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Nashoba Regional

Local roundup: Spartans cruise past Red Raiders

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The Oakmont Regional girls basketball team powered past host Fitchburg High for a 62-21 victory at the Doug Grutchfield Field House on Monday evening.

Oakmont (8-6) was paced by Amaiya LeBlanc, who scored a game-high 14 points. Victoria Mays added 12 points for the Spartans, who head to Townsend Tuesday night to square off with North Middlesex Regional.

Fitchburg's Gianexis Santiago fires a shot over Oakmont Regional's Kyra Pappas during Monday's game. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Gary Fournier)
Fitchburg’s Gianexis Santiago fires a shot over Oakmont Regional’s Kyra Pappas during Monday’s game. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Gary Fournier)

Gianexis Santiago led Fitchburg (1-16) with 11 points. The Red Raiders return to action Friday night, hosting rival Leominster High.

Nashoba 65, Shrewsbury 32: Emily Quinn erupted for 30 points as the Wolves moved to 12-3.

Boys basketball

Leominster 73, St. Paul 54: Justin Dadah Jr. poured in 20 points to lead four Leominster players in double figures as the Blue Devils improved to 8-5. Terrance McCormack added 17, Chase Hause had 16 and Dylan Carr scored 11 in the victory.

St. Bernard’s 63, Abby Kelley 37: The win lifts the Bernardians to 8-6.

Nashoba 76, Shrewsbury 46: The Wolves move to 12-2 with the victory.

Boys hockey

North Middlesex 8, Leominster 0: The win lifts the Patriots to 7-8, while the Blue Devils fall to 0-14.

Men’s basketball

Mitchell 85, Fitchburg State 66: The Falcons dropped to 8-12 (3-5 MASCAC) with the non-conference loss.

Mitchell opened the contest with a 5-2 edge as senior Mikey Buscetto hit a 3-pointer before Fitchburg State answered back with a 3 from senior Mikal Garcia and a Tajahn Joyner layup for a 9-5 lead.

The Falcons extended the lead to 15-9 on buckets by seniors Dayne Allen and Quincy Taylor, but the Mariners trimmed the deficit to 18-17 with senior Jalen Benson and freshman Bishop Taylor notching buckets.

The hosts battled back to knot the score at 24 following a pair of free throws by senior Alfonzo Stokes before the Green and Gold got a layup from Allen for a 24-22 edge.

Michell closed out the half on an 8-2 run for the 40-32 advantage going into halftime.

Following the intermission, Mitchell upped the advantage to 44-34 as senior Ahmani Browne, but Fitchburg State proceeded to go on a 9-3 run with Garcia, Taylor and freshman Tyrone Manderson hitting baskets to reduce the lead to 49-43.

Trailing 53-45, the Falcons got free-throws from Allen and sophomore Matthew Tanis to cut the lead to 55-48 before the Mariners pushed the margin to 70-53 with Benson draining a 3-pointer.

The Green and Gold answered back when junior Jaylen Swan  netted a layup and Manderson sank two from the charity stripe, but the hosts secured the victory with newcomer Adam Gardner registering a basket.

The Falcons were paced by Taylor’s team-best 14 points and six rebounds, while Allen added a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards.

Local roundup: Nashoba storms past Patriots

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Nashoba Regional’s Nik Pavia poured in a game-high 19 points as the Wolves cruised to a victory over host North Middlesex Regional,  80-44, Friday evening in Townsend.

The Wolves improve to 11-2 while North Middlesex drops to 3-10.

Also contributing on the offensive end for Nashoba was Jack Lagarde with 14 points and Robert Payne with 12 points.

Brian Morse led the Patriots with 13 points.

Lunenburg 58, Quabbin 48: Max Meilleur led the Blue Knights (9-6) with 17 points. Vinny Dellasanta and Jonny Deyo chipped in with 13 and 11, respectively.

Monty Tech 68, Parker Charter 25: Michael Cannon led the Bulldogs (9-6) with 14 points and Jaden Jones added 11 in the victory.

