Winthrop High Sports Roundup

Girls basketball team edges Salem, 44-40

The Winthrop High girls basketball team received some clutch free throw shooting from Theresa Jones down the stretch to hold on for a 44-40 victory over Northeastern Conference rival Salem last Friday.

The contest was a classic nip-and-tuck affair from the outset. Winthrop grabbed a slim 10-7 advantage after the first period, but Salem evened the count at 21-21 at the half. Salem moved out to a 30-28 lead after three frames, but the Lady Vikings got tough over the final eight minutes to come away with the hard-fought victory.

The duo of Jones, who hit 5-of-8 free throws in the final period, and Temison Meggison, who had six  points in the stanza, combined for 11 of Winthrop’s 16 fourth quarter points.

“It was a nice win against a quality opponent from the NEC’s Large Division,” said WHS head coach Ignacio Oyola. “We fought hard right to the end and both Theresa and Temison got some big rebounds and made some clutch shots to pull us through.”

Kristen Siscamanis, who was on fire in the first half, led the Lady Vikings with 15 points. Meggison was next in the scoring column with 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for a nifty double-double.

Jones hit for nine points, followed by Nikki Tsiotis with four, Ashelyne Babb with three, and Jen Adamson with two. Winthrop had some trouble at the charity stripe. Aside from Jones’s 5-for-8 shooting from the line, the rest of the team was 7-for-15.

Winthrop’s next contest on the holiday came at Somerville, a Division 1 team from the Greater Boston League that features some outstanding players. The game proved to be a bit different than the usual defensive battle to which the Lady Vikings are accustomed with their NEC foes. The final score of 66-55 in Somerville’s favor attests to the offensive nature of the encounter.

Somerville led all the way, grabbing a 17-13 lead at the end of the first period and 38-29 at the half. Winthrop made it a six point game after three frames, 49-43, but could never quite get all the way back.

Babb enjoyed a fine game with 15 points and Jones popped in 14. Meggison added nine, Siscamanis had eight, Alyssa Mackey contributed six, Liana Ferullo chipped in two, and Nikki Tsiotis hit a free throw to round out the Lady Viking scoring.

“I was not happy with our defensive play, but Somerville is a good team that has two very strong players,” said Oyola, noting that the two girls he referred to accounted for 32 of Somerville’s 38 first half points.

The Lady Vikings now stand at 9-3 on the season, with all three losses having come to Division 1 schools (Lynn English, Peabody, and Somerville). Oyola and his crew will return home to host two more NEC Large rivals, Beverly on Friday and Lynn Classical Tuesday.

Girls hockey team has a .500 week

The Winthrop Lady Bulldog hockey team turned in an even-steven week, with a loss, a win, and  tie in its three contests.

The victory was a 7-5 triumph over Medford Saturday at Larsen. The teams had battled to a 4-4 deadlock in their first meeting in the season opener and the rematch appeared headed for a similar fate when the score was tied at 5-5 late in the third period.

However, Winthrop defenseman Julianna Kennedy made a rush deep into the Medford end and  tucked the puck inside the near post to give the Lady Bulldogs a 6-5 lead. Ariana Dembro then ensured that Medford would not skate away with a point by adding an insurance goal with about a minute to play. Caroline McKinnon had won the face off, getting the puck to Kara Donati, who in turn found Dembro for the shot on goal.

Dembro and Flora English had two goals on the night, with Kennedy, Donati, and McKinnon each lighting the lamp once. McKinnon, Donati, and Kasey Harris also earned two assists for their efforts.

In both the 3-0 loss at Masconomet last Wednesday and a 0-0 tie with Watertown Monday afternoon at Larsen, the Lady Vikings dominated the play , outshooting their opponents by wide margins (by 48-11 in the Watertown tilt and a similar margin vs. Masco). However, they were unable to find the back of the net and had to settle for a pair of atypical scoreless encounters.

“Those were two frustrating games for us,” said Winthrop head coach Anthony Martucci. “The Medford win was a nice one however, considering that we had tied them in our first meeting.”

Martucci and his crew, who now stand at 6-3-2 on the season, were set to travel to Cambridge last night (Wednesday) and then will take on the perennial girls’ hockey powerhouse on the North Shore, St. Mary’s of Lynn, on Saturday on the latter’s home ice.

Viking hoopmen play well in losses to Salem, Lynn English  

Although the Winthrop High boys basketball team dropped a pair of contests this past week to two of the perennial big dogs from the Large Division of the Northeastern Conference, Salem and Lynn English, WHS head coach Mike DiMarino said he was very pleased with his team’s overall effort and performance.

“We stayed with both of those teams for most of the game and showed that we can play with anyone,” said DiMarino, noting that the Salem match was a six point affair with about two minutes to go and that the Vikings held a lead over English midway through the third period. “The team played good basketball and is getting better with every outing on the floor.”

In the 70-62 loss to Salem Friday, Winthrop saw a slim 36-33 deficit at the half balloon to a 62-45 disadvantage by the third buzzer. However, the Vikings fought furiously in the fourth quarter and got as close as six points with two minutes to go, but could not get all the way back.

Capt. Ervin DeJesus led the Vikings with a fine 25 point effort. Curtis Lockett with 15 points and Capt. Josh Babb with 13 also reached double figures for Winthrop.

Sunday’s tilt with Lynn English followed a similar pattern, with the Vikings hanging tough for most of the way. With the teams deadlocked at 39-39 at the half, Winthrop took the lead shortly after the intermission. However, the Bulldogs’ overall size eventually proved too much for the Vikings to keep up with. English erased the Winthrop lead and took a 63-54 advantage after three periods en route to the final score of 93-70.

Babb turned in an outstanding performance with 32 points and 10 rebounds. Lockett had another double figure outing 11 points.

The Vikings were set to travel to the Holland Middle School in Dorchester to meet Snowden Academy of Boston yesterday (Wednesday) evening at 5:00. A victory will earn Winthrop the right to qualify for the state tourney.

The Vikings will stay on the road to Beverly Friday and then to Lynn Classical Tuesday.

Boys and girls track teams compete vs. Marblehead

The Winthrop High girls and boys indoor track team competed against Marblehead last week.

On the girls’ side, five Lady Vikings garnered second place finishes: Elizabeth Anderson in the shotput with a toss of 28-11; Carly O’Keefe in the 55 meter hurdles in 9.4; Holly Benson in the 600 in 1:57.9; Maria Rago in the 1000 in 3:51.3; and Michaela McCarthy with a two mile run of 14:53.

Turning in third place efforts that earned a point for the Winthrop cause were: Julia Wallace with a leap in the high jump of 4-8; Heidy Benson in the 1000 in 4:00; and Abigail Love with a mile clocking of 6:43.3.

For the boys, Russell Trainor was the top finisher with a second place performance in the 600 in 1:40. Jordan Corbett-Frank and Zack Bonilla grabbed third places in the 55 meter dash and the two mile respectively. Jordan sprinted to his third place finish in 7.1 and Zack clocked 13:06.1 in the two mile event.

Amin Louali earned a half-point for the Winthrop side of the scoresheet with a leap of 5-2 in the high jump that tied him for third place.

The Winthrop 4 x 400 relay team claimed a victory, outrunning their Marblehead counterparts 4:20.5 to 4:31.4.

Both the girls and boys track squads are scheduled to face Swampscott today (Thursday).