From Derek Cordon & Michelle Friedman

“Whether it’s a bank shot or a swish, we are not afraid to bring you the dish.”

We hope everyone had a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season.  Holliston basketball was back on the court January 2^nd.  We had injured players return, both 4^th quarter comeback wins along with some heartbreaking losses, and two teams still remain unbeaten.   

Boys’ 4^th Grade

The Holliston 4th grade boys lost a hard-fought close game versus Medfield by a score of 35-26.  Nick Gorham and Nathan Eppinger were constantly attacking the basket and ended with 6 points each, while Logan Kanavich found his scoring touch adding another 4 points.  The boys return to their home court at Adams Middle School for a match up with Arlington on January 9th.

Boys’ 5^th Grade – Red

The Holliston 5th grade boys (Red) ended up winning by forfeit with a match against Somerville. Somerville arrived in Holliston with only 3 players.  The Holliston boys stepped it up with sportsmanship with no shortage of volunteers to switch teams and help the Somerville boys make the long drive worth it.  In the end, both teams had a successful, competitive scrimmage where everyone chipped in and had fun.  The boys look forward to their next home game on Sunday, when Milton (Black) travels to Adams Middle School.

Boys’ 5^th Grade – White

The Holliston 5th grade boys (White) traveled to Dedham (Maroon) for the fourth game of the season. Marcus Burian started out hot with 8 points in the 1st quarter before finishing with 14 points overall.  In the 2nd quarter, the whole team contributed to a scoring tsunami of 18 points with contributions from Nick DiPippo, Chris Baker, Orson Daniels and Quinn McErlen. Holliston went on to win 47-28 bringing their record to 3-1.  Team passing by the likes of Raphy Morcos, Andy Heller, and Animesh Gongireddy were the key to this victory, creating some good open shots for the scorers.  Holliston will next head to Milton (Silver) on January 9th.

Boys’ 6^th grade

The 6th grade boys game with Bellingham was postponed.  Their next game is away in Hopkinton on January 9^th.

Boys’ 7^th Grade

The Holliston 7th grade boys improved to 4-0 in league play and 9-0 overall with a hard-fought victory against Natick.  They played well together facing an intense full court trap defense.  The game was tied at half and at the end of the 3^rd quarter.  Natick held a 2-point lead with 3 minutes left.  Luke McHugh hit a 3-pointer to put Holliston up by 1.  Then, Jack McDonald hit a baseline shot and Ben Dufault drove to the hoop and added a key free throw to seal the victory 32-26.  Jack McDonald led the team in points with 15.  Luke McHugh added 7 and Ethan Suhajda scored 6 for the Panthers.  Next up is a road game on January 9^th vs FLBC (Freetown Lakeville Basketball Club).

Earlier in the week, the 7th grade boys won both of their tournament games in Mansfield.  The first game was against King Philip.  Holliston started fast holding King Phillip to only 4 first half points.  Ethan Suhajda led the way with 10 points, Remy Mandeville added 8 points, and Jonathan Casey added 6.  The second game was against host Mansfield.  Once again, the defense set the tone holding Mansfield to 5 points.  Ethan Suhajda led the way with 10 points for Holliston.

Boys’ 8^th Grade – Red

The Holliston 8th grade boys (Red) continued their strong start and moved to 3-0 on the season with a 48-37 victory over a very scrappy Weston team.  After a having a couple of weeks off due to a game cancellation and the holidays, the Panthers showed a little bit of rust trailing 14-11 after the first quarter but picked up the pace in the 2nd quarter and never looked back.  Tommy Quinn led all scorers with 20 points and Jayden Hayes added 9 points to pace the Panther offense.  With only 6 players available for the game, Max Maurao and Jayden Hayes worked hard to control the boards and Alex Robie and Sean Warner set the tone on defense.  The team travels to Natick on Sunday Jan 9th to take on the 3-1 Redhawks.

Boys’ 8^th Grade – White

The Holliston 8th grade boys (White) were undermanned this week with several players unable to attend the game. The team played hard but came up short losing to Dover Sherborn 35-24.

With the depleted bench, Johnny Peters and Matty Gimblett tested their endurance and had to play almost the entire game. Chris Burian had his best game of the season and showed his range from beyond the arc. Four players – Josh Higgins, Edward Daniels, Jonny Peters and Bhumin Karanukar all tallied 4 points each.  The team will look for their first win next week against Needham with a home game at Adams Middle School.

Girls’ 4^th Grade

The Holliston 4th grade girls team traveled this week to take on Southboro and mounted an 8-point comeback to defeat Southboro 25-22. Reese Leverone led the team with 10 points and Danika Do Rosario ran the point and contributed 6 points. Lindsay Haynes added 2 points and provided exceptional defense.  Holliston improved their record to 3-1 with the victory.  The Holliston 4th grade girls are on the road again this week vs Dover Sherborn.

Girls’ 5^th Grade

The Holliston 5th grade girls traveled to Milford and played another hard-fought game.  The score was back and forth with no team ever leading by more than four points.  Every time it looked like Milford was going to extend their lead, Chelsea Dufault would make a key rebound or Lila Cohen would come away with a big steal.  With 40 seconds left in the game, Emerson Harrington made a great pass to Mackenzie McDonald who hit the big shot to tie the game at 26 all.  Sadly, Milford answered with 7 seconds left on the clock for the two-point win 28-26.  While the outcome was disappointing, the girls had quite the experience as the rowdy crowd created an incredibly exciting environment.  Next week, the girls host Canton at the Adams Middle School.

Girls’ 6^th Grade

The Holliston 6th grade girls hit the hardwood hot with the return of Cate McCarron who netted a quick 8 out of 10 first quarter points and finished as the top scorer with 10 points. Sharp shooting after being out with an injury! North Quincy quickly responded with their offensive ballers to bring their points up in subsequent quarters. Skylar MacDonald worked hard to grab as many rebounds as she could to lead the team, but in the end, Holliston lost 31-20. Holliston will host Canton (Green) next Sunday at the Adams Middle School.

Girls’ 7^th Grade – Red

The Holliston 7th grade girls (Red) took on the Milton Red Hawks this past Sunday.  The girls fought hard but fell to 3-1 Milton by a score of 32-18.  Grace Gorham led Holliston with 10 points and played exceptional defense.  The team welcomed Hanna Holden off the IR and she chipped in 2 points to go along with 4 steals.  Hadley McAdams added 4 points and led the team with 4 rebounds for the Panthers.  The girls will be home next week against Norton at the Adams Middle School.

Girls’ 7^th Grade – White

The Holliston 7th grade girls (White) took a trip to visit the Clockers of Ashland.  The game was close through the first 3 quarters with Holliston holding an 18-15 lead going into the 4^th quarter.  An early Clockers three pointer tied the game at 18.  Holliston responded with some intense and aggressive defense – both zone and full court man to man, keeping Ashland off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game. Holliston dropped in 7 points and closed out to win the contest 25-18.  Grace Schoenberg led the way with 10 points from the guard position and Campbell Harris chipped in another 7 points.  First time player, Kadence Lynch, scored her first basket in MetroWest league play – welcome to Hoops, Kadence.  Holliston will head over the town line to face off with Dover Sherborn in their next game on January 9th.

Girls’ 8^th Grade

The Holliston 8th grade girls team dropped their first game of the season to Needham 22-10.  The girls fell behind early in the first quarter and despite tightening up their defense, the deficit was just too much to overcome during the remainder of the game. Bridget Doherty played great on both ends of the court for Holliston and Lena Jankovsky aggressively attacked the glass.  The girls will look to right the ship on January 9^th with an away game against Natick.