech 53, Abby Kelley 33: Kylie Neseran netted 16 points to lead the Bulldogs (2-8)

Shepherd Hill 41, Nashoba 36: The loss drops the Wolves to 7-1.

Oakmont 33, Groton-Dunstable 29: The Spartans improve to 7-3.

College track and field

Fitchburg State junior Taban Manyok was selected Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week and senior Eric Shimiyimana was selected Field Athlete of the Week on Tuesday afternoon.

Manyok notches his second straight week accolade on the season after collecting a pair of first-place finishes for the Green and Gold at the 2023 Branwen Smith-King Invite on Saturday. Taban placed first in the 5,000 meter with a DIII NE qualifying time of 15:22.84, while also taking top honors in the 3,000 meter with a time of 8:58.76.

Shimiyimana collects his third weekly honor of the season after placing first in the triple jump with a DIII New England qualifying mark of 13.74 meters as well as finishing fourth in the long jump with a jump of 6.42 meters for the Falcons at the Branwen Smith-King Invite.

The Fitchburg State indoor track and field team returns to action on Saturday as it competes at the 2023 Wesleyan Indoor Invite.

Small roster? No problem for St. B’s

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It’s a fairly striking visual.

With six players on the ice, six skaters sat on the St. Bernard’s bench Wednesday afternoon, being overseen by five coaches.

Equally striking?

The amount of celebrating the Bernardians have done as of late.

Winners of seven straight, the Bernardians have gone the way of their school’s football team: they’re doing more with less. And like St. Bernard’s gridiron squad, Stephen Syllvia’s team is doing things the right way.

It’s a stark contrast to the start of the season. In earlier contests this winter, the Bernardians seemed to be skating with something of a Napoleon complex, taking needless shots at other teams simply to prove that though they lack numbers, they’re still tough. These days, St. Bernard’s has seemingly cleaned up the act and are reaping the rewards of it.

Now 8-3, the Bernardians are making the best of their small roster, with some talented players leading them during this run. The tandem of senior Ben Stout (15 goals, 17 assists) and sophomore Hunter Lammi (17 goals, 14 assists) have been lighting the lamp with alarming regularity and freshman netminder Chase Bergeron has been as steady as they come, while also showing off the ability to make the occasional stop with some flair.

What may end up tripping the Bernardians up in the long run is the mileage each player is piling up simply out of necessity. But for now, St. Bernard’s is enjoying the success, even if it is “winning ugly” as Sylvia called the team’s style on Wednesday.

Good time for a break

With the brunt of the conference schedule looming in the coming weeks, having a week of rest and practices is something Fitchburg State certainly isn’t complaining about. Dinged up and with several players recovering from various illnesses to start the second half of the season, the Falcons head into Saturday’s MASCAC tilt at Westfield State with most of their roster available for the first time in weeks.

Fitchburg State's Anthony Celoin gets tangle up with UMss Dartmouth's Clay Ellerbrock during last Saturday's game at the Wallace Civic Center. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Alan Aresenault)
Fitchburg State’s Anthony Celoin gets tangle up with UMss Dartmouth’s Clay Ellerbrock during last Saturday’s game at the Wallace Civic Center. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Alan Aresenault)

Eight of Fitchburg State’s final nine games are of the conference variety. After playing the Owls on Saturday, the Falcons host Worcester State on Thursday and Plymouth State on Jan. 28 as part of a tripleheader for Hockey Day in the ‘Burg at the Wallace Civic Center.

The Falcons currently sit third in the MASCAC standings with 20 points, trailing Plymouth State (27) and Worcester State (20), while holding an 8.5-point edge over fourth-place UMass Dartmouth.

Jefferies lighting it up

Merrimack College’s Alex Jefferies has put together quite a season to this point, posting some strong numbers against top-tier Division 1 competition in Hockey East.

The Lunenburg native has scored eight goals in 23 games and dished out a team-high 19 assists for the Warriors, leading the team in points. Jefferies, a 2020 NHL Draft pick of the New York Islanders, and 11th-ranked Merrimack (15-7-1, 10-3-0 Hockey East) square off with Northeastern in a home-and-home series this weekend, hosting the Huskies Friday night in North Andover before traveling to Boston Saturday for the second game.

Local roundup: Falcons grounded in overtime

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The Fitchburg State men’s basketball team fell to Worcester State, 69-62, in overtime in MASCAC action at Parkinson Gymnasium on Wednesday.

The Falcons (7-8, 2-2 MASCAC) opened with six straight points as Javon Taylor, Dayne Allen and Frederick Siayor each had buckets. The Lancers responded with jumpers from Erik Bjorn and Aaron Nkrumah to cut the deficit to 8-6.before a layup from Tyrone Manderson pushed the Falcons’ lead to 12-6 and forced a Worcester timeout with 11:55 on the clock.

Worcester (12-5, 4-0 MASCAC) reeled off five points to make it a 12-11 ballgame, but the Falcons answered with a jumper in the paint and a deep 3 from Matthew Tanis to give the Falcons a 17-13 lead.

Worcester State capitalized on a Falcons turnover for a fastbreak bucket and a pair of free throws from Nkrumah to tie the game at 19. The Green and Gold finished out the half with five points from Siayor and a 3 at the buzzer from Tajahn Joyner to take a 27-21 lead at intermission.

Worcester State came out on an 11-3 run to take a 32-30 lead after a deep 3 from Nkrumah. Bjorn extended the lead for the visitors to 36-32 with a shot under the basket, but Allen responded for the hosts with a layup to make the score 36-34. Senior Zion Hendrix pushed the Lancer lead to 42-37 with a 3 from the baseline.

With 5:22 remaining Javon Taylor sank a 3 to keep it close at 46-43.

Trailing 47-45, Fitchburg State’s Tanis drained a 3 to give the Falcons a 48-47 lead, but the Lancers caused a turnover and a dunk from Ryan  Rubenskas gave the lead to Worcester State with 2:45 to play.

With 18 seconds remaining, Siayor knotted the game at 51 with a 3 to send the game to overtime.

Worcester State opened extra time with a 6-0 run including a 3 from Dion. Joyner stopped the streak with a jumper at the elbow to make it a 59-55 game with 2:02 to play, but the Lancers sealed the victory with free throws from Hendrix and Rubenskas resulting in the 69-62 victory.

Tanis paced the Falcons with 16 points off the bench. Allen added a game-high 16 rebounds and nine points, while Siayor added 12 points and Taylor had 10.

Women’s basketball

Worcester State 66, Fitchburg State 34: Kathryn Hart led the Falcons (3-13, 1-3 MASCAC) with nine points, while Morgan Genness added eight.

Sarah Blomgren, a Lunenburg High grad, had 10 points for the Lancers in the win.