sports

COMMUNITY SPORTS Westborough girls basketball ends season with loss to Amherst-Pelham

By Dakota Antelman Managing Editor WESTBOROUGH - The Westborough High School girls basketball team’s dominant 2021-2022 season came to a difficult end at home against Amherst-Pelham on March 4, with the Hurricanes beating the Rangers 48-38.

Things see-sawed back and forth through the first three quarters of the game. Ultimately, though, a strong finish for Amherst-Pelham secured the win, eliminating Westborough from state tournament play.

“We were hoping to wrap up with a win here at home before hopefully playing a game next week,” Westborough head coach Liz Orlando told the Community Advocate after the loss. “But I’m so proud of them.”

Amherst-Pelham took a slim 6-5 lead in the first quarter.

They expanded their advantage heading into halftime, at that point, leading by a score of 26-18.

Westborough outscored Amherst-Pelham by a 2-1 margin in the third quarter, nearly tying the game heading into its final frame.

Westborough started the fourth quarter down 33-32. They fell further behind from there, though, with AmherstPelham padding its lead for the 10-point win.

Orlando and her team were disappointed by the loss.

However, reflecting on a season that saw this team make a long-awaited return to playoff action, Orlando reiterated her pride in her players’ accomplishments.

“[It was] definitely a good feat,” she said. “[This was] not, obviously, what we were hoping for. But we gave it our all.”

The Rangers started their season with a 12-0 start, remaining undefeated into the first week of February.

They ended the regular season with a 15-4 record, earning them 16th place in the state’s power ranking of Division III teams.

Orlando credited the program’s senior class for some of this success.

“These seniors really helped turn this program around,” she said.

Rangers basketball players Makenna Thrush, Kristin Wilichowski, Callie Henderson and Grace Burns are all members of the Class of 2022.

While this squad will lose those players, ten other members of this year’s roster will be able to return to the WHS court next year if they opt to do so.

Orlando sees that future and said she’s hopeful that the team can continue to grow.

“I’m just happy they got to experience this group of seniors,” she said of her younger players. “They worked so hard. It’s just going to be building off of this [in the future].”

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PHOTOS/DAKOTA ANTELMAN Top: Westborough’s Amanda Beckman battles for positioning against an AmherstPelham opponent.

Middle: Kristin Wilichowski dribbles up the court during her team’s game against Amherst-Pelham last week.

Bottom: Westborough’s Kristin Wilichowski jumps to make a layup.

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HIGH SCHOOL SCOREBOARD

AMSA

BOYS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 1

AMSA – 28, Hanover – 65

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 2

AMSA – 29, Norton – 42

ASSABET

BOYS’ HOCKEY – MARCH 3

Assabet – 6, Saugus – 5

It took double overtime to settle Assabet’s Round of 32 clash with Saugus last week. The Aztecs found the win, though, thanks to Nolan Tomczyk’s game winning, sudden death goal. They were next due to take on Ashland on Tuesday night as of press time.

ALGONQUIN

GIRLS’ HOCKEY – MARCH 3

Algonquin – 3, Matignon – 0

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 4

Algonquin – 47, Brookline – 77

BOYS’ HOCKEY – MARCH 4

Algonquin – 1, Longmeadow – 4

GRAFTON

BOYS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 1

Grafton – 60, Foxborough – 63

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 1

Grafton – 40, Billerica – 59

BOYS’ HOCKEY – MARCH 3

Grafton – 4, Oakmont – 0

HUDSON

BOYS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 1

Hudson – 68, Greater Lawrence – 51

BOYS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 4

Hudson – 42, Norton – 56

PHOTO/DAKOTA ANTELMAN

The Shrewsbury girls hockey team opened its playoff run in style last week with a 5-0 win over Auburn.

Things stayed close, with the Hawks trailing by just three points at halftime against Norton. The Lancers managed to pull away with the win, though, ending Hudson’s season.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 4

Hudson – 56, Belchertown – 35

MARLBOROUGH

BOYS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 1

Marlborough – 56, West Springfield – 62

BOYS’ HOCKEY – MARCH 3

Marlborough – 5, Ludlow – 2

Jeremy LaCroix nabbed a hat trick as the number-one-ranked Panthers dispatched Ludlow in their playoff opener. This game marked a moment to bounce back for Marlborough after a difficult loss to Nashoba in their regular-season finale.

SHREWSBURY

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 1

Shrewsbury – 33, Newton South – 58

GIRLS’ HOCKEY – MARCH 2

Shrewsbury – 5, Auburn – 0

Kaci Ryder and Mia Ryder each scored two goals as Shrewsbury rumbled to a playoff win over Auburn last week. Katie Vona added a goal as well while goalie Risa Montoya secured the shutout.

ST. JOHN’S

BOYS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 1

St. John’s – 63, North Andover – 56

BOYS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 3

St. John’s – 46, Andover – 60

BOYS’ HOCKEY – March 5

St. John’s – 0, Hingham – 4

WESTBOROUGH

BOYS’ HOCKEY – MARCH 2

Westborough – 1, Norwood – 4

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL – MARCH 4

Westborough – 38, Amherst-Pelham – 48

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COMMUNITY SPORTS Algonquin girls hockey advances in playoffs with win over Matignon

By Dakota Antelman Managing Editor REGION - A pair of key goals coupled with a late-game defensive stand helped the Algonquin co-op girls hockey team advance to the next round of the MIAA Division II state championship tournament on March 3.

The Titans beat Matignon on home ice by a score of 3-0, indeed securing that spot in the Round of 16.

“We knew Matignon was going to be a tough opponent,” head coach Mike Hodge told reporters after the win. “They play a tough schedule. They’re a real good team. Our girls executed well.”

Algonquin opened a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Emily Johns.

Johns then doubled the lead in the second period with another goal.

The Titans held that advantage heading into the game’s final minutes before a highsticking call with 4:36 left on the clock put them on the penalty kill.

A penalty shot just over halfway through that penalty kill then gave Matignon an even stronger chance to mount a comeback.

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PHOTOS/DAKOTA ANTELMAN

Emily Johns skates in on Matignon’s goalie just before scoring her second goal of her team’s game against the Warriors. Algonquin’s Lexi Davies fights to work a puck loose off a face-off.

“They took it to us a little in the third period, but Lana had a couple of big saves,” Hodge said, referencing goaltender Lana Pacific.

Pacific preserved her shutout through this game, stop-

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Mallory Farrell skates with the puck while being pursued by a Matignon defender. Farrell would later score an empty-net goal in this game.

ping that penalty shot with a glove-side save.

Hodge noted the circumstances of the penalty shot within a shorthanded situation.

“It could have been 2-2,” he said of Mantignon’s comeback threat.

As Pacific settled in to make her decisive save, though, she came with fresh practice.

The team had specifically worked penalty shot scenarios in days prior, according to Hodge

“She had seen hundreds of them during the week,” Hodge said.

Altogether, he praised Pacific for her success, not only in this game, but in other recent appearances.

“She’s played solid all year like she always does,” Hodge said. “But I think her last three games have been the best she’s had all year.”

Outside of Pacific, Hodge spotlighted the performance of his defensemen and forwards on March 3.

“[They] did a really nice job trying to prevent [Matignon] from getting high quality chances,” he said. “I was really proud of the way we had a total team defensive effort.

Mallory Farrell added Algonquin’s third and final goal as an empty net goal with just over a minute left in this game.

The Titans are now set to face Westwood in the next round of their tournament bracket.

That game was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, after this edition of the Community Advocate went to press.