Holliston Youth Basketball – Week 9
From Derek Cordon and Michelle Friedman
If you’re making clutch shots from the free throw line – the report will mention it here in Week 9
Did you know that HYBA has two 5th grade boys’ basketball teams? There are 22 boys currently rostered and playing between the two 5th grade teams. Fil Firmani is the Head Coach of the White team, and he gets his help from Ed Daniels and Scott DiPippo. Kevin Furey handles the Red team with Chris Boggess as his assistant. Thank you for making the time to volunteer – the future of Holliston Boys Basketball is in very good hands.
In this week’s action we had several teams play multiple games, including snow day make-up games, and a team that didn’t get to play at all. We featured a 26-point scorer, multiple 10+ scorers and some clutch free throws, all to go along with the overall theme of team defense.
Girls’ 4th Grade
The Holliston 4th grade girls team traveled this week to Medway to take on the Mustangs. The game was close throughout, however, Medway managed to avenge their earlier loss to Holliston 26-17. The team was led by Ella Bennett who scored 8 points including a sweet left-handed layup to go along with 5 rebounds. Gwen Miranda was a force on the inside scoring 2 points and adding 3 rebounds. Louisa Bigelow was everywhere on the court. She finished with 1 point, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and caused multiple Medway turnovers. The 6-2 Holliston Panthers welcome Milton to the Adams Middle School next weekend.
Girls’ 5th Grade
Just prior to game day, the Holliston 5th grade girls received word from Franklin that they were unable to field a team due to injury and illness. Thankfully Coach Santomenna and his Milford squad agreed to a rematch. As a reminder, last month Milford scored in the final minute to beat Holliston by two points. This go around, Holliston found some offensive rhythm, scoring their season high total and beating Milford 29-22. Mackenzie McDonald led the team in scoring with 11 points and Emerson Harrington scored 8 points. Rebounding continued to be a team strength as Olivia Kerchner had 9, Emma Arsenault had 7 and Chelsea Dufault and Shamili Potturi each had 6. Next week Holliston plays host to Westwood at the Adams Middle School.
Girls’ 6th Grade
The Holliston 6th grade girls team welcomed Wellesley to the Adams Middle School. The girls showed up bright and early ready to work hard and dominate doing the basics at their best and came away with a 29-14 win. Several girls boxed out well and were able to grab some pivotal rebounds. Cate McCarron led the team in rebounds with 13, backed by Lauryn Mulvaney’s 11 rebounds and Gianna Sgarano’s 5 rebounds. Another fan highlight was Maddy Moore’s swoosh finish on their press breaking play. Up next is a visit from Belmont to the Adams Middle School.
Girls’ 7th Grade (Red)
The Holliston 7th grade girls (Red) team had a pair of games over the weekend. On Saturday, the Panthers welcomed the Arlington Spyponders to Adams Middle School. The game was a back and forth battle that Arlington managed to squeak out with a 24-23 win. Holliston almost pulled off the last second victory, but a Panthers layup rolled off the rim as the buzzer sounded. The girls were led by Reese Friedman’s 6 points and 6 rebounds. Hanna Holden added 6 points and Aaria Prajapati ripped 7 rebounds to go along with 2 points. On Sunday, the Holliston girls traveled to Belmont to take on the Marauders. The team started slowly, and Belmont pulled out to a sizable 1st half lead. Holliston didn’t give up and turned their defense up a notch in the 2nd half. The team was all hustle after the break and only allowed Belmont a total of 3 points in the 2nd half. It looked for a while that it could be a comeback for the ages, but ultimately Holliston fell 25-15. Josie Henson drilled a 3 pointer to pull the game within 10, however, Holliston saw too many shots roll out in the last 5 minutes of the game. Josie led the team with 5 points. Reese Friedman added 4 points to go along with 4 steals. Callie Dietz, Hanna Holden and Katie Joslin scored 2 points each. Holliston travels to West Roxbury next week to take on Parkway
Girls’ 7th Grade (White)
The Holliston 7th grade girls (White) team had 2 home games over the weekend at the Adams Middle School. They welcomed Framingham on Saturday and the contest was never in question, ending with a final score of 30-10 in favor of the Panthers. Campbell Harris was once again a force tallying 14 points in the game to go along with her dominant defense in the paint. Eliza Gebski and Grace Schoenberg both chipped in 4 points each. The Medway Mustangs made the trip to Holliston on Sunday and the Panthers secured their second win of the weekend with a final score of 17-10. Holliston “flipped the switch” from the opening tip and played an effective and intense trapping defense causing the Mustangs to turn the ball over on their first 3 possessions and call a time out to try and regroup. Holliston continued with the defensive pressure and never let Medway off the hook. Emma Kampersal led the team in scoring with 5 points and Kadence Lynch dropped in 4 points as well. Kaitlyn Cordon snagged an offensive rebound which she put back up off the glass for her first points of the season, giving the team a little breathing room on the scoreboard. The theme of the weekend for the Holliston squad was defense and they achieved that goal by holding both opponents to 10 points each. Next up is a mid-week make-up game with Hopkinton at home and then they will host Woburn at the Adams Middle School on Sunday.
