BOYS:
4th Grade Boys (Red) Coach: Flannery
The Holliston 4th Grade Boys squad (red) had their longest road trip of the season on Sunday, traveling down to Raynham to square off with one of the best teams in the division. The big and talented Raynham team jumped out early and never looked back, besting our boys 40-12. Highlights for Holliston included James Eaton and Jameson Drake playing like a men possessed on defense. James finished with 6 steals and 5 rebounds and with his on-ball defense Jameson is quickly becoming an elementary school version of Gary “The Glove” Payton. Tommy Baker led the team in scoring with 6 points, showing no fear against the Raynham Bigs when driving the ball to the hoop. JT Barry chipped in with 2 points, 2 steals and 3 rebounds. Next up for the team is the regular season finale against DS this coming Sunday afternoon.
5th Grade Boys (Red) Coach: Taylor
The Holliston 5th grade boys (red) team took to road after a long layoff and traveled to the lovely town of Lincoln – Sudbury. The boys were slightly short handed but came out ready to play and jumped to an early 9-8 lead. In the second period the squad from Lincoln – Sudbury put on a show and hit almost every shot they took, taking a 16-11 halftime lead. However, the boys from Holliston would not be denied and ramped up the defensive and offensive intensity and put on a third quarter show of their own and outscored their opponent 12-1 in the third. They boys ended up holding on down the stretch and took home a hard-fought win 25-21. Scoring was led by Harrison Cirillo (8), Max Cohen (7) and hit a pretty looking 3, Ayen Hemaratne (4) and made the play of the year on a beautiful euro step layup), Liam O’Leary (2) and Sam Wagner (4). The boys have a packed weekend with three games. First, they will travel to Westborough at 2pm Saturday March 1st, followed by a home night game vs. Ashland at 6:45pm. Finally, they wrap up their regular season on Sunday March 2nd at home vs Wayland at 9:30am.
5th Grade Boys (White) Coach: Lyskowski
Holliston’s 5th grade boys (white) traveled to Northborough for their first game back from winter break. Despite the long break the Holliston team came out with fire scoring 20 points in the first half against Northborough’s 10. Holliston had 7 our of their 8 players score in this game, some with their first points of the season. Tyler Crean lead the team with a 16 point performance, followed by Jesiah Varghese with 12, Emerson Vail with 4, Dylan Maillet with 4, and Jake Looney, Smayan Alladi, and Trevor Lyskowski all with 2. The boys had an epic 3rd quarter with 16 total but let off the gas in the 4th with only 6, but finished the game with a commanding lead, 42 to 20. With one last regular season game left the boys will be practicing hard this week in preparation for Westborough this coming Sunday at 6pm.
6th Grade Boys (Red) Coach: Sgarano
The Holliston 6th Grade Boys Team (red) picked up their 6th win of the season on Sunday afternoon, 49-17 over Weston. The teams had a close first quarter, but Holliston buckled down on defense in the second quarter and took a 28-8 lead into the half. Holliston gave up just 2 points in the third quarter and cruised to victory.
Teamwork continues to be the story. All ten players scored and grabbed a rebound. George Floeckher led the way with 12 points and 8 rebounds. Owen Jacquet, Donovan Vail, and Teddy Miller all had 6 points. Ryan Baker and Teddy Miller each had 6 steals. Logan McDonough, Cole Dennison, and Ty Looney each had 4 points.
Holliston will close out the regular season this coming Sunday afternoon in Waltham.
7th Grade Boys (White) Coach: Kanavich
The 7th grade boys (white) defeated Hopkinton by a score of 44-10. The Panthers improve to 5-6 in the division and 6-10 overall. Leading the team in points was Micah Baltisoto and Dylan Perrett who scored 10 points apiece. Also contributing was Patrick Coletti (6), Nolan Burke (4), Luke Bartels (4), Dylan “Dubbbs” Dimmick (2), Stone Secaur (2), and Logan Kanavich (6). The team’s “Savage Stater“ award was given to Dylan “Dubbs” Dimmick for his rebounding hustle and vision on the court. The team returns to play its final regular season game at home against Sharon this coming Sunday (March 2nd).
8th Grade Boys (Red) Coach: Furey
The Holliston 8th Grade (red) team hosted a familiar foe, Ashland, this past week. The boys worked in a new defense, the “Box-1” to try to isolate Ashland’s star player. They did a great job isolating the player, but ultimately the team proved to be too deep, and Holliston fell 54-43. There were a lot of positives in the game and the boys should be proud. Ben Furey led the offense with 12 points. He was followed by Orson Daniels (8), Quinn McErlean (7), Andrew Ferguson (4), Achyut Pingali (4), Chris Baker (3), Charlie Bowser (3), and Eli Boggess (2). Quinn McErlean, Andrew Ferguson and Orson Daniels led the rebounding train with 8, 5 and 5 respectively. This week, we have a make-up game vs. Dedham and then host Needham to close out the regular season.