Girls basketball

Ayer-Shirley 55, Bromfield 33: The Panthers (11-2) won their fifth straight game as Ava Murphy and Tess Arakelian each scored 14 points, while Maddie Davis added 11 points.

Nashoba 61, North Middlesex 37: The Wolves improve to 11-3 while the Patriots drop to 4-10.

Wachusett 85, Fitchburg 15: Gianna Calderon and Beautiful Sanchez each scored six points for the Red Raiders (1-15).

Lunenburg 49, Quabbin 38: The home victory lifts the Blue Knights to 2-12.

Men’s indoor track and field

Fitchburg State senior Eric Shimiyimana placed seventh in the triple jump with a mark of 13.68 meters to earn All-New England honors after placing in the top eight in the event for the Green and Gold at the .All-New England Championships at New Balance Track.

Nashoba fends off Oakmont for big win

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BOLTON — Heading into Thursday night’s crucial Mid-Wach B league clash with Oakmont Regional, the Nashoba Regional boys basketball team entered on a seven-game winning streak.

With former coach Danny Ortiz bringing his one-loss Spartans and tough-minded defense to Bolton, the Wolves knew they would be in for a dog fight.

Instead, Nashoba left little doubt as the hosts opened up a 17-point halftime lead and held off a late fury by Oakmont to hold on for an 84-74 victory.

With the win, the Wolves ran their winning streak to eight and in doing so improved their overall record to 10-2 and 7-1 in league play while the Spartans fell to 11-2 overall and 7-2 in Mid-Wach B action.

“Oakmont is a great team,” said Nashoba first-year coach Gary Manyak. “Danny (Ortiz) does a great job with them. We knew we were going to be in a dog fight, and it was good to come away with a win. I have a lot of respect for what he does with that team, but our kids meet that challenge and came away with a win.”

The difference in this one was the size that seniors Jack Lagarde and Niklas Pavia posed inside as the two dominant the paint from start to finish. Lagarde had 15 points and 11 rebounds in the first half while Paiva added 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds over the first 16 minutes as the Wolves opened up a 43-26 lead.

Nashoba extended its lead to 20 after three quarters as the hosts held a 63-43 lead going into the final eight minutes. Seniors Brandon Hulecki (34 points) and Ryan Hulecki (19 points) did all they could to keep the Spartans in this one. The two combined to go a perfect 17-for-17 from the charity stripe.

But this night belonged to Lagarde and Pavia. Lagarde finished the game with a team-high 26 points and was a monster on the glass with 18 rebounds while Paiva finished with a double-double of his own with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Jacob Belsanti also had a strong game with 22 points on 3-for-6 shooting from behind the arc.

“It is fun to watch both of them work,” Manyak said. “Jack (Lagarde) got hurt last year, and we didn’t have him towards the end. He spent a lot of time in the weight room this summer, and it is paying dividends for him. Every man down the roster is working hard and pushing each other in practice to get better. When their number is called, we want them to be ready.”

Sophomores Luke Pavia and Trevor Payne also chipped in for the Wolves. Luke had 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting from behind the arc while Payne added five points and grabbed nine rebounds for Nashoba.

“The kids are working hard,” Manyak said. “They are playing together, and they are playing for each other. They are moving the ball and doing the little things to have some success.”

Wolves claw past Patriots

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FITCHBURG — After starting the season 7-0-2, the Nashoba Regional hockey team had hit a little bit of a rough patch as the Wolves were winless in their previous four contests entering Saturday afternoon’s Roy Conference clash against rival North Middlesex Regional.

Sparked by an outstanding one-man effort from Michael DiTullio who split the Patriots’ defense and potted a shorthanded goal into the back of the net midway through the second period to lift Nashoba to a thrilling 1-0 victory over North Middlesex at the Wallace Civic Center.

With the win, Nashoba picked up its first win in exactly three weeks and in the process ran its record to 8-3-3 overall, while the Patriots fell to 4-8 on the season.