Girls’ 8th Grade
The Holliston 8th grade girls defeated Dover Sherborn 27-18 to remain in first place in their division. The girls played stifling team defense in the first half, holding their opponent to 4 points. DS battled back hard in the third quarter and closed the gap to 2 points in the 4th quarter before the home team went to their “chaos” full court press and put the game out of reach. Parker Friedman was fantastic on both ends of the court and was the game’s leading scorer with 10 points. Sophia Lynch found her stroke from outside to the tune of 8 points and had a number of fantastic assists. Natalie Sipsma and Keira Lucas attacked the glass on both ends. Lindsay O’Connell iced the game with 2 clutch free throws down the stretch. The girls will travel to Natick on Saturday for a make-up game. On Sunday they will host Hopkinton at the Adams Middle School.
Boys’ 4th Grade
The Holliston 4th grade boys furious fourth quarter rally wasn’t enough to overcome a challenging third quarter against Concord Carlisle resulting in a 37-26 home loss. Gavin Bausch had a phenomenal game with 7 points and 8 rebounds. Ryan Magoon and Devon Doray each chipped in 6 points with Leo Wagner providing some tough rebounds under the glass. The boys look to get back on the winning track with a pair of home games this weekend at the Adams Middle School.
Boys’ 5th Grade (Red)
The Holliston 5th grade boys (Red) team had a double header this weekend. On Saturday, they traveled to Milton and put up a strong showing with a 42-24 victory. It was a good team effort with everyone participating and many players having their best performances of the season, on both sides of the ball. Chris Sipsma, Sam Israel and Colton McGrath all had their best offensive output, and that included a very exciting buzzer beater from Chris Sipsma to end the first half! Nathan Chiantera was a huge part of the offense in the ‘5’ position, setting up all the right picks to free up the offense. He also played excellent defense every time he was on the floor. Tate Garran was in all the right places helping to open up the offense and shut down Milton on the defensive side. The victory high didn’t last too long, however, as on Sunday a very strong Needham team came into the Adams gym and served up a 54-24 defeat. Eli Boggess led all scorers with 6 points and Sam Peters, Colton McGrath, William Hayes, Ben Furey and Chris Sipsma also contributed offensively. Charlie Bowser (2 rebounds, a steal and 2 blocks), Andrew Ferguson (6 rebounds and 2 steals) and Ben Furey (6 rebounds and a steal) had strong games on the defensive end. Holliston’s record now stands at 5-4, tied with Natick for first place atop the division. The team hopes to get back on the winning track next week when they travel to Mansfield.
Boys’ 5th Grade (White)
The Holliston 5th grade boys (White) team had another cancellation this weekend. Stay tuned for recaps on both scheduled games and make up games in the near future.