8th Grade Boys (White) Coach: Negri
This past Sunday, the 8th grade boys Panthers (white) looked to bounce back after a loss to division 4 Hingham in a week 9 matchup. And bounce back they did, winning 38-28 against Belmont. The team was led by Jack Firmani with three crucial 3-pointers, and 11 points overall, in his best offensive performance of the season. Liam Forbes also contributed in an all-around performance, with 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals. Holding their opponent to 3 points in the fourth quarter, the entire team put forth another impressive defensive effort; a relentless trapping and pressure defense for 48 minutes. As quoted by the scorer for the opposing team, “this team really can rebound.” Come cheer on the boys as they close out the season with a make-up game in Newton on Thursday and their final regular season game at home this coming Saturday against Winchester.
8th Grade Boys (Black) Coach: Ennis
The eighth-grade boys (black) faced a formidable Dover Sherborn team in their final regular-season game. Despite the intense competition, they displayed a solid defense in the first half, securing an exhilarating 16-16 tie. However, the second half took a different turn as Dover capitalized on their opportunities, scoring numerous shots in the third quarter to extend their lead to 9 points. Despite valiant efforts from the boys, Dover emerged victorious with a final score of 41-29.
Throughout the season, the team’s performance has shown remarkable improvement, both on offense and defense.
CJ Landers led the team with 7 points and 10 rebounds, while Vinny Lima contributed 4 points and 3 rebounds. Jahan Haider added 5 points and 4 rebounds, and Zorik Sahakyan showcased exceptional skills with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Zach Ennis rounded out the scoring with 2 points and 5 rebounds.
As the season draws to a close, the boys will embark on a journey to Blackstone for their final game this coming weekend.
GIRLS:
4th Grade Girls Coach: Cooper
It was a packed gym at the famed Adams gymnasium for the 4th Grade Girls last regular season home game vs Belmont this past weekend. The parquet floor sounded right out of the old Boston Garden as the team took the floor for tip-off. The first quarter was a defensive chess match, as Holliston trailed 4-2 after the first 8 minutes from a layup by Anna Maria Della Rocca (2 points). The offense came to life in the second quarter with 3 different players scoring to tie the game going into halftime – Addie Cicciarella (2 points), Reagan Taylor (3 points), and Lily Ennis (2 points). The back-and-forth game felt like a Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer tennis volley, and despite Belmont pulling away in the 4th quarter to win the game 22-15, the team did not go down lightly. Sadie Adamson (2 points) and Catherine Levasseur (4 points) each registered tough baskets in the closing minutes. The team is on the road for the last regular season game of the season against Brookline this coming Sunday.
5th Grade Girls (White) Coach: King
The 5th Grade Girls (white) improved to 9-0 this weekend with a victory over Dover-Sherborn. While it wasn’t their prettiest game, defensive hustle got it done for the girls against a hard-working DS team. Izzy Bartels stood out as an outstanding defender in the game, always in position, going for steals, and playing great help defense. She also executed out of bounds plays with precision and accuracy to create scoring opportunities for her teammates. Izzy was the backbone of the team in terms of her solid all-around defensive play this weekend. Olive Bennett (8 pts), Richa Yedugani, and Lennon King (10 pts) shared point guard responsibilities and did a great job executing play calls on the fly to adjust to DS’s defense. Olive and Richa connected on multiple pick and roll plays and Signe Strand created a number of scoring opportunities by setting solid picks. Bella DiPippo did a great job grabbing rebounds, and Maggie Mulik put practice play into game action by drawing defensive contact on a lay-up to get to the line for free throws! Maggie also played outstanding help defense and created lots of jump balls! Great job to the girls! They will finish out the regular season against Brookline next weekend. Good luck to all teams!
6th Grade Girls (White) Coach: Smith
Holliston’s 6th grade girls (white) traveled to Somerville this past weekend – while the girls were short handed, they played hard but unfortunately came up short. Lauren de Vlaam had her game of the year by putting up the first points of the game, she rebounded and quickly put in the shot within the first 3 minutes of the game, giving Holliston a 2-point advantage. During the first and second quarter Holliston’s team of 6 (with Sam Baweja coming in via private escort at the second quarter mark) held the 15+person roster of Somerville. Emma Whitehead had quickly put up 2 points while rebounding over 6 times in just the first half, using her keen skills to manage not only the front but the bottom on the key. Becca Lindros and Gwen Rosen, who are both visiting recruits each had a basket tying up the game long into the 3rd quarter. Charley Marcuard continues to impress, as she played almost the whole game with few in no breaks. During the fourth quarter Aarya Sharma, a key rebounder and blocker, was hit hard by Somerville and fell even harder, she was on the DL for the rest of the game. With Sharma on the bench and only 1 reserve, Holliston fell to Somerville hard in the fourth quarter as Somerville scored over 6 baskets in the fourth. If games were made of only three quarters this would have been Holliston’s. The team looks forward to the next and final game of the season this coming weekend when they will travel to Milford – scheduled for 11:40 at Woodland Elementary on Sunday March 2nd).