“Effort was the key today,” said Nashoba head coach Matthew Biggs of the difference from the previous four games. “We outshot them for a long time, but they played well defensively so we knew it was going to take a gritty goal. The shorthanded goal was great to see.”

Over the first 15 minutes, Nashoba controlled play and outshot the hosts, 10-5. It was more of the same to start the middle frame for the Wolves as they had 14 of their 25 shots in the contest during the second period.

The goal scored by DiTullio came with 8:03 left in the period when he used his speed to grab a loose puck and split a pair of defenders before throwing a shot perfectly into the top corner of the net.

“(DiTullio) does everything for us,” Biggs said. “Whether he is killing penalties or doing whatever he needs to do, but it was a great single-handed effort to get down there and scored a goal. It was awesome to see.”

In the final period, neither team was able to get much offense going as the Patriots outshot Nashoba, 4-1.

“I think our losses have been by a combined three goals or four goals against good quality opponents,” Biggs said. “For us to get a conference win against a nice little rival is big for us.”

North Middlesex netminder Aaron Scarelli turned aside 24 shots in a strong effort for the Patriots.

Wolves come up short in loss to Titans

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NORTHBORO — After a tremendous start to the season, the Nashoba Regional girls basketball team has hit its first speed bump of the 2022-23 campaign.

Coming off their first setback, the visiting Wolves traveled to Algonquin Regional for a key midseason clash with the Mid-Wach A Titans. Despite a game high 20 points from Maddy Toth, the host Titans handed Nashoba its second straight loss as Algonquin pulled out a 51-47 win in overtime on Thursday.

Nashoba is now 7-2 overall, while Algonquin improves to 7-5 overall.

“Maddie Toth played great tonight,but unfortunately, everyone else did not play great,” said Nashoba head coach Tina Seabury. “We are in a spot right now where confidence is down. We’re waiting until the third and fourth quarter to decide to show up and start playing. This is a wakeup call for us.”

Toth was the only Nashoba player to hit double figures. Teammates Davita Honig and Anna Lagarde each scored seven points, while Emily Quinn scored four points for the Wolves.

The Titans were paced by Sophie Hjerpe’s team-high 19 points. Brooke Adams added 11 points and Sadie Candela tossed in seven points for the winners.

With the Wolves trailing 41-38 in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, Toth came up big as she got a great look at a 3-pointer from the top of the key and buried it with three seconds left to tie the contest and force overtime.

During the extra four-minute session, Algonquin opened with a 6-0 run to take a 47-41 lead two minutes into the stanza. Nashoba was able to cut the deficit to a single possession, 49-47, following a pair of free throws by Lagarde with 30 seconds remaining.

Trailing 50-47, the Wolves had an opportunity to force a second overtime but missed a pair of shots from behind the arc.

“We really need to change how we start games,” said Seabury. “We need to focus on how we come out and get off to a fast start because right now we’re struggling. We need to start and finish strong.”

Algonquin got off to a fast start as the hosts jumped out to an early 7-2 lead just 3:20 into the contest. The Wolves answered with a lighting fast 6-0 run to take an 8-7 lead and force a Titans timeout with 2:23 left on the clock.

Nashoba maintained the upper hand after eight minutes as it carried a 12-9 lead into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, the visitors stayed strong defensively as it limited Algonquin to just seven points. Unfortunately for the Wolves, they couldn’t take advantage offensively as it managed just eight points in the stanza as Nashoba held a slim 20-16 lead into the locker room for halftime. Nashoba’s Maddy Toth was a bright spot for the Wolves over the first 16 minutes as she carried the offense, scoring 13 of her team’s 20 points.

In the second half, the Wolves enjoyed their biggest lead of the game when Honig knocked a three-pointer to stretch the Nashoba lead to 23-16 in the opening moments of the third quarter.

Algonquin answered in a big way. The Titans battled their way back to retake the lead and held a slim 30-29 lead entering the final eight minutes of action.

The Wolves don’t have much time to lick their wounds as they are back in action on Friday evening with another road game when they travel to rival Marlboro High.

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.