The Winthrop Vikings eighth grade basketball team, under the leadership of Coach Paul Reardon, captured the 2021 Northeast/Cape Ann League championship, defeating Peabody, 41-39, in the finals at the Essex Sports Center in Middleton.
Winthrop made some huge plays in the second half to overtake Peabody’s nine-point, halftime lead.
Matthew Reardon, the 5-foot-11-inch son of the head coach, started the late, fourth-quarter surge by hitting the front end of a one-on-one to cut the deficit to three points. Winthrop secured the rebound of the second free show and Nick Cappuccio calmly delivered a clutch three-pointer to tie the game.
Winthrop pressed the Peabody guards and stole the ball. Matthew Noonan scored a basket to put Winthrop up by two points.
Following another Winthrop steal, Teagan Scarpa connected for a basket to extend the lead to four points. Peabody sliced the margin to two points but was unable to convert a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Scarpa, the ace shooting guard, was the leading scorer with 12 points. Cappuccio, the Vikings’ point guard, had nine points. Reardon had 9 points and 12 rebounds in an excellent two-way effort while Sebastian Yepes (8 points), Noonan (3 points) and Franz Angjeliu (2 points) also helped the Vikings’ offense. Also making contributions for the Vikings were Cole Fitzpatrick, Gabriel Grein, Spencer Parco, and Colin Cifuni.
Winthrop carried a 5-3 record and the No. 3 seed into the Cape Ann League playoffs. The Vikings bested Masconomet in the quarterfinals, Pentucket in the semifinals Saturday and Peabody in the championship game Sunday.
Paul Reardon, a 1994 graduate who played in the Winthrop High School boys basketball program, has coached the Vikings for the past five years. It has been a steady rise to the top.
“I’ve been coaching this team for five years since they were in fourth grade,†he said. “We went from winning no games at all to winning this championship which is my last year as their coach because now they’re going on to high school. I’m proud of this team. They showed resilience and Viking Pride.â€
Also serving as coaches were Gerry Cappuccio and Robert Noonan, a former Winthrop High sports star.
The Winthrop Vikings received championship jerseys following the game.