6th Grade Girls (Red) Coach: Cooper
The 6th Grade Red team faced the City of Newton at home In a Saturday matinee, which the Panthers lost a close game, 22-18 in their first of two games of the weekend. The team was bruised with multiple illnesses which allowed the team to only dress 6 players. This did not stop Ellie Brown from running point in a superb fashion for the majority of the game. Brown ended the day with 6 assists to go along with 2 points, almost all which came off the fast break. Rebecca Lindros once again dominated the paint tallying 14 rebounds and played all but 2 minutes of the game. Gwen Rosen led the team in scoring with 8 points and continues to use the signature low post shimmy for easy buckets. Emma Sochanek tallied 4 points, including a clutch bucket in the 4th quarter to keep the game close. Molly Starr and Kendal Hanlon each dropped a bucket in the second half and combined for a 6 steals to go along strong games played all round.
In the second game of the weekend for the 6th Grade Girls (red), the Panthers beat Lexington 27-21. It was Gwen Rosen’s day, scoring in all 4 quarters to top a personal season high of 11 points. For a second game in a row, Ellie Brown ran the offense while also recording a personal season high of 6 points to go along with 4 assists. In the 3rd quarter Rebecca Lindros took an elbow to the eye which sidelined her for all but 90 second and returned to the court in the 4th quarter to record her second basket of the game to finish with 4 points. Also getting in on the scoring action was Emma Sochanek, Kendall Hanlon, and Ryckie Reichheld each finishing the game with two points each. The team is on the road for the last regular season game of the year against Winchester this coming weekend.
7th Grade Girls (White) Coach: McAdams
The Holliston 7th grade girls (white) continued their winning ways taking down North Quincy 29-18 this past weekend. The win marks the 5th in a row for the Panthers. Holliston once again used their defense as a spark in the victory. The team has now held 8 of their 9 opponents under 24 points. Aahana Kulkarni was the spark on defense once again with 4 steals. Aahana’s offensive game also caught fire this week with a season high 6 points. Ella Bennett hot hand continued as she scored a season high 15 points and had 3 assists as well. Addy ‘mid range’ McAdams hit 3 jumpers to finish with 6 points and also added 10 rebounds. Gwen Miranda powered the inside game with 2 points and 9 rebounds as well as some excellent drives to the hoop. The team takes an east coast road trip to Watertown and West Roxbury this weekend. With 2 wins and a little luck the Panthers have a chance for back to back Metrowest basketball conference championships.
7th Grade Girls (White) Coach: Roche
The Holliston 7th grade girls (white) took on a gritty Millis team Sunday and lost a tough one 15-12. Down 4 with a few seconds left, Linsdey Haynes was fouled. She made the first free throw and missed the 2nd but Louisa Bigelow grabbed the rebound and got the ball back to Haynes who just missed a 3 to tie the game as the clock ran out.
From the opening tip, the Holliston girls locked down Millis but Millis was excellent from the line when it mattered and made all their free throws in the 4th quarter to come away with the 3-point win. Dominica Bellamy led the team with 4 points and used all of her fouls! Louisa made a key 3-point shot to start the 4th quarter and finished with 3 points, 3 steals, 5 rebounds, and 2 block shots. Sophia Teixara had 2pts, 4 steals, and 4 rebounds. The team wraps up the season this coming at Westwood.
8th Grade Girls (White) Coach: McDonald
The 8th grade girls (red), traveled to Westwood to take on a tough opponent. On the heels of an off week and shorthanded, playing with only seven, the girls gave it their all. Down 17-13 at the half, in typical fashion the girls never quit. Up 25-23 at the end of three quarters, Holliston played lockdown defense in the 4th quarter, holding on to a 31-28 lead for the win. Olivia Kerchner led the team with 10 points, Emerson Harrington scored 7, and Chelsea Dufault scored 6. Regardless of scoring, it was a valiant effort by all seven players who played the full game with only short periods of rest. Next week the girls travel to Milton for a makeup game and then host Stoughton for their last ever youth basketball regular season matchup.
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