Boys’ 6th Grade
The Holliston 6th grade boys took a trip to Medway and came away with a 35-19 win. A tight game early was broken wide open, starting with a last second buzzer-beating layup from Max Colletti to end the half and pump up the Holliston squad. Anthony Faletra got off to a hot start, finishing with 13 points, while Nick Flannery shook off a slow start offensively to finish with 11 points. The two defensive all-stars of the game were Jack Whitten and Sean Sullivan. Whitten was extremely disruptive at the point of defensive attack, causing constant turnovers, while Sullivan ripped down 4 rebounds and scooped up 3 steals. Nate Howell also got into the defensive action with a huge block down the stretch.
Next up for the Holliston team is a midweek tilt with Bellingham at the Adams Middle School.
Boys’ 7th Grade
The 7th grade boys won a high scoring contest against Brookline, 58-50. The Panthers jumped out to an early lead with an aggressive press defense. The Panthers finished the first half leading 29-22. Holliston had their best offensive output of the season with tremendous ball movement and team play. They needed a strong offensive game as Brookline was shooting well scoring 21 points in the 3rd quarter, but Holliston matched baskets led by Cal Leverone hitting an assortment of jump shots. Cal finished the game with a share of the team lead in scoring with 14 points. The Panthers were passing well in this game highlighted by Remy Mandeville finding Luke McHugh streaking along the baseline for an impressive give and go. Luke finished with 14 points and had a game high 8 assists. Ethan Suhajda was active on defense, leading the team with 7 rebounds and 5 steals and also had 14 points. Holliston extended their lead to 53-43 outscoring Brookline 24-21 in the 3rd quarter. Brookline made a run in the 4th quarter cutting the lead to 4 points with 2 minutes remaining, but Ben Dufault connected on three free throws to extend the Holliston lead to 8 points. Holliston will welcome Southboro to the Adams Middle School on Saturday.
Boys’ 8th Grade (Red)
On the heels of an ice storm, the Holliston 8th grade boys’ team (Red) took to the gym early Saturday morning looking to get a final practice in before games on Saturday and Sunday afternoons against two more one loss teams. Saturday’s game was home against rival Hopkinton and the Panthers came out to a rare hot start, flying all over the court with tenacious full court defense and aggressive drives to the hoop. The score was knotted at 16 by halftime resulting in a back-and-forth battle throughout the second half, each team fighting for every point. In the end, Holliston edged out the win 37-35. Holliston’s scoring was evenly distributed throughout the lineup, but Alessio Pinci had a key three pointer and Tommy Quinn sunk 2 key free throws as the game wound down. A team constant, the swarming defense of Gabe DeJesus, Max Maurao, and Jayden Hayes ultimately proved too much for the visiting Hillers, with DeJesus ending the game blocking a last ditch in-bounds pass as time ran out. The win pushed the Panther record to 4-3 headed into their game on Sunday against the one loss Wayland Warriors. Riding a win for the first time since starting the season 3-0, the Panthers traveled to Wayland and continued their new fast start trend, forcing a quick timeout by the Wayland coach. Holliston held a comfortable lead throughout the first half, led by the dominant play of Cooper Firmani and Jayden Hayes. Holliston held a 26-20 halftime lead and built on that as the second half kicked off. Key steals and rebounds by Max Maurao and Alex Robie helped feed the offense, as Firmani continued to lead his team on the way to a season high 26 points. However, in the end, the Warriors proved to be too much, drawing upon an excellent 17/26 free throw performance that led to a 54-47 defeat of the Panthers. The 4-4 Panthers will regroup and head to longtime rival Westwood next Sunday looking to get back in the win column as the season begins to wind down and the playoff picture starts to form.
Boys’ 8th Grade (White)
The Holliston 8th grade boys (White) team lost to a physical Milton team 45-30. Bhuman Karunakar started at Center and played by far his best all-around game with 8 points, several key rebounds and excellent defense. Matty Gimblett finished with 8 points and Josh Higgins had 5. The Holliston team will take on the other Milton team next Sunday in Milton.
