On a night in which every possession was contested between two Merrimack Valley Conference rivals, it came down to one shot.
Fortunately for Lowell High, Xavier Rivera was the one taking the pivotal shot. The junior forward swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Red Raiders to a thrilling 45-43 victory over Central Catholic on Tuesday night.
Rivera finished with five points, five rebounds and three blocks. Senior guard Javian Kirmil added 11 points and three assists, while freshman guard Alfred Vazquez chipped in 11 points.
Boys basketball
Chelmsford 64, Haverhill 61: Senior forward Ryan Blagg was immense with 16 points and nine rebounds in leading the Lions to the narrow Merrimack Valley Conference win.
Blagg swished two free throws to seal the win with nine seconds left. CHS trailed 32-31 at halftime. Also scoring in double figures were junior guard Michael Mwaniki (14), senior guard Alex Perry (13) and senior guard Zach Drew (10). Junior guard Tyler Allen was also instrumental in the win with seven points and eight rebounds.
Shawsheen 60, Gr. Lawrence 31: The Rams captured the CAC road victory thanks to a suffocating defensive effort. Sophomore Franck Moron continued his fine play with 26 points and five steals. His classmate, Matt Breen, provided 15 points and six rebounds. Senior Aiden Macleod added eight points and 15 rebounds for the Rams (6-5, 3-2 CAC).
Greater Lowell 81, Northeast 44: The Gryphons continued their fine play by winning their sixth straight game. All 12 players saw significant amount of time and played well for Greater Lowell Tech (8-3, 6-0 CAC).
Billerica 61, Dracut 26: The Indians more than doubled up Dracut in posting the Merrimack Valley Conference win. Billerica led 34-17 at halftime. Connor Gibson was Billerica’s high scorer with 14 points, while Zach Tomassetti added 11 points. Also starring for the Indians (4-6, 2-6 MVC) were Brady Martin (9 points) and Cole Dillon (strong all-around game).
Hudson 68, Tyngsboro 49: Despite 10-point efforts from Bryce Goulet and Anthony Nicosia, the Tigers dropped the Mid-Wach encounter. Goulet added three assists, while Nicosia contributed three steals.
Also playing a strong all-around game for Tyngsboro (7-5) was Gavin Familia, who had nine points, four steals and three rebounds. Host Hudson took control with a 17-6 second quarter.
Clinton 72, Littleton 46: Host Clinton (9-3) came out flying in the opening quarter, running out to a 21-5 lead, and the Tigers never recovered despite playing solid second and third quarters. Justin Manno canned 13 points to pace Littleton. Maxwell Smith added eight points for the Tigers (2-9).
Tewksbury 62, Methuen 51: The Redmen, winners of three straight, sprinted out to a 19-9 lead after one quarter and never looked back in posting a key MVC win.
Ayer Shirley 82, Murdock 48: Nine players scored and the Panthers placed four in double figures during the Mid-Wach rout. Zachary Iannacone paced Ayer Shirley with 19 points, while Brian Holmes had 17, Cam Marshall netted 14 and Michael Bishara canned 10 for the Panthers (8-3).
Pelham 64, John Stark 35: Visiting Pelham had 11 players score and the Pythons were never threatened after running out to a 24-9 lead after one quarter. Zach James led the Pythons with 15 points, while Peter Hemmerdinger added 12. James swished four 3-pointers. Jake Travis led the way with five rebounds for Pelham (10-3).
Oakmont 58, Groton-Dunstable 52: Facing a powerful Oakmont team, the Crusaders were terrific in the opening quarter and led 18-12 before the visitors rallied in Groton. Andrew Stenstream led Groton-Dunstable (6-7) with 18 points, while Pietro Vendramel chipped in 10 points against Oakmont (9-1).
Alvirne 68, Londonderry 41: Sammy DeWitt was on fire in the NHIAA contest, as he netted a game-high 37 points in Alvirne’s conquest. After a tie at the conclusion of the first quarter, the Broncos outscored the Lancers 24-7 in the second quarter and never looked back. Alvirne made nine 3’s and grabbed 41 rebounds. Garrett Hall added 10 points.
Girls basketball
Chelmsford 62, Central Catholic 60: In a game that won’t soon be forgotten, the visiting Lions topped Central in a four-overtime epic battle in Lawrence. In the fourth overtime, CHS outscored Central 4-2 to take the exhausting victory.
