We know we join with all of our fellow residents and Winthrop High girls basketball fans in offering our congratulations to Coach Ignacio Oyola and his Lady Vikings for having completed a fantastic season in which they captured the Division 3 North Sectional of the MIAA state tournament and advanced to the state semifinals at the TD Garden this past week.
Although Coach Oyola and his crew came out on the short end of their contest at the Garden with a powerhouse Archbishop Williams team (the D-3 South champ which many rate as among the top three girls hoop teams in the state), the Lady Vikings have much of which they can be proud as they look back both at their regular season and their tourney run.
The Winthrop girls arguably were the best team in the Northeastern Conference, having captured the South Division of the NEC with a perfect 10-0 record and defeating Revere, the North Division champ. In their Journey through the Tourney, the Lady Vikings knocked off perennial nemesis St. Mary’s of Lynn, the defending state champion which just a few days previously had topped Winthrop in the final week of the regular season. Then in the D-3 North final, the Lady Vikings edged Bishop Fenwick, 36-35, in one of the grittiest displays ever turned in by a Winthrop High girls basketball team.
We would note that the Lady Vikings were led by a group of girls who will rate as among the best-ever to wear a Winthrop basketball uniform:Â the Tsiotis twins, Niki and Poli, daughters of legendary WHS boys hoopster (Class of 1973) Chris Tsiotis; Kristen Siscamanis, who has a scholarship to attend Caldwell University in New Jersey; Maura Lanza, daughter of former Viking hoop star Denise Millerick Lanza; Division 1 prospect Nina Bartlette; and Ally Love, who was superb in the post-season tournament.
We would note that among the fans at the Garden Tuesday were our State Representative and House Speaker, Bob DeLeo, who was at Saturday’s Fenwick game and presented the North championship trophy to the team (and whose daughter, Rachele, was a WHS girls basketball captain and team-leading scorer 10 years ago) and Supt. of Schools John Macero, who has been a huge supporter all season-long. We would note too, that Mike Eruzione treated the team to dinner Monday night at the J and W Restaurant.
All in all, it was another season to remember in the storied tradition of the Winthrop High girls basketball program that began just over 40 years ago under the direction of coach Ron Spinney, continued with Peter Grimes, and lives on today with Ignacio Oyola. We thank the girls and their coaches for bringing honor to our schools and our community.