Rylee Kennedy made a layup with one second remaining to give the Lions the thrilling victory. Mary Keohane led Chelmsford with 18 points, while Kailyn Smith added 16 points and Ash Harrington chipped in 12.
For Central (4-7), Kerri Finneran (17 points) led four players in double figures. Shea Montague (15), Kathleen Smith (10) and Samantha Guertin (10) also played well.
Hudson 47, Tyngsboro 41: Kelsey Puim scored six of her team-high 17 points in overtime for Hudson to sink the Tigers. Tyngsboro erased an 11-point halftime deficit to force overtime. Gianna Donato had 18 points to lead Tyngsboro.
Carly DiMento collected 12 points and eight rebounds, while Emily Fugazzotto took three charges.
Lowell Catholic 53, Mystic Valley 37: The visiting Crusaders led most of the way for the road win. Senior Catherine Antwi led all scorers with 23 points and added five steals. Brynn Johnson and Rylie Hogan each added nine points for the Crusaders (7-3, 5-2 CAC).
Greater Lowell 45, Northeast 26: After struggling to post an 11-8 halftime lead, the Gryphons exploded for 34 second-half points to post the CAC win. Kendra O’Brien led a balanced offense for GLT (8-2, 7-0 CAC Large) with 10 points. Briannah Namale and Emily Sandell added nine points each.
Felicia Melendez chipped in seven points, while Nellie Chan contributed four points and eight rebounds.
Lowell 45, Haverhill 39: Things didn’t look promising when the Red Raiders trailed by 10 points in the third quarter, but they rallied for an MVC road victory. Stella Procope guided Lowell with 14 points. Faith Santiago tallied nine of her 11 points in the fourth quarter and Fiona Haley (11 points) also scored in double figures.
Leominster 39, North Middlesex 21: The Patriots couldn’t get their offense untracked as they dropped the Mid-Wach clash. North Middlesex (3-6) received seven points from Gabby Durham and six points from Julia Landry, but only four players scored.
Tewksbury 49, Methuen 29: The Redmen collected an impressive MVC win behind a balanced scoring attack. Sophomore guard Emily Picher paved the way with 11 points, while senior forward Sam Ryan added 10. Chipping in seven points apiece were senior forward Riley Veits and senior guard Katrina MacDonald.
Littleton 55, Clinton 25: The Tigers reached double figures in wins and placed three players in double figures in capturing the Mid-Wach victory. Kaylin O’Meara continued her fine season with 15 points. Registering 10 points each were Victoria McCoy and Olivia Olson for the red-hot Tigers (10-1).
Nashoba Tech 44, Notre Dame 29: Sadie Tracy drained 22 points to power the Vikings past the Academy of Notre Dame. Ashley Hart claimed 14 points, while Lily Lavigueur and Hayden Caires added four points each for Nashoba Tech (7-2).
Lincoln-Sudbury 54, Westford 34: The Ghosts pulled to within five points in the middle of the third quarter, but seventh-ranked Lincoln-Sudbury responded with a surge. L-S led 27-15 at the half of the Dual County League battle.
WA (4-7, 1-2 DCL Large) was sparked by Alanna Saunders, who had 11 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.
Pelham 69, John Stark 45: Jasmine Becotte continued her torrid scoring streak by netting 27 points in Pelham’s easy win. Pelham led 17-7 after one quarter and ran away after a 21-13 third quarter spree. Abby McFarland was also terrific with 15 points, while Sophia Joncas chipped in eight points.
Oakmont 32, Groton-Dunstable 29: In a game of strange runs, Groton-Dunstable led 11-0 after one quarter only to see the hosts outscore them 13-0 in the second quarter. In the end, G-D (3-10) just couldn’t provide enough offense. Anna Stenstream fueled the Crusaders with 15 points.
Girls swimming
Tyngsboro/Groton-Dunstable 87, Algonquin 83: Led by Ro Dudevoir’s two wins, Tyngsboro/Groton-Dunstable was a narrow winner. Dudevoir captured the 200 IM in 2:22.80 and the 500 free in 5:43.90. Also winning events were Paige Matthews in 1-meter diving (195.25) and Cara Orcutt in the 100 breaststroke (1:41.69).
Boys swimming
Algonquin 93, Tyngsboro/Groton-Dunstable 59: The local squad fell despite individual victories from Joey Wang and Cedric Sow. Wang captured the 100 backstroke in 1:02.86, while Sow ruled the 100 breaststroke in 1:35.